MS 640: Introduction to Biomedical Information Medical Professionalism Finding Information Using Alumni Medical Library Resources

MS 640: Introduction to Biomedical Information

Medical Professionalism

Finding Information Using Alumni Medical Library Resources


Bioethics Subject Guide Page

Subjects A-Z tab on library homepage

The Bioethics Subject Guide contains links to the library catalog, relevant e-texts, databases, journals, and recommended websites that are good starting places for an information search.


Print Materials: Library CatalogSearch the library catalog for books on a topic.

There are three main ways it may be helpful to

search the catalog: by Keyword, by Subject,

and using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)


Searching the Catalog: Keywords

A keyword search looks for the terms you enter

in the title or description of the item.

Here, you can simply use “medical professionalism."


Searching the Catalog: Subject

Choose Advanced Search option


Searching the Catalog: Subject

Select Subject

from menu

Subject terms to try:

• Bioethics• Medical Ethics• Physicians – Professional Ethics


Searching the Catalog: MeSHMeSH (Medical Subject Headings) is the vocabulary

used to index articles in PubMed.

You can also search the library catalog using these

terms.

The next slide shows MeSH terms that may be useful in

locating print information on Medical Professionalism.


MeSH Terms for the Catalog

Professionalism/ethics • Bioethics• Ethics, Medical• Physician's Role• Professional Practice

Specific issues • Confidentiality• Conflict of Interest • Privacy• Truth Disclosure


Searching for Journal Articles

Often you will not find a print book on your topic, and will wish to search one or more of the library's databases to locate useful journal articles.

The premier database for biomedical journal literature is the National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE, accessible through PubMed.

MEDLINE uses the MeSH vocabulary.


MEDLINE: OverviewMillions of citations to articles in biomedical journals

Sign in through the Medical Library homepage to get full-text access to articles in journals to which the library subscribes.


MeSH Notes

Many more MeSH terms are useful for article searches in PubMed than are likely to be used for print items in the library catalog.

Medical Professionalism is a broad and varied topic with many potentially relevant terms, so you may need to try different combinations of headings depending on exactly what you're looking for.

It is almost always a good idea to use a controlled vocabulary (like MeSH) if one is available, since a human is responsible for assigning these terms.


MeSH in PubMed

To take advantage of the MeSH terms once you are on the PubMed site, click on MeSH Database under More Resources.


Locating MeSH Terms

Enter search terms one at a time and click Go. The system will suggest MeSH terms related to your concept.

The next slide shows MeSH terms that may be helpful for locating materials on Medical Professionalism.

Choose those that seem most promising for your topic.


MeSH Terms for Professionalism

Professionalism/ethics • Bioethics• "Codes of Ethics"• Ethics, Medical• Physician's Role• Physicians (with Ethics

and Standards subheadings)• Professional Practice

Specific issues • Confidentiality• "Conflict of Interest" • Disclosure• Drug industry• Gift Giving• Industry• Privacy• Truth Disclosure


Searching with MeSH TermsIf more than one term is suggested, check the box

beside the one that looks most useful.

You can also click on a term for more information and to select subheadings.


SubheadingsSubheadings focus on a specific aspect of a topic. For

example, the MeSH term Physicians is extremely broad.

Using the

ethics

and

standards

subheadings limits the results to those most likely to be relevant to the topic of Medical Professionalism.


Searching PubMed with MeSH

Once you have checked off a search term, you will tell PubMed to search for it.

Click Send To and select Search Box with AND.


Searching, ContinuedThis creates a search box in which you will build your

PubMed search.

You can either click to Search PubMed immediately, or add more terms to your search in the same way you added the first one, using AND or OR to combine.


ResultsWhen you have the search terms you want, click Search PubMed

to see results.

Review articles and articles available in free full text will be sorted out for you.

Note that ‘Free Full Text’ in this context means free to anyone: you may have full text access to more than these articles through BU’s subscriptions.


Refining Results

If you get too many results to easily review, you can click on the Advanced Search link to apply limits.

Scroll down to Limits.

Limits let you narrow search results by article type, publication year, subject criteria, language and more. It is advisable to apply limits one at a time, to see how each affects the search results.


Keyword Searches

If there is no MeSH term for a concept, you always have the option to search for the original term as a keyword: simply type it in the search box on the front page of PubMed, rather than using the MeSH Database.

Since the word "professionalism" may be used by authors even though it is not a MeSH term, it is a good idea to run this keyword search.


Combining Search Results

You can run searches for several different terms separately and then combine your results.

Click on Advanced Search to see a list of searches you have completed.


Combining Searches, ContinuedRight-click the number next to a search and select:

- AND (if you want results to contain both of the terms from the initial searches)

- OR (if you want results to contain either of the terms from the initial searches)


Example: Use of ‘OR’If there is no MeSH term for a concept, as with MedicalProfessionalism, it may be helpful to combine severalrelated terms using OR to create one search in the MeSH Database covering that broader concept.

Your search of PubMed will now be much more comprehensive.


Example: Use of ‘AND’

If you are interested in medical professionalism as it relates to a specific issue, for example "conflict of interest," you can search for this term as well and then combine it on the Advanced Search page with your broader concept, using AND.


Viewing and Accessing Results

Results of the most recent search will normally be displayed.

To see results for an earlier search, click Advanced Search and click on the number listed to the right of any search.


Article Information

Click the title of an article to see the abstract (if available) and other citation information.

Look for a full-text link at the upper right if BU has an online subscription to the journal.

The Find@BU link will search the catalog to see if the journal is available in print.


Article Information, Continued

Scroll down and click on Publication Types,

MeSH Terms to see terms used to index an

article.

