Access reading lists on our catalogue

We have begun adding reading lists to our library catalogue to make it easier for students and staff undertaking courses to find the books they need.

You can find the link on the left hand menu of the catalogue as pictured above.

The reading lists currently featured are from the University of Northampton nursing courses and medicine at the University of Leicester, as well as the nurse prescriber course.

We hope you find it useful.

Web site of the month: Almost a Doctor

Almost a Doctor is a free UK site aimed at medical students, junior doctors and other health professionals to help you (as the site says) "learn about stuff".




The site contains revision notes, flashcards, mind maps as well as  an online medical encyclopaedia which you can browse by category. 

The content of the site is written by both health professionals and students, but it is always reviewed by a doctor before publication to ensure all the content is accurate and of good quality.

Almost a Doctor is a really useful resource and highly recommended.

Web site of the month: Students 4 Best Evidence

www.students4bestevidence.net

Students 4 Best Evidence (S4BE) is an award-winning international blogging network for students interested in evidence based healthcare and supported by the Cochrane UK. Produced by nurses, medical students, AHPs and others, S4BE pulls together useful resources on evidence based healthcare and puts them all into a single interactive space.

S4BE is described as a community for students, by students, although in reality the content would be of equal interest to anyone with a focus on using evidence in their clinical practice.

The site aims to guide you through an understanding of what is evidence-based health care, how it is practised and what resources are available to support it. Sections of the site will take you through the whole evidence based practice cycle:

• Asking questions
• Searching for evidence
• Appraising research
• Acting on evidence
• Evaluating your practice

The site also has an interactive element and features blogs written by students as well as reviews of useful resources (websites, courses, databases etc). Students can also sign up to be a contributor to the site.

There are also a related social media sites including an S4BE Twitter & Facebook page, as well as a YouTube channel.

We think Students 4 Best Evidence is a really useful resource for students and anyone else who is interested in developing their skills in evidence based practice. Highly recommended 👍👍👍👍

Medical Masterclass - now available as an app

Medical Masterclass is a learning package designed to help trainee physicians as well as and doctors undertaking the MRCP.

We have had a subscription to the web site for some time, but the Royal College of Physicians has now produced a rather nifty app as another way to access this revision package.

Available for both Android and iOS (Apple) devices, the app is a well designed, easy to use way of accessing all the content from Medical Masterclass. It also tracks your performance as you go through revision questions, giving you a good idea of how you are performing.

The app itself is free, but to set up an account on Medical Masterclass you will need to contact the Richmond Library to obtain a user name and password to access the content.

If you are a doctor in training, undertaking the MRCP or just wanting to test your medical knowledge, Medical Masterclass is a good starting point and the new app has just made it even easier to access.

Web sites of the month: Serum Rhubarb & MedExam

www.medexam.net

This month's sites have a local flavour as they have both been developed by Declan O'Kane, a consultant physician from Northampton General Hospital.

MedExam.net is an educational resource for students. It features over 1850 questions for undergraduate and post-graduate exams with detailed answers. The questions cover a large range of clinical topics.

The site is free to use (just register to get access)

Serum Rhubarb is a free to access web site aimed at medical students, junior doctors and those interested in clinical internal medicine.

The site features a lot of good quality content coupled with a very simple, easy to use layout.

Currently subject area covered include:

• Cardiology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology and heptology
• Neurology
• Respiratory medicine
• Rheumatology

Both resources are great for students new to medicine or those needing to revise, and well worth a look.

Almost a Doctor

http://almostadoctor.co.uk/

Almost a Doctor was developed by (then) medical student Tom Leach in 2009 who shared his notes online with other students from Manchester University.

Since then the site has grown and Tom (now a junior doctor) was recognised by the Health Service Journal as one of 2013's top innovators and has featured in The Independent.

The site, aimed at medical students (but useful for  junior doctors, nurses and other clinical professions), features revision notes covering all stages of medical school.

Almost a Doctor has over 12,000 pages of content featuring course notes, articles and blogs, all edited by doctors. You can browse for information using broad categories or use the search facility to find what you are looking for. As well as different specialties, disease processes and anatomy, you can find information on clinical skills, data interpretation, drugs, examinations and scoring systems.

There is also an App for Apple devices with an Android version promised in early 2014.

Almost a Doctor contains a wealth of useful information and is well worth a look.