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Clinical Essentials: Guide

Clinical Essentials: Your Guide to Medical Literature

Key Resources

How to Find Medical Literature

Start the tutorial →

Find the Right Source

Discover sources for your research →

Conduct a Literature Search

Follow our step-by-step guide →

What You Need to Know

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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.

UC San Diego Health employees have full access to the online library – wherever you are.

On Campus

Connect to UCSD-PROTECTED Wi-Fi or plug into the campus wired network, then open a Library resource online.

Off campus

Sign in with OpenAthens:

Option 1: UC Library Search

  1. Go to UC Library Search and sign in with your Active Directory (AD) account.
  2. Search for your item and open it online.

Option 2: Publisher or resource site

  1. On the journal or database page, select Sign in Through My Institution, or Access via OpenAthens, or a similar option.
  2. Search for and select University of California San Diego. If prompted, choose OpenAthens Federation.
  3. Sign in with your Active Directory (AD) account.

Note: A VPN connection is required to access some resources off campus. See Connect to Library Resources for VPN setup and troubleshooting.

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.

Access anywhere: Connect with VPN for off-campus Library access. Click to learn more.

View the directions for setting up the VPN

Literature search checklist: Define your question. Select the key concepts. Gather search terms. Compose the search statement. Search article databases. Refine the search. Click for a tutorial video.

Learn to conduct a systematic literature search – watch our tutorial

Less is more in search. Use fewer ideas for broader results. Focus on the problem and intervention concepts. Click to learn more.

Concentrate on the main ideas from your research question – watch our tutorial

Expand your search. Include: Synonyms, like hypertension and high blood pressure. Related ideas, like cancer, malignancy, and tumor. Word forms, like diabetes and diabetic. Spelling variants, like pediatrics and paediatrics. Abbreviations, like CO2 and EKG. Click for more types.

Learn how to gather keywords broadly

Supercharge your search: Expand with 'OR' and synonyms. Include more topics with 'AND.' Organize terms with parentheses ( ). For example, (aspirin OR acetylsalicylic acid) AND (heart attack OR myocardial infarction). Click to learn more.

Learn how to use advanced search logic – watch our tutorial

Go beyond PubMed. Explore more databases: Embase for biomedicine and pharma. PsycInfo for psychology and behavior. CINAHL for nursing and allied health. Web of Science for all subjects. Click for database access.

Access more databases through the Online Clinical Library

Tame citation turmoil. Use a reference manager. Click to learn more.

Discover the best reference manager for your needs – check out our guide