UpToDate is a clinical support system designed to answer clinical questions with succinct, comprehensive, current, and fully referenced evidence on more than 9,500 clinical topics written by physicians. Recently, a new specialty was added to the database--Psychiatry. The new Psychiatry section is organized in major categories: Anxiety Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders, Depressive Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Eating Disorders, Impulse Control Disorders, Mental and Medical Disorders, Personality Disorders, Psychotic Disorders, Somatoform Disorders, and Substance Use Disorders. They cover most of the categories included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR)1. Another section on “What’s New in Psychiatry” provides updates on all the topics within the specialty, with new evidence as it becomes available from the peer review process. The Peer Review is conducted by a Deputy Editor, an Editor-in-Chief and/or Section Editors assigned to a topic. They look at peer-reviewed journals, clinical databases and other resources and keep track of new information as it is published. Authors for the “What’s New” section are listed, with their professional/academic affiliations. Within each of the major topics within a specialty, there are separate additional topics which are more specific in nature. The information is provided following an outline that includes an introduction, course of the illness, screening, identification/symptoms, assessment, summary and recommendations. A list of references is provided and a list of related topics for additional information.
In addition to extensive information about each of the specialties, UpToDate contains sections on patient information, drug information, calculators, and a news section that provides important updates on each of the specialties. UpToDate is available from the Calder Library’s website (https://www.library.miami.edu/calder/index.html) under e-Databases. A mobile version is available for Android, iPhone, iPad, and Windows 8 tablets. UpToDate is published by Wolters Kluwer Health.
1. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.