Evidence-based, Point-of-Care Resources at Calder Library
The Calder librarians understand that students and clinicians are very busy people. They also know that it can be tempting to use Wikipedia or Google for background information and when there is not time to research the primary literature to find the best evidence, critique it, and apply it to patients. The Librarians suggest that you explore two point-of-care resources that can make life easier by providing quick access to trustworthy information, and are available at the Calder library homepage.
AND
Calder Librarians like both of these products and think that the UM medical students and clinicians will too. Since Calder Library provides access to both products, you can choose which one best suits your searching style and clinical needs. The chart below summarizes the pros and cons of each of these point-of-care tools.
|
Feature |
DynaMed |
UpToDate |
|
Updated |
Daily |
3 times yearly |
|
Mobile Access |
Yes |
UMMSM Wireless Network/On campus only |
|
Evidence Reporting |
Evidence levels for all information |
Evidence levels for 35% of topics |
|
Number of Topics |
3,200 |
9,500 |
|
Drug Compendium |
AHFS (American Hospital Formulary Drug Service) |
Yes/ Lexicomp drug database |
|
Graphics |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Journals Monitored |
500 |
430 |
|
Levels of Evidence |
Yes, in descending order |
Not all graded for EBM |
|
Model |
Critically appraised evidence based medicine |
Peer reviewed expert author |
|
Format |
Bulleted list |
Narrative |
|
Evidence Based Medicine |
Conclusions based on evidence systematically identified, selected, and evaluated from the literature. |
Topic reviews from subject experts evaluated by physician editors for accuracy, and completeness. Beginning to grade for evidence. |
A recent study states that "the updating of point of care information summaries should be evaluated bearing in mind that these online tools are largely intended to be used by an audience sensitive to brand new information.” Please refer to http://www.bmj.com/highwire/filestream/396187/field_highwire_article_pdf/0.pdf