Tuesday, July 7, 2009

PDA basics and Clincal Resources

or How to spend your book money VERY QUICKLY!

(Disclosure: I have revised a chapter or two in the next version of the 5 Minute Clinical Consult text. )

Some of my favorite computer clinical resources:

Epocrates: http://www.epocrates.com/
Available in both PDA (palm, pocket PC, BlackBerry, iPhone...) and web-based versions, both either free or paid (with added features). Probably the easiest to use drug reference around. Can include formularies for insurance plans (and Walmart, Kmart, Target $4 formularies) to let you know easily which drugs are covered for your patients.

Shots 2009: http://www.immunizationed.org/AnyPage.aspx?pgid=2
From the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, a great resource on immunizations. Updates annually and available with or without pictures of the various diseases prevented by immunizations. (Personally I find the pictures unnecessary and just take up extra room on my PDA.

Eponyms: http://www.eponyms.net/
Useful resource to use if you can't remember what Marchiafava-Bignami syndrome is? Available as either a PDA download or PDF file to review on your computer.

Mnemonics: http://www.medicalmnemonics.com/
A memory aid for memory aids. Also able to download to PDA or search online.

Textbooks: Many good texts available for PDA. Most can be purchased from a number of reputable sources. For instance, the 5 Minute Clinical Consult can be purchased from:
Publisher: http://www.5mcc.com/5mcc/ub
Skyscape: http://www.skyscape.com/index/home.aspx (Lots of resources, all integrated with each other)
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/5-Minute-Clinical-Consult-2009-PDA/dp/1582559104


Patient Education:

I have a few favorite resouces I turn to for patient education. All listed below are free.

FamilyDoctor: http://familydoctor.org/
A great resource sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians (your professional society) spoiled only since they started posting ads.

MedlinePlus: http://medlineplus.gov/
An excellent patient and medical education site sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. A quick search on this site will link you to some of the best, most trusted sources of patient education on the web. Such sites include the NIH (of course) and all of its sub-institutes as well as various professional societies (Familydoctor included) and the Mayo Clinic. Truly one-stop shopping for patient education.

Guidelines:
The National Guideline Clearinghouse: http://www.guidelines.gov/
The United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) Guide to Clinical Preventative Services: http://www.ahrq.gov/CLINIC/uspstfix.htm


Other resources we discussed during the session:

FPNotebook: http://www.fpnotebook.com/


electronic Preventative Services Selector: http://epss.ahrq.gov/PDA/index.jsp
A PDA or web-based resource from the USPSTF that allows you to select some basic information about a patient (age, sex, smoking status...) and generate all recommended screening for that patient organized by level of evidence.

NIH Institutes:
Lots of good clinical resources available from all the NIH Institutes including:

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/index.htm
Guidelines for Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia, Asthma, ... What else do you need? Oh, yeah - Diabetes.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: http://www2.niddk.nih.gov/
Lots of resources for Diabetes, though real guidelines can be found at:

American Diabetes Association: http://professional.diabetes.org/CPR_search.aspx
Provide updates to their Clinical Practice Recommendations every January

and many more...

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