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Clinical Essentials: Guide

Clinical Essentials: Your Guide to Medical Literature

What You Need to Know

UpToDate is an evidence-based resource for clinical and drug decision support.

Our Library provides two convenient ways to access this resource.


Option 1: Network access

  1. Connect to the UC San Diego network:
    • On Campus: Log into a university network computer or connect your device to the UCSD-PROTECTED Wi-Fi.
    • Off-Campus: Use the UCSD VPN to connect remotely.
  2. Visit uptodate.com.

Option 2: Create an UpToDate user account

  1. Connect to the UC San Diego network or UCSD VPN if off-campus.
  2. Visit uptodate.com and click 'Register'.
  3. Complete the registration form.
  4. Log in with your new credentials.

To maintain account access, log in from within the UC San Diego network every 90 days.

All UC San Diego Health employees can access our extensive online library resources.


Step 1: Connect to the university network

  • On Campus: Use a university computer or connect to the UCSD-PROTECTED Wi-Fi.
  • Off-Campus: Use the UCSD VPN to connect remotely to online library resources.

Step 2: Access resources

Search for articles

  • Use databases like PubMed (UC San Diego) or Embase to find articles on your topic.
  • Click the 'Get it at UC' button in a search result to locate the full article.
    Get it at UC button

Find a specific article


Request an article that is not available

Connect to the UCSD VPN to access the campus network and online library resources.

If issues arise, try the Check Your Connection tool or contact the ITS Service Desk.

Looking to publish your research? Our guide can help you:

  • Choose the right journal
  • Navigate open access
  • Understand your author rights

Explore the guide to Publishing Medical Journal Articles.

Visit ucsd.libanswers.com for support.

Find answers, send a message, or chat live with our team.

Tips for Medical Literature

Instant Article Access, Get it at UC, Click the Get it at UC button in your database search results. Have a citation? Simply type the article title into UC Library Search

Discover how to access full-text articles – watch our quick tutorial.

Retrieve full-text articles by title through UC Library Search.