If any of these look useful,

you can click to add them

to your search. This can be a

good way to find relevant

terms for a search.


PubMed Help

• Alumni Medical Library tutorials: http://medlib.bu.edu/tutorials/medline/

• Reference Desk, staffed 8:30am-5:00pm weekdays

• Meet with a librarian: call or email to make an appointment


Other Useful Databases

MEDLINE is the primary resource for biomedical journal articles, but other databases may also be helpful:

• Academic OneFile

• CINAHL (Cumulated Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature)

• PsycINFO

• Web of Knowledge


Accessing Databases

Access databases on the Alumni Medical Library

homepage under E-Resources


Academic OneFile

Academic OneFile lists articles from journals covering a

broad range of subjects.

While it does not primarily focus on medical topics,

useful articles can still be found here.


Academic OneFile: SubjectSubject Guide Search:• Medical Ethics• Professional Ethics

Also, click 'related subjects' to see subject headings for specific ethical issues


Academic OneFile: Keyword

Advanced Search:• Keyword: medical

And • Keyword: professionalism


Academic OneFile: Results

You can refine results by adding more search terms, or by limiting to publication type, document type, date, etc.


CINAHL

CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health

Literature) covers major nursing and allied health

journals.

It will not always be relevant for biomedical searches,

but it can be a good source of information on some

topics.


CINAHL: Subject

CINAHL Headings (subject search): • Professionalism • Ethics, Professional• Ethics, Medical


CINAHL: Keyword

Advanced Search:

Select TX All Text and enter keywords:

• medicaland• professionalism


CINAHL: Results

You can narrow and limit results, add extra search terms, or search the library catalog for the journal.


CINAHL: Results

Click an article title to see the full reference and the subject terms used to index it.

If one of them seems relevant, you can click to run a search for that term.


PsycINFO

PsycINFO (and PsycARTICLES, a subset that includes only full-text articles) searches the psychological literature.

PsycINFO is larger (including all information from the PsycARTICLES subset), so for a broad search, you will want to use it even though many results are not full-text.

If you want only full-text results, you may wish to use PsycARTICLES.

Both may be searched in the same way.


PsycINFO: Subject

Thesaurus (Subject) Search:

• Bioethics• Professionalism• Professional Ethics• Professional Standards

And• Physicians


PsycINFO: Combining SubjectsTry combining subject headings: ((DE "Professionalism" or DE "Professional Standards" or DE "Professional Ethics" or DE "Bioethics")) and (DE "Physicians")

You can also apply various limits to narrow the search.


PsycINFO: Keyword

Advanced Search:

Select TX All Text and enter "medical professionalism."

Depending on the specific topic of your search, you may also wish to try other keywords.


PsycINFO: Results

You can narrow and limit results, add extra search terms, or access full text (if available).


PsycINFO: Results

Click the article title to see the full reference and subject

terms used to index it.

If one of the other indexing terms seems relevant, you

can click to run a search for that term.


Web of Knowledge

Web of Knowledge is a major source for articles in a

wide range of fields, including the sciences,

social sciences, and humanities.

The subset database Web of Science is an excellent

place to find articles from scientific journals that may not

be included in MEDLINE.


Web of Knowledge: Search

Web of Knowledge (and its subset database, Web of Science) does not use a controlled vocabulary to index items, so effective use of keywords is necessary.

Try "medical professionalism" as a topic phrase.


Web of Knowledge: Results

Refine the search by adding additional terms related to the specific issue (i.e. "confidentiality") or by checking off specific categories or subject areas.

You can also try additional topickeywords.

Since there is no standardized listof subject terms, you may need to try the search with several differentterms and combinations.


Web of ScienceThis science-focused subset of Web of Knowledge also lacks a standardized subject vocabulary, but does offer an Advanced Search option (it can also be searched in the same way as Web of Knowledge using the default Search mode).

Access Web of Science from its tab on the main Web of Knowledge page.


Web of Science: Search

In the Advanced Search mode, you must use the listed "field tags," i.e. TS= for a Topic (or subject).

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) may also be used.


Web of Science: Search

Try for example:(ts=medical OR ts=physician) AND (ts=professionalism OR ts=professional ethics)

Scroll to Search History at the bottom of the page and click on the number of results to display.


Web of Science: Results

You can then narrow the results by adding more terms or checking a desired Subject Area, Document Type, etc.

Again, you may need to try several combinations of keywords sincethere is no standardized listof subject terms.


Web Searching: Google Scholar

Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) can be a way to locate relevant materials that are not published in journals; position papers, association guidelines, policy statements, etc.

Try combining various synonyms of your keywords with Boolean operators (AND, OR) to focus your query.

For example:(medical OR physician) (professionalism OR professional ethics OR professional standards)


For Additional Assistance

If you have questions about any of the library's resources, or would like advice on a search:

• Call or visit the Reference Desk 8:30am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday: (617) 638-4228

• Email your question to [email protected]

• Call or email to make an appointment to meet with a librarian

Your library is here for you!


Additional Resources

• Fundamentals of Medical Ethics, World Medical Association: Course offering 8 CME hours.

• Gender in Medical Education: Professionalism, Gender and Health Collaborative Curriculum: Module examining professionalism and gender.

• Professionalism & Social Responsibility in Medicine [PDF], National Health Care for the Homeless Council: Practice cases on ethical issues of providing care to homeless persons and undocumented immigrants.

• What You Should Know About Gifts to Physicians From Industry, American Medical Association: Series of self-study CME modules on professional relations with industry.

Documents

MS 640: Introduction to Biomedical Information Medical Professionalism Finding Information Using Alumni Medical Library Resources