how to select a li a based on the text using jQuery

Question

How can I select a given li a element so that it is selected by default?

Please refer to this question to see the example that I'm working with...

How can I navigation up and down a ul using two buttons?

Basically I need to select the Patient Test li a item by default.

Answer 1

Try this:

$(function(){
 $("#MainMenu li:contains('PATIENT TEST')").click();
});

Answer 2

You could do something like this

$('li a').each(function(){
    if($(this).text() == 'PATIENT TEST'){
    //do something here
    }
});

Example: http://jsfiddle.net/jasongennaro/uuaKH/