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Medicine

A guide to library resources for medical students and faculty at Dalhousie University in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Featured Resource: JAMAevidence

JAMAevidence Includes access to Users' Guides to the Medical Literature, education guides and learning tools. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) integrates the best available evidence with clinical experience that allows clinicians to recommend, and their patients to make, informed choices consistent with their values. JAMAevidence helps identify the best available evidence by providing guides to the systematic consideration of the validity, importance, and applicability of claims about the assessment of health problems and the outcomes of health care.

Access JAMAevidence through Dalhousie Libraries' subscription here.

The 6S Evidence Pyramid

Image source: University of Manitoba LibGuides - College of Nursing: Evidence-Based Resources.

Based on: DiCenso, A., Bayley, L., & Haynes, R. B. (2009). Accessing pre-appraised evidence: Fine-tuning the 5S model into a 6S model. Evidence Based Nursing, 12. 99-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ebn.12.4.99-b

Provide very brief descriptions of original articles. These are often read as if they are a literature review for the topic, and can also be referred to as critically appraised topics (or CATs). Sources include TRIP, PubMed, and ACP Journal Club. You can also search journals such as Evidence-Based Medicine, Evidence-Based Mental Health, and more.
 
For more information on CATs, see the subject guide from the University of Alberta on critically appraised topics. 
 
 
 

Syntheses include systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and more. Sources to search include:

For more information, check out our subject guide on systematic reviews.

Very brief description of original reviews, often with recommendations for practice/decision-making. Sources to search include:
 

Summaries integrate the best available evidence to provide a full range of evidence addressing all management options for a given health problem, not just one aspect of the problem (as found in single-study resources). 

Sources to search include:

Systems are very detailed, often patient-specific, and link the patient’s conditions to current best practices.

They currently are not very common outside of specialty clinics and/or highly automated departments.

General Resources

Did you know we have a large collection of video tutorials to help you in your research? Here are some specific videos to get you started:

Welcome to the Kellogg Library

PubMed Searching

Evidence Based Practice Module 1: Asking an Answerable Clinical Question

Evidence Based Practice Module 2: Developing a Viable Search Strategy

Want more? Check out the complete list of videos at Dalhousie Libraries.

Fast Facts

These books are intended for looking up quick facts.  All are available online.