You want to develop the ability to scan the list of references and quickly pick out the relevant ones. Usually you can tell whether a reference might be interesting just by the title. It helps to have some knowledge of what kinds of papers are out there. Here is a list of some of the kinds of articles you will find in the medical literature, arranged roughly from most to least useful. Review Articles Review articles are a virtual gold mine of information, and are one of the very best places to begin your detailed search.
Review articles are a summary of all of the current work in some area of science or medicine.
Review articles are primarily intended to keep professionals up on the latest research. Naturally review articles contain a very extensive list of useful references. Reviews can actually be of two types, reviews of a particular disease or condition, or reviews of a particular type of treatment or technology. Depending on the situation you may want to look for one or the other. It is extremely important to get recent review articles.