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DynaMed
Featured Resource 2007 No. 106
Past Issues

DynaMed®

DynaMed is an evidence-based clinical reference tool designed for health care professionals for use at the point-of-care. DynaMed consists of nearly 2000 clinically-relevant topic summaries created through review of over 500 medical journals and systematic evidence review databases. DynaMed also includes over 800 topic summaries from AHFS Drug Information®. Licensed through UVM's Dana Medical Library and updated daily, DynaMed is available through the Internet (on-site and remotely) and via PDAs. 

DynaMed topics include:

  • Common and uncommon diseases & conditions
  • Symptoms (e.g., chest pain, fever of unknown origin, failure to thrive)
  • Other clinically important topics (e.g., breast feeding, cardiac stress testing)
  • Topics of popular interest (e.g., West Nile Virus, Anthrax, SARS)
  • New scope of information based on developing research (e.g.,  metabolic syndrome, D-timer testing)

DynaMed is particularly useful to nurses, medical students and residency programs. With continuous availability at the point-of-care, the database provides a means for off-hour research as well as a simple, easy-to-use, PDA-accessible interface for timely extraction of information.  In addition, DynaMed includes access to patient educational resources to help present medical information to patients in an easy-to-understand manner.

How to connect to DynaMed

  • Go to Dana Medical Library's homepage . 
  • Click on the DynaMed link under Databases & E-Books. 
  • To access DynaMed from off-campus, you must be a UVM or FAHC faculty, staff, or student. See the Connect from Off-Campus link on the Dana Medical Library homepage for details.
  • Unaffiliated patrons may use DynaMed on site at Dana Medical Library. 

Searching DynaMed

DynaMed clinical summaries can be accessed either through browsing or through searching the full text of the entire database. 

To search:

  • enter the first word of a topic title in the Find box, and click the Browse Topic button, or ...
  • enter terms within the topic title or anywhere within the full text of the entire database in the Find box, and click the Search Text button.  This will bring up a relevancy-ranked list of results.

To browse:

  • click on the appropriate letter in the A - Z list, or ...
  • use the Browse by Category link to find the desired topic.

 

Components of a DynaMed topic summary

Topics covering diseases, conditions, symptoms, and other presentations follow a standardized template:
  • General Information (including ICD-9/-10 codes)
  • Causes & Risk Factors
  • Complications & Associated Conditions
  • History
  • Physical
  • Diagnosis
  • Prognosis
  • Treatment
  • Prevention & Screening
  • References (including reviews & guidelines)
  • Patient Information
  • Acknowledgements

For example, bring up the topic summary for Cardiogenic shock. Note the table of contents on the left sidebar. Click on the section of interest, or click on Expand All to view the entire topic summary.

Note the highlighted references in this portion of the Treatment section of the DynaMed Cardiogenic Shock topic summary:  

DynaMed topic summaries are written based on the best available evidence found in the professional literature. In-context references are provided, with links to the PubMed record or other DynaMed content source. EBSCOhost Full Text links are provided when the full text of a cited article is available via an EBSCOhost database to which the University of Vermont subscribes.

DynaMed utilizes three "Level of Evidence" labels to help readers determine the quality of the evidence that contributed to the summaries:

  • Level 1: Likely Reliable Evidence - e.g. rigorous randomized trials
  • Level 2: Mid-level Evidence - e.g. non-randomized comparison studies
  • Level 3: Lacking Direct Evidence - e.g. case series, case reports, expert opinion

Key DynaMed Features

  • Designed for rapid, easy use at the point-of-care
  • Updated daily to provide the most up-to-date, accurate information
  • Evidence-based systematic selection of best available evidence
  • Thousands of article references and web links
  • Patient information handouts
  • Electronic Health Records linking capability through EBSCOhost Integration Toolkit
  • Clinical Questions tools for residents and students
  • Competency Tracker
  • Overdose Curves
  • CME credits

For more information about DynaMed, or any other online resource at Dana Medical Library:

  • Contact a reference librarian for personalized assistance:
    • in person, at the reference desk, Mon-Friday 8:30 am -5:00 pm,
    • by phone, at 802-656-2201
    • or send an email to danaref@uvm.edu.