SOURCING

INFORMATION THE

RIGHT WAY

Shaivi Desai

EXPERIENCE IN A GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL

Challenges faced:

Patients from the lower socio-economic section of

the society, low literacy levels

Difficulty in interpreting doctors’ prescription and

understanding instructions

Unaware of legal rights

Lack of resources

Leads to poor quality health care

MY PERSPECTIVE Need to overhaul the healthcare delivery system to bring

about an improvement in health care and health status of

the country

While doctors strive to do their best for every patient, we

cannot expect best results unless the subject is involved

himself

Patient education- an integral part

In the current scheme of things, patient plays a passive

role, feels helpless and submits himself in the hands of

the doctor. This is a pity since there is a huge database

and plenty of information available to access

TYPES OF SOURCES

Primary source

Secondary source

Tertiary source

DIFFERENT SOURCES

Books: Medical textbooks published by academic publishers (egElsevier, Informa) are often excellent secondary sources.

-Biomedical journals : Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), British Medical Journal (BMJ), Core basic science and biology journals include Science and Nature.

-Medical and scientific bodies: Statements and information from reputable major medical and scientific bodies may be valuable encyclopaedic sources. Eg. British National Health Service, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization.

-Medical literature: Google Scholar, PubMed

-Consumer health libraries such as Health Education Library for People

-Self-help groups and workshops: Soumil will be talking more on it.

-The internet: WebMD, eMedicine

-And your doctor of course!

TO ASSESS EVIDENCE QUALITY

Are the authors and their credentials clearly stated? Are widely cited by other researchers in the same field?

Are the funding sources, sponsorships, advertising deals or any potential conflicts of interest disclosed?

Are the claims made by the site supported by research findings, and if so are details to the original source of this data given? Is uncertainty and the paper's place in the wider scientific discourse acknowledged.

Does the web page contain details of when it was created and last updated?

Has the paper has been reviewed through formal or informal peer review?

Have recognized experts in the field commented or offered informal opinion on the data or the experimental and mathematical methods?

THE INTERNET BOOM- A BOON?

While the internet has made disseminating

information exceedingly easy for professionals and

patients alike view this growth with equal parts

delight and distress

One must learn to sieve through the abundant

sources available to arrive at reliable and relevant

information.

CONCLUSION

“The unknown is sometimes scarier than what they

tell you”