Searching the Literature Part 4: Summaries

Summaries take the best of the 3 previous layers(studies, syntheses, and synopses) and integrates them so you get multiple aspects of diagnosis and treatment in an easy to use format, rather than one aspect of management.

The best summaries explicitly discuss the editorial process and rating of evidence, where the info came from, list references, and date of most recent updates, and are updated frequently enough to incorporate the newest evidence.

The Library subscribes to one summary resource, also known as a "point of care tool":

UptoDate.

--UptoDate identifies itself as an Evidence Based resource, working through a hierarchy of evidence from high quality randomized trials, to observational studies, to unsystematic clinical observations.

--When high quality systematic reviews are available, they depend heavily on these for recommendations. It is more of an "Expert's Opinion" than a true evidence based resource, and the editorial process is not entirely clear.

--It is updated every every 4 months.

--Uptodate is not without controversy--a kind of "information crack cocaine." It's a relief to go into a database that gives you an answer you can use--it's easy to see why one might forget about other sources of information.

--The Library's subscription is available from any networked hospital pc. If you have an individual subscription, you can access it remotely.

Also, check out the freely available eMedicine and MerckMedicus.

Related Posts:
Searching the Literature Part 1: Studies
Searching the Literature Part 2: Syntheses
Searching the Literature Part 3: Synopses