Abstract
Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the current situation of Internet health counseling in Korean Medicine by analyzing the contents and pattern of the questions and answers in NAVER Jisik-iN. Methods : 1,121 questions answered by Korean Medicine doctors in NAVER Jisik-iN from January 2012 to June 2012 were extracted and analyzed. The contents and pattern of the questions and answers were classified. Then statistical analysis was performed and the research findings were compared with other studies. Results : Korean Medicine (KM) accounted for 1.73 percent of health counseling in NAVER Jisik-iN. Analyzing the questions and answers of KM counseling, questions about symptoms and answers providing medical knowledge were most common. The most frequently asked symptom was digestive disorder. Applying to Suchman's "Stage of Illness and Medical Care" model, 'the symptom-experience' stage took the first place. Conclusions : KM counseling in NAVER Jisik-iN has served as guidance for potential Korean Medicine consumers by providing medical knowledge about symptoms. For more effective guidance there should be a systematic Internet counseling system offering reliable information by KM doctors to meet the needs of medical consumers.