Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)

The following resources provide access to practice guidelines, which are based on the latest evidence. Many practice guidelines include ratings of the level of evidence for each recommendation for prevention or treatment. Level of evidence is based on the type of study that supports the recommendation, from case reports and editorials on the low end up to systematic reviews on the high end. 

• ClinicalKey

  Clinical information tool searches extensive full-text holdings for clinical answers in journal articles, books, and videos. Searchable by keyword as well as disease, finding, procedure or drug. Published by Elsevier. 2007 - Present.

• National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC)

  Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Structured abstracts summarize guidelines and development process. All guidelines in English, < 5 years old, and systematically developed. Full-text links when available. Produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

• Current Practice Guidelines in Primary Care 2020

  Textbook within AccessMedicine. Provides access to guidelines based on disease screening, prevention and management of over 200 conditions.

Searches in PubMed can be limited to only display Practice Guidelines.  After performing a search in PubMed, click "More..." under Article types in the filters menu, select "Practice Guidelines" from the pop-up list, and click Show. This does not actually filter the list; it only gives you the option to filter on your search results page. To filter the results, click "Practice Guidelines" so it displays in bold. You should now see that your results list is much shorter and restricted to Practice Guidelines only.

Searches in MEDLINE can also be limited to only display Practice Guidelines.  On the main search screen under Limits, scroll to "Practice Guidelines" in the Publication Types.  Select this from the list and then proceed with your search.