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Problem-based Learning & Finding the Evidence: Case 6: the case of George Mackenzie

Books

The following are textbooks of possible interest and are available either in print or online.  AccessMedicine has a nice diagnostic tests text but may be busy. 

To find more books of interest, use the Roger search box below.

Videos & Multimedia

Videos on This Week's Topics

George Mackenzie - Is there any hope?

The medical center has a special focus of patient-centered care which connects nicely with evidence-based care.  A little practice now means more flexibility later.  What does this really mean?  In general, try looking for the highest evidence possible.     It is a good time to pull together what you've learned about studies & the evidence they provide from the EBMI thread.

 

Resources for this Case

Textbooks (look left)

Quick Links to Those Favorite Resources

Surprise! Micromedex is for more than just drugs

Videos

Zoom in to articles with data : Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 

NEJM Liver Transplantation Article

Lab Tests Resources : Henry's & more

National Organizations & MELD Resources

Patient Information Resources

Synthesized Resources - High Quality Evidence

Those Familiar Favorites

Micromedex

Micromedex

A surprise for this week is the detail Micromedex offers for medical topics.  

Screenshot of Micromedex search box

 

It provides both Quick Answers and In-Depth Answers - and that is where the good stuff can be found.  For example, a search for alcoholic liver disease has some very interesting info for this week's look ups.  Or better yet, look up cirrhosis and it has a nice short list of possible causes.

Enter that in the main search box to get to the page with the Quick & In-Depth Answer tabs.

Featured Resource: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Evidence-based Tools

What is the evidence?  How do you quickly find the best evidence is a better question.  It is all about the tools, so know your tools.

 

Cochrane Library, or more specifically, the Database of Systematic Reviews

The good news, when you find your answer here, it is a very quick process.  The data of many research trials is combined into one cohesive resource.  The bad news, great stuff takes time to build so not all topics are here in Cochrane.

For this case, see what the resource has to say (if anything) about alcohol withdrawal or try spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

 

Should you use benzodiazepines? anticonvulsants? magnesium? baclofen? something else? Or, which antibiotics should be used with spontaneous bacterial peritonitis?   These systematic reviews will help going through the evidence on treating a person with these conditions.  

 

When viewing the reviews, don't forget to view the full-text as the default initial view is only the plain-language summary. 

This tool is great for boiling down multiple studies into one with the added benefit of synthesizing into a cohesive single opinion.  Jump to the Figures tab to take a look at the data presented - make good use of your EBMI skills.

Dr. Gass' Recommended Reading - a NEJM article

Lab Tests Info

Looking up information about the results of lab tests are mostly background questions.  The following resources are easy to use tools to find very reliable information about the normal values, reference ranges, and more.

National Organizations


 

Patient Information Resources

Search MedlinePlus: