MBChB Phase 1 SSC Critical Analysis Library Practical

Firstly, we hope that you enjoyed the library practical sessions last Tuesday and Wednesday.  Here's a reminder of what we went through in the sessions.

The Library Practical

Finding the adverts

Find the adverts from MUSE - My services - StarPlus-
MyResource Lists - Seatrch 'Me

We started the session by navigating to the adverts that have been chosen for this module.  In order to do this, you will need to log into MUSE and select StarPlus - The Library Catalogue from the 'My services' menu.

Once you are on the StarPlus landing page, go to the box at the bottom of the page called 'Reading Lists' and follow the link for 'MyResource Lists'.  In the 'Search Reading Lists' box type MED111, follow the search result for 'MED111 - Critical Analysis - Drug Advertisements'

Once you have found your advert from the list, click on the 'View web link' icon, your selected advert will open in PDF format.

Looking at the references in the drug adverts.

Most of the adverts have some references included which aim to support the claims made within the advert.
 We started by navigating to StarPlus - the library catalogue by signing into MUSE and selecting the option from the myServices drop down menu; once you get to the StarPlus landing page, remember to log in by clicking on the 'University members' link.

Use the University Collections tab to search for the journal title, not the actual title of the article.  Some of the articles have been digitised and are available on your reading list (the same place you found the advert).

Remember not all the adverts have references to journal articles cited in them!

Use the 'University Collections' tab to search for the title of the journal.

Using the British National Formulary (BNF) 

The British National Formulary is joint published by the British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.  It provides health care professional with up to date information, indications and contraindications, dosage and cost for a wide range of medicines.  This can be accessed in a variety of ways.  

The Health Sciences Library has paper copies of the formulary located at shelfmark QV738.  In the session we navigated to NICE Evidence, you will need to sign in using the link at the top and then click the 'Sign into NHS Athens' link.  You will need your Athens username and password, which you were emailed details of before the session.  If you have not activated your account or have had problems with it, please email athensaccounts@sheffield.ac.uk.  For more information about Athens account click here.

Once you are signed into  the BNF, you can search for the drug specified in your advert. Remember to use the generic drug name in your search, not the brand name!

Your Athens log in is for access to the BNF only.  For all other materials use the library catalogue and databases.
Using a general textbook

Another good place to look for information is a textbook on the condition specified in your advert.  If there isn't a textbook about that condition, you may need to locate a general medical textbook.  To find this, use the 'University Collections' tab in StarPlus.  If the item you want is out on loan, you can request it!

Databases

Before we started searching the databases, we planned our search by looking for:

• The condition or outcome
• The drug name (generic not brand)

We then looked at the Cochrane Library  to look at whether a systematic review was available for the drug or the condition.  Systematic reviews (SR) take a long time to be produced, so your drug may not be included in a SR! 

The next step was to connect to MEDLINE via OvidSP to search for Randomised Controlled Trials. Remember, we have a MEDLINE tutorial available to take you through searching.  Use the limits and additional limits to search for 'Randomized Controlled Trial'.

Sources of information for the patient perspective

We also looked at sources of information that the patient may use when looking for information. We looked at Health Talk and NHS Choices.  Remember to look out for 'The Information Standard' mark when using websites that are used as sources of information for the patient perspective.

Further Support

Keep a look out for the 'Pop-up Library' we will be running, we'll post the date in Minerva! In the meantime, if you need more information, contact your Liaison Team for Medicine, Dentistry, & Health.