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M1 Resources: Top Databases

Resources for first year medical students.
Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 4:18 PM

Notes

These resources are available to you because you are affiliated with the University at Buffalo. Use your UB credentials for remote access. Click on the hyperlinked title to read more about each database. Several of these resources have apps, including VisualDx, UpToDate, AccessMedicine, ClinicalKey, and Visible Body Human Anatomy Atlas App 2020. There are special instructions detailing how to install the apps.

Databases with Apps

VisualDx logo

VisualDx is a clinical decision support tool with 45,000 images of medical conditions and a differential diagnosis builder with 3,500 diagnoses. VisualDx is a leading skin of color atlas, and around a third of the images are skin type IV, V, or VI on the Fitzpatrick scale.

VisualDx offers a customized differential builder with guided workup and DDx strength indicator. Input a symptom, medication, or diagnosis in the search box or use the quick start differential builder to build a differential by the most common chief complaints by specialty. Change the sex and age of the patient and filter images by body location, skin type, and stage of disease. Click on a diagnosis to view a quick summary, the full article, or images associated with the diagnosis. Expert content includes a synopsis, ICD codes, what to look for, diagnostic pearls, differential diagnosis & pitfalls, best tests, management pearls, therapy, associated medications, and references. Links to related content from UpToDate and PubMed are also available.

Explore LearnDerm, a self-study dermatology education resource that consists of 5 interactive lessons to help build a solid foundation in essential terminology and improve pattern recognition skills. The LearnDerm Tutorial covers the basic skin exam, lesion types, distribution and body location, configurations, and an introduction to disease variation.

You can create a free personal account in order to use the mobile app. Here's how:

  • Go to VisualDx.
  • Click Get the Mobile App.
  • Fill in the form to create a personal account.
  • Search for and download the VisualDx app in either the App Store or Google Play.
  • Open the app and enter the username and password you created.

Check out VisualDx's Tutorials page to learn more about how to use this powerful resource.


UpToDate is an evidence-based clinical resource which provides specific, detailed answers to clinical questions and treatment recommendations based on the best medical evidence. World-renowned physician authors, editors and peer reviewers synthesize the most recent medical information into evidence-based topic reviews addressing clinical issues that span over 22 specialties. Topic reviews include links to fully illustrated and referenced charts, x-rays, photographs, movies and Medline abstracts with links to full text from subscribed journals. 

The product also includes: medical calculators; Practice Changing Updates and What’s New sections that highlight specific new recommendations that may change current clinical practice; different levels of patient education materials; ability to search in 10 languages; search filters for adult, pediatric, patient and graphics; topic prompts to assist in searching; and a link directly to Lexi-Comp to search drug-drug, drug-herb, and herb-herb interactions.

Register for an UpToDate account on or off campus and use that account if you want to install the UpToDate app on your mobile device.


Access Medicine logo

AccessMedicine is a comprehensive online medical resource that includes nearly 100 references, including the latest editions of respected medical texts such as Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine and CURRENT Medical Diagnosis & Treatment.

Besides these key medical textbooks, the database also contains examination and procedural videos, patient safety modules, audio files and animations, interactive self-assessment tools, drug monographs, cases, patient education, diagnostic and point-of-care tools, a comprehensive search platform, and the ability to view from, and download content to, a mobile device.

Updated frequently by expert physicians, AccessMedicine provides access to the information necessary for completing evaluations, diagnoses, and case management decisions, as well as for pursuing research, medical education, or self-assessment and board exams review. A free MyAccess profile is required in order to use certain features, such as Review Questions and Flashcards.


Clinical Key logo

ClinicalKey is a search engine and database of peer-reviewed and evidence-based clinical information resources designed to support physician patient care decisions. The content is subject to a rigorous peer-review process by doctors, clinical pharmacists, and nurses to ensure its reliability.

Search or browse ClinicalKey’s resources, which include over one thousand Elsevier medical and surgical reference book titles, journals, clinical trials, drug monographs, guidelines, patient education materials in multiple languages, multimedia, Clinical Overviews for clinical decision support, and Procedure Videos for video, text, and illustrations for top medical procedures. A Clinical Focus feature screens for books, articles (systematic reviews, meta-analyses, narrative reviews), drug monographs, and guidelines all from within the past 3 years.

Databases with Apps Continued

Visible Body Human Anatomy Atlas 2020 includes comprehensive 3D gross anatomy of the male and female, select microanatomy of the sense and tissue types, cadaver slices and MRIs that are paired with 3D models, and 3D moving models of muscles and bones. There are definitions, pronunciations, and disease descriptions. Different views of the human body can be created using the rotate and zoom tools and anatomy can be dissected. Visible Body Human Anatomy Atlas 2020 is available on a computer or mobile device on or off campus.

Databases

NetAnatomy

NetAnatomy is designed to teach human anatomy to health professions students. The content available at NetAnatomy addresses three anatomical areas: Gross Anatomy, Radiographic Anatomy, and Cross-Sectional Anatomy. Each area includes a description, labels, and a test feature where you are prompted to identify the structures shown on the screen.


PubMed logo

The National Library of Medicine produces MEDLINE, the premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. The PubMed database provides free of charge access to all MEDLINE citations; in-process citations (PreMEDLINE); out-of-scope citations from MEDLINE journals; and citations that precede the date that a journal was selected for MEDLINE indexing.


Ovid Online logo

Produced by the U.S. National Library of MedicineMEDLINE is the premier database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and the pre-clinical sciences. A distinctive feature of MEDLINE is that the records are indexed with NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Using MeSH to search will help to retrieve information that uses different terminology for the same concept. The default search setting in Ovid MEDLINE is a keyword search that will map the term to a subject heading. MEDLINE is the primary component of PubMed, a freely accessible database of biomedical citations.


Case Files Collection of Access Medicine

The Case Files Collection helps students learn and apply basic science and clinical medicine concepts in the context of realistic patient cases. The cases in this collection can help students at all levels excel in coursework and in clinical rotations. The electronic format also allows faculty to integrate clinical cases into their digital curricula.

Use your MyAccess account to save and email answers for case & comprehensive questions and to track what cases you open and complete. If you do not have an account, it is free to register. You can use the same account in AccessMedicine and AccessPharmacy.


Jove logo

JoVE Clinical Skills is available via our JoVE Unlimited subscription. It is a part of JoVE Science Education. Clinical Skills contains five video collections that demonstrate physical exam techniques. Three collections center on the essentials of physical examination, another focuses on techniques in emergency medicine and critical care, and the last collection covers clinical skills essentials in nursing.


HS Talks logo

Henry Stewart Talks contains over 2,500 streaming audio-visual lectures delivered by world-renowned experts. Topics of coverage include but are not limited to: cancer, clinical medicine, diseases, disorders & treatments, immunology, and metabolism & nutrition. Talks range in complexity from basic to highly advanced. Talks are compatible with many different devices including PC, Mac, iPhone, Android, tablet devices, and others.

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Subjects: Medicine