InfoGuides: Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate Scholars: Medical Research Tips

Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 4:03 PM

Medical Research tips

When searching for medical related information, keep in mind the following (PICO) questions:

PATIENT/PROBLEM - What are the characteristics of the patient or population or problem?
INTERVENTION - What do you want to do with this patient or population or problem?
COMPARISON - What are the alternatives to consider?
OUTCOME - What are you trying to accomplish, measure, improve or affect?
What is your Research Question - which means are you looking for therapy (treatment), Diagnosis, Harm/Etiology (identify causes for disease) , Prognosis (estimate patient's clinical course), Prevention?
What Type of Study are you looking for Systematic reviews, Random Controlled Trials (RCT) , cohort study, case control? For more definitions click on this CREDO database search link.

Selecting Articles using EBM

To filter out bias in journal articles, an additional review process called EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) is now used to ensure the application of appropriate clinical decisions in the medical/health/nutrition fields. The Cochrane database is the source to begin your search with before searching other databases.

EBM is defined as ‘The conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients’. (Sackett DL et al. BMJ 1996; 312: 71-2).

Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate Scholars: Medical Research Tips

Medical Research tips

Selecting Articles using EBM

Tip:Systematically reviewed studies are better to search