The following are textbooks of possible interest and are available either in print or online. To find more books of interest, use the search box below and to the right.
If the newest is already checked out, older editions are available. Use curbside pick up to get this book.
What more resources? Search Roger.
Google Quick Tip
If you don't know the best patient resources to suggest, what do you do? Well, if you don't use Medline Plus, Google might be able to help. There are most likely 2 types of resources you might want to recommend -- government organizations or national organizations dedicated to specific diseases or conditions. Here's how you identify them:
Put your terms into Google for the condition of disease of interest and add one of the following:
site:gov
site:org
Resources for this case include:
Textbook Suggestions (look left)
Resources for Interpreting the CBC
Resource Highlight - Up to Date
National or State Organizations - National cancer Institute & Leukemia Society
Drug Information Resources
There is More to Access Medicine than Just Books
Breaking Bad News - a couple of suggestions, the required blog post (and the NEJM article)
Patient Resources - a couple of reliable organizations
Google Quick Tip - search by domain
Symptoms and differential diagnositic information is often buried in a number of our resources. However, a few tools (both online and for your smart phone/PDA) have special tools to help with this process.
One book helps explain the thinking process (Symptom to Diagnosis) with topics that include a variety of non-specific complaints from low back pain to weight loss to GI bleeding, to abdominal pain. One book has a list of mnemonics (Collins' book) as well as the symptom info. Another book (Syed & Rasul's book) is organized by body areas and the last one (DDX of Common Complaints) focuses on the most common symptions and presents the way a doctor might pursue to diagnosis (images & tests).
Also listed below are some of the interactive DDX tools and their advantages.
Online Look-up Tools
Highlighting Up To Date
Up to Date, is a unique resource that provides the clinical picture as well as sometimes, answering the background questions -- the what, when, where, why, how type questions. For example:
National organizations
Both government and private organizations often have very useful information for patients as well as physicians. As a health professional it is good to be aware of the patient sites but probably better to use the professional literature for your own information.
What Else does Access Medicine Offer?
I have categorized this as a background resource which means it is a resource for answering those factual questions you might have -- think what, when, where, how, why type questions. This is because the main part of Access Medicine is the textbooks. There are other tools that are very helpful, such as:
The pocket and guide books in Access Medicine assume a level of education you may not have attained yet. They are ideally designed for a busy clinical environment where bullet points will help you remember all of the details you have already learned. So, their brief descriptions may not help you fully flesh out a PBL write up. When you search Access Medicine, keep that in mind. If you need brief info, to augment what you already have learned, then okay, but if you need more detailed understanding, make sure you read the textbooks too, e.g., Harrison's, DeGowin's, etc.
Drug Information Resources
Two resources to use for treatment and drug information: Clinical Pharmacology & Micromedex. Look up the drug options for a general type of disease or a very specific disease. Both have similar information but work a little differently. Use the one that you like best - both are great tools.
Already know what drug will be prescribed? Search it by name. For example, find out more about imatinib - how does it work? what are its pharmacokinetics? what are the contraindications or precautions?
Breaking Bad News
Just to gather a couple of resources together on this topic. This year, your POM exercise on this topic is out of synch with this case, so you may need to do some exploring on this topic on your own. There are many resources out there on this and I'm sure many of the oncology texts will have some of this info together. However, I want to point you to 2 that are easily accessible.
National Organizations - Consumer Health Resources