Users' Guides Interactive

The JAMA 25-article series, Users' Guides to the Medical Literature, began publication in 1993 and is recognized as a seminal resource in the teaching and practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM) [1]. Guyatt and Rennie, editors, and the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group later collected and updated information from the articles into a monograph, Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: A Manual for Evidence-Based Clinical Practice in 2002 [2]. A CD-ROM version is included with the text. Users' Guides Interactive is the next iteration of the guides presented as a Web-based interactive online textbook containing all the same information found in the book and CD-ROM versions of the Users' Guides. This is an entirely new rendering of the JAMA Users' Guides series that currently resides on the Centre for Health Evidence Website [3]. The Users' Guides Interactive Website was developed by Dr. Robert Hayward and Tanya Voth at the Centre for Health Evidence, University of Alberta in Edmonton, along with the editors of JAMA. Users' Guides Interactive will consist of three levels offered as separate Internet-based subscription services. At this time, however, only the Users' Guides Interactive Learner is available. The Users' Guides Interactive Learner Website is included in all paid individual and institutional subscriptions to JAMA or Archives journals. The Users' Guides Interactive contains all content, markup, and technology embedded in the Users' Guides CD-ROM optimized for use on the Internet along with some additional content and technology not included in the textbook or CD-ROM. Users' Guides Interactive Learner offers the full text of the Users' Guides to Medical Literature and additional Web resources for those who need expanded Internet content and interactivity to help them understand the Users' Guides. Text is available in PDF files for those who prefer to work from a printed copy. A three-part desktop offers a Navigator to search table of contents, a Main Reading Panel, and a Work Pad. The Main Reading Panel contains the text, tables, figures, references, and definitions. The Pop-Up Citations within the text are embedded hypertext links to articles and the Search Strategy icons in each “Finding the Evidence” section activate for preloaded PubMed searches. Part one covers the basics of using the medical literature with an introduction to the philosophy of EBM and sections on questions of therapy, harm, diagnosis, and prognosis. Part two expands on these topics with advanced applications. For example, the therapy section addresses such things as the principle of Intention-to-Treat, bias, and quality of life. The Work Pad provides interactive tools and quick links specifically designed for each topic. Tools include: Clipboard for personal workspace Question Builder to format and store PICO-formatted questions Calculators for computing concepts, such as Confidence Interval and Number Needed to Treat Worksheets for developing Critically Appraised Topics with areas for the clinical question information, appraisal questions about the validity, reliability, and applicability of an article and comment area Interactive cases Anticipated, but still in pilot test form and unavailable for review, are Users' Guides Interactive Practitioner and Teacher. Users' Guides Interactive Practitioner will include all the content of Users' Guides Interactive Learner delivered in a desktop package that integrates the Users' Guides with other evidence-based information resources, searching guides, and automated links to Internet sources. Users' Guides Interactive Teacher will include all the content and functionality of Users' Guides Interactive Practitioner and add teaching resources, tutorial scripts, and instructional packages to support teachers of evidence based medicine. The slide sets and interactive teaching tools should be suitable for rounds, workshops, and curriculum-integrated programs. Users' Guide Interactive Learner is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. The site can be accessed from the JAMA and Archives home page or directly at http://www.usersguides.org. Institutional subscribers will be automatically transferred to the Users' Guide Interactive Learner Website. JAMA and Archives individual subscribers log on to the site with a user name and password. If you own a copy of the Users' Guides book, you can register for a free trial. Users' Guide Interactive Learner provides one more format of the Users' Guides and is designed to meet the needs of those who respond to an interactive Web-based educational environment. It can also serve as a supplemental teaching aid to which EBM instructors can turn to supply hands-on exercises and reinforcement of formal class instruction. A decision on the ultimate value of Users' Guide Interactive will have to wait until Practitioner and Teacher become available. For now, the quality and reputation of the Users' Guides content and the ready accessibility of Learner make it a valuable option for EBM students.