• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Forward
  • Module Objectives
• Why Is EBM Important?
• Levels of Evidence
  • What Is Evidence?
  • Hierarchy of Evidence
  • Systematic Review
  • Systematic Review of Cohort Studies
  • Summary
• The EBM Process
  • Formulating a Clinical Question
    • Purpose of Clinical Question
    • Types of Clincal Questions
    • The Well-Built Questions: PICO
  • Searching for the Evidence
    • Cochrane
    • PubMed
    • Helpful Tips
  • Critically Appraise, Apply Evidence
• Resources
• Credits
• Return to Patient Safety & Quality Improvement

The EBM Process
Searching for the Evidence

There are many databases of medical literature citations.

• Each of these databases has its own quirks and nuances.
• The information and structure of these databases is constantly changing.
• Although a physician can learn to search citation databases fairly well, medical librarians can do it much better than the average physician.
• Just as physicians consult medical specialists, they should consider consulting medical librarians to help them find the best information when necessary.
• Consulting the following citation databases in the order listed generally will yield good results and help you find the highest level of evidence in the most efficient manner:
1. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
2. The Cochrane Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE)
3. PubMed "Find Systematic Reviews" query
4. PubMed "Search by Clinical Study Category" query
5. Other resources