Here are my 7 tips for how to stay current with medical literature:
Pharmacist’s Letter / Prescriber’s Letter
I’ve been a subscriber to Pharmacist’s Letter for over 12 years. They are an unbiased source of current information about new medications and new uses for old medications. Their monthly newsletter is concise and to the point and you can drill deep on their website for more in-depth content. For physicians they create the Prescriber’s Letter.
Pubmed alerts on saved searches
I use pubmed alerts to send me daily emails for medications I want immediate knowledge of new developments. Don’t overdo this or you will overwhelm yourself. My current searches are for:
1. Dexmedetomidine (to stay on top of new developments)
2. Procalcitonin (still waiting to figure out the best way to use this lab test – it is a “send out” at my institution)
3. Clevidipine (to predict another formulary request)
4. Fospropofol (to predict another formulary request)
Check out this tutorial I made on how to set up a pubmed email alert (you first need to sign up for a free account on pubmed):
Electronic delivery of journal table of contents
You can sign up for electronic table of contents delivery at most journal websites. Don’t overwhelm yourself here – stick to a handful of journals (I pick 2).
Utilize your medical librarian
Shout out to Tammy my Medical Librarian – she is an amazing resource! Tammy photocopies and emails me other journal table of contents. Also she sends me articles and news links of interest based on our previous conversations – Wow!
Listen to a podcast
The EMCrit Podcast is my favorite listen right now – what are yours?
Discuss new articles with other healthcare providers
When I find an article that I think would interest a physician colleague of mine – I share it with them. Guess what? They are constantly sharing new articles with me!
Run a journal club
All participants (pharmacists and students) should benefit from attendance at journal club.
Students benefit from learning how to place clinical trial results into the context of clinical practice.
Pharmacists & other Health Care Providers benefit from being exposed to high quality articles they may not have otherwise encountered.
You can download a PDF of how I structure journal club inside the free Pharmacy Nation Community.
If you like this post, check out my book – A Pharmacist’s Guide to Inpatient Medical Emergencies: How to respond to code blue, rapid response calls, and other medical emergencies.
The information in this is really very helpful and it gives a direction if you really want to gain much knowledge along with updating oneself. Thank you pharmacyjoe.
Thank you!
Wanted to say THANK YOU for such GREAT information provided in concise easy to read that we can incorporate very easily in our busy schedule…You are AWESOME…Thanks again!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Great tutorial. Thank you!
my favorite podcasts: EMCrit, Emergency Medicine Cases, EM Basic, ICU Rounds (sad that Dr Jeffrey Guy stopped recording new podcasts in 2007), SMACC.
Unfortunately, I cannot discuss new articles — no one to discuss with– as a nurse I feel isolated 🙁
Thank you!
Maybe the pharmacists or physicians you work with will want to talk about new articles with you? If not perhaps a clinical nurse educator or your local nursing school will be interested in starting a journal club. Please let me know how you make out!
I feel grateful to you for your podcasts and for your prompt attention to the questions of your audience. To get even a little nudge to the right direction is already very helpful. To be able to discuss medications, an alien planet that we nurses have to know in order to survive :)– agree?– is a great help!
So far, I was doing my own research, trying to find the answers to my questions. Not always successfully.
If I get at least some response to my questions, I will be much obliged, Pharmacy Joe.
Thank you again.
Inka_resilentRN