Medicine: Evidence-based practice: EBP Useful sites

Its topics give summaries of evidence about Diagnosis, which can be used to explore in more depth and can be used to explore references in more depth

This provides a clinically focused search of Medline and can be focused on diagnostic studies

From McMaster University, this a very useful meta search engine, which includes PubMed Clinical Queries. Requires free registration

Put together by Prof Alan Schwartz, University of Illinois Chicago, this calculates and displays predictive values, based either on sensitivity/specificity or on likelihood ratios

This classic EBP text provides detailed background information in a chapter on Diagnostic Tests, and also has other chapters on The Process of Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis

From Ottawa in Ontario, "The A to Z Inventory of Decision Aids is designed to help you find a decision aid to meet your needs. It contains up-to-date and available decision aids that meet a minimal set of criteria"

This links to an article from the BMJ in 2012.
"Although many clinicians feel they already use shared decision making, research shows a perception-reality gap. A M Stiggelbout and colleagues discuss why it is important and highlight some best practices"

From Minnesota, "The Mayo Clinic Shared Decision Making National Resource Center advances patient-centered medical care by promoting shared-decision making through the development, implementation, and assessment of patient decision aids and shared decision making techniques."

This began at University of Cardiff in the UK, but is now based at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. "Option Grid decision aids are brief, easy-to-read tools, available as print-outs or online interactive journeys to help patients and health professionals compare alternative healthcare options using answers to the questions patients frequently ask."

Not just limited to the health sector, "Our goal is to help people in their struggle to understand and assess the risks facing them. Our primary focus is on health and medicine as well as on educating people from childhood onwards to understand statistics."

Create a free account and access the EBM toolkit that includes a Practice EBM module that includes information on Shared Decision Making.

An independent resource providing healthcare professionals with clinically validated medicines information and guidance on best practice, enabling healthcare professionals to select safe and effective medicines for individual patients. Replaces MIMS Online.

From Pharmac, "this is the online version of the Pharmaceutical Schedule. You can view drugs by their chemical or brand name or search for the medicine according to its grouping, which includes any guidelines and restrictions that may apply."

Prescriber Update is a newsletter written for health care professionals. Prescriber Update provides information on safety concerns with medicines and medical devices.

NZ drug info, including safety, datasheets and consumer information

This guide "is intended to aid selection of an appropriate antibiotic for typical patients with infections commonly seen in general practice. Individual patient circumstances and local resistance patterns may alter treatment choices."

From Pharmac: information about the NZ Pharmaceutical Schedule

The official collection of standards for UK medicinal products and pharmaceutical substances (includes BP Veterinary).

Comprehensive monographs, evidence-based information on 2,300+ drugs. Covers FDA-approved, non-US, OTC, and investigational drugs. Searchable by generic name, brand name, adverse effect, or indications. Includes dosing tools and calculators.

The New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule is a list of the prescription medicines and therapeutic products subsidised by the Government.

Although intended for the general public, there is useful information here for students. "We offer expert advice on oranga taihema, your sexual and reproductive health. This section includes advice on everything from contraception, to STIs, the body, relationships, pregnancy, abortion, sexuality education, and more."

Prescribing contraception is a core part of primary care practice. A patient’s co-morbidities and concurrent medicines can influence the balance of risks and benefits and therefore the choice of contraceptive. Key changes in guidelines in recent years include recommending long-acting contraceptive methods, such as the levonorgestrel implant or intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs), for use in all ages, and using “the pill” in a continuous regimen.

Family Planning: A global handbook for providers is provided by the International Planned Parenthood Association. Can be read on screen or downloaded as a 5MB PDF.

"The UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (UKMEC) offers guidance to providers of contraception regarding who can use contraceptive methods safely."

Clinical guidance and service standards from the site above.

"A public access website provided by the NHS (Scotland)", it "gives travel health information for people travelling abroad"

A WHO site which "provides information on health risks for travellers"

From the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)

From the New Zealand government with links to the Ministry of Health Coronavirus information etc.

As well as over 1200 medical texts, articles from more than 500 journals, etc., you can limit your search to FirstConsult, a resource with summaries similar to those found in UpToDate, DynaMed and Clinical Evidence. Use the 'filter' list on the left side of the results screen to limit results to e.g. FirstConsult (which includes differential diagnoses), texts, guidelines, etc.

AccessMedicine: John Murtagh’s General Practice Collection, or Murtagh Collection for short, provides an indispensable source of information for medical professionals and students alike. For more than 20 years, John Murtagh’s General Practice has been regarded throughout Australasia as the authoritative reference for practicing and aspiring GPs. The seventh edition of John Murtagh’s General Practice includes updates to sexual health and cervical cancer screening, mental health diagnosis and treatment, and chronic disorders which forms the backbone of this digital collection.

A "continually updated clinical reference" from Medscape.

From the UK, "GPnotebook is an online encyclopaedia of medicine that provides a trusted immediate reference resource for clinicians in the UK and internationally."

"First published in 1899 as a small reference book for physicians and pharmacists, the Manual grew in size and scope to become one of the most widely used comprehensive medical resources for professionals and consumers. As the Manual evolved, it continually expanded the reach and depth of its offerings to reflect the mission of providing the best medical information of the day to a wide cross-section of users, including medical professionals and students, veterinarians and veterinary students, and consumers."

"iMedicalApps is an independent online medical publication for medical professionals, patients, and analysts interested in mobile medical technology and health care apps. Our physician editors lead a team of physicians, allied health professionals, medical trainees, and mHealth analysts in providing reviews, research, and commentary of mobile medical technology. Our publication is heavily based on our own experiences in the hospital and clinic setting."

DiagnosisView is only available as an app for mobile devices. DiagnosisView was developed by The University of Edinburgh. It's aimed at students and practitioners of any healthcare profession. Provides in-hand info about every diagnosis, as you encounter any new patient. Always commences with advanced patient info. Free full topics: Acne, Bronchiectasis, Cholera, Cystic fibrosis, Coronavirus COVID-19, Gonorrhoea, Heart failure, Lung cancer, Nail problems, Postnatal depression, Pre-eclampsia.

HealthPathways provides condition-management and referral information for clinicians working in the Southern District. The pathways reflect local expert opinion and resource and/or access constraints that apply in this region. As a starting point, information developed in Canterbury is being localised to Southern.

"Find medical articles and other resources written by health professionals for professionals and medical students."

Patient and professional resources

A New Zealand dermatology resource site

"The Immunisation Handbook 2017 (the Handbook) provides clinical guidelines for health professionals on the safest and most effective use of vaccines in their practice. "

Based at the School of Population Health at The University of Auckland,it provides "New Zealanders with a local source of independent, factual information based on international and New Zealand scientific research regarding vaccine-preventable diseases and the benefits and risks of immunisation, information and training for health professionals, national immunisation coordination and policy advice and research into many aspects of vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases."

From the University of California San Diego, "A comprehensive physical examination and clinical education site for medical students and other health care professionals"

"This website is designed to serve as a practical guide to health care providers, planners and consumers for determining the inclusion or exclusion, content and frequency of a wide variety of preventive health interventions, using the evidence-based recommendations of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC)"