MEDICAL REFERENCES

This page is designed as a virtual medical reference library. Specific more detailed sections can be accessed under the following headings:

• Drug and Prescