quickanddirtysearching

Quick & Dirty Searching

Tips and Tricks for Effective Searching of Evidence-Based Medicine

Sabine Calleja | Information Specialist Michael Myers | Information Specialist

Learning Objectives

• Search PubMed and Google Scholar quickly for medical research

• Use the databases CPS (RxTx) and Access Medicine to obtain quick medical information

• Use the open access databases Merck Manuals and TRIP database to discover quick medical information, policies, and best practice documents

Google: The Beast

Google Scholar is essentially an enormous web crawler which collects and indexes scientific output either through publisher’s websites or from scientific repositories of universities, library catalogs and other websites that contain academic and scientific publications.

Suitability of Google Scholar as a Source of Scientific Information and as a Source for Scientific Evaluation-Review of the Literature

Taming the Beast: Search Features

Other Features

Personalization

Literature Alerts

Bibliography Manager

Pubmed

PubMed is the free online version of MEDLINE, which is a biomedical and life sciences literature database that contains more than 30 million journal citations and abstracts and is maintained and indexed by the National Library of Medicine.

PubMed also offers the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) Thesaurus, which is a controlled and hierarchically-organized vocabulary produced by the National Library of Medicine.

Pubmed search features

Filters

Related Research

Single Citation Matcher

Clinical Queries

Pubmed Other features

Open Access Add-ons

NLM Catalogue

MeSH

One Stop Shop: Access Medicine

Multi-media medical database featuring a large collection of e-books, medical textbooks, self-assessment, algorithms, case studies, videos, calculators & tools. Comprehensive medical coverage - large range of topics including obstetrics, dermatology, psychiatry & cardiology.

All Unity Health Toronto staff have free access!

Search Features

E-Books Lectures Infographics Study Tools (Clerkship Topics, Flashcards, Review Questions) Patient Education

CPS (RXTX)

The Canadian standard for drug monographs, Lexi-Interact drug interaction checker, critical updates and clinical information. CPS Full Access is available to all Unity Health staff.

CPS Search features

Pill Identifier Lexi Interact Renal Function Calculator Health Canada Advisories

The Merck Manuals Global Medical Knowledge database grew out of the Merck Manuals, which were one of the most widely-used medical resources since 1899. This database includes:

• Quick reference information on thousands of medical subjects
• Resources (3D models, Audio, clinical calculators, videos, images, and much more)
• Drug Information database
• Medical News
• Procedures
• Case Studies & Quizzes

Search Features

Simple Search Bar

3D models and other resources

Related Information

Patient Education & Quick Facts

Free and Easy to Use Mobile App

trip database

User-friendly, free database containing high quality clinical research evidence. Aims to rapidly find clinical answers.

https://www.tripdatabase.com/

Search Features

Clinical Practice Guidelines PICO Question Breakdown Filters

QuizDarts

Start

Your patient can’t remember what angina medication he was taking last year. His wife is in attendance and can remember what the pill looked like. Which resource would you look at to verify this information?

Access Medicine

CPS

PubMed

Yeah!

Next question

Oh no!

Try again

You're conducting a background literature search for your research project. You've taken a look at published research but want to see what exists in the grey literature. Where would you search?

PubMed

Merck Manuals

Google Scholar

Yeah!

Next question

Oh no!

Try again

You want to find some patient education handouts on acne. Which resource should you look at?

Access Medicine

CPS

Google Scholar

Yeah!

Next question

Oh no!

Try again

How would you remove a specific website from a Google results page?

ext:

-site:

Yeah!

Next

Oh no!

Try again

Thanks!

Sabine Calleja | Information Specialist | sabine.calleja@unityhealth.to

Michael Myers | Information Specialist | michael.myers@unityhealth.to

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