Resources

Website Description
Best Bets Quick answers to common problems (but often ER type so scope is limited) written by physicians or trainees. Includes search terms, summaries of search results and a clinical bottom line.
Cochrane Collaboration Independent, volunteer reviews of clinical evidence. Sometimes a bit dated but reviews are nicely done, comprehensive for the date of publication.
CPSBC Library College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia Library
CPSBC Audiovisual & PDA resources Online multimedia procedures training and reference in emergency medicine and anesthesia.
CPSBC Cites and Bytes Monthly newsletter from CPSBC to help keep up to date with new developments in medicine.
Databases Search through various medical databases
Doctor’s Guide A nice section on conferences offered throughout the world, sorted by specialty, location or date (see the Congress resource Center link on the left hand menu). Summarizes some late breaking medical news and CME events.
Electronic Journals 2500 e-journals in full text including BMJ, Lancet, and 18 Clinics of North America titles
Epocrates Online A web version of the great epocrates drug database program (available in free & paid versions on iPhone, iPod Touch, Palm PDAs, Windows Mobile, Blackberry). Requires free registration. Rapid lookup of drug doses, side effects and interactions. An impressive, easy to use multicheck function allows drug interaction checking among >20 meds at once. Requires free registration. Premium version ($99 USD/yr) opens up pill identifiers, OTC and herbal databases. Note largely has US brand names and many Canada-only names/drugs not included.
Family Doctor.org Great site for patient handouts and well written, easy to understand information. A search box allows patients to search for their conditions or treatments. Offers good links and printer-friendly versions.
Journal of Family Practice Great section with patient handouts.
Physician’s First Watch Subscription based ($99/yr) but some free articles. Large spectrum of specialties covered, can choose which fields you want to follow. Physician’s First Watch (free) provides summaries of current medical news topics.
POEMS Read POEMs (Patient Oriented Evidence that Matters): Quick reads with structured research updates relevant to practice. Sign up to receive them as reoccurring emails or read their past articles. Subscription based ($114 USD/yr).
PubMed A simplified interface to searching medical literature (MEDLINE database). Easy to use search box with links to articles and related trials.
SumSearch A metasearching service which searches MEDLINE (for review articles, guidelines, etc), Merck Manual and other textbooks, DARE database (Database of Abstract of Reviews of Effectiveness), and National Guideline Clearinghouse from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR).
The Heart.org Nice summaries and discussion of recent cardiovascular trials/late-breaking news
Trip Database A simple search site for EBM resources. Uses a search box like Google but restricts results to ~75 recognized EBM resources. Nice filters (Reviews, Guidelines, research, etc)
UBC CPD Resources Learning materials on many medical topics with files, recordings, videos, and links. Toolkits for specific topics or learners.
UpToDate, UpToDate Patients Subscription based ($495 USD/yr), excellent regularly updated articles, with good links and current references. Large selection of patient info at uptodate.com/patients
Wikipedia Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. Articles can be written by anyone but are also open for review and commenting/editing by others. It relies on the ‘wisdom of crowds’ to edit and ensure accuracy of information. Definitely not peer reviewed but may provide a better starting place for patients rather than “Dr. Google.” In my experience, most medical articles are too short but seem reasonably balanced and accurate. Most articles provide useful links for further reading.