One way to categorize the questions that come up in clinical practice is to ask whether it is a background or a clinical (or patient-specific or foreground) question.
Background questions ask for general knowledge (who, what, how, why, when) about a health condition, syndrome, issue or disease.
Example: Does / how does exercise strengthen the heart?
Example: When do complications of whooping cough usually occur and in what age groups?
Example: How well do creatine or iron supplements work as a substitute for food sources of these nutrients?
Clinical (or patient-centered or foreground) questions ask for knowledge in relation to individual patients or case scenarios. They tend to be more complex than background questions,and require higher level search skills.
(See Clinical Questions & Resources tab.)
In reality, what begins as a background question may spill over into a foreground question and vice versa.
Books are still one of the best ways to efficiently answer a background question (and it's not just librarians that say so!). The BU library now offers a comprehensive collection of electronic medical textbooks, in addition to its print collections; the U.S. government also provides medical e-books. For example, check out:
Most of the BU library's electronic medical textbooks can be found in:
This brief video will show you how to search the BU Library for specific e-books or browse the entire collection.
Natural Medicines has its own section because it's one of the few comprehensive sources for natural medicine information. Check it out for: detailed herbal and nutritional supplement monographs, research evaluations for a wide range of therapies, overviews of health conditions from integrative and conventional perspectives, and more!
Evaluators and editors include naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, Ayurvedic practitioners and chiropractors, in addition to conventional medical practitioners. The literature searches for the topics they cover are exhaustive; the evidence grades assigned to various therapies assess the extent and quality of the evidence base, not the value of the therapy per se.
Websites can be excellent background sources, but require critical thinking skills to determine whether or not they offer credible information. Here are a few we recommend, followed by a video that will show you what to look for in evaluating them:
Government sites:
Non-profit organization & association sites:
Educational sites:
(Video created by Beam Library VidGuide, Oklahoma Christian University, 2009.)
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