BMJ Point of Care

Building Background Knowledge - EBM Resource

BMJ Point of Care is an evidence based medicine (EBM) resource co-developed by the BMJ Group and Epocrates. Point of care resources are generally used by physicians in a clinical setting and can provide quick answers to questions that arise.

Task 1

Read the promotional information about BMJ Point of Care to learn the main features of the resource. Next view the short online video to learn how to search this resource effectively.

Evidence based medicine resources provide synthesized or filtered information on a topic, include an extensive list of references, are often peer reviewed, and provide links to additional resources or studies. Studies used to summarize the knowledge on a topic are evaluated and you should be able to determine the level of evidence for the study.

 

Figure 1. Disease monograph for COPD.


Task 2:

Let's see what BMJ Point of Care has to offer regarding how the content was created as well as the synthesized information about COPD. Search this resource for information about COPD and review the extensive record. Provide answers to the following questions.

a) How many articles are referenced in the COPD disease monograph?

b) How many key articles are listed?

c) Are links to full text provided for some of the references?

d) For articles where the full text is not available, what is the name of the well known health sciences database you connect with to read the abstract?

e) When was the topic last updated?

f) How many people authored the COPD monograph?

g) Was the COPD monograph peer reviewed? If yes, how many peer reviewers were there?

h) Were the authors and peer reviewers requested to disclose any competing interest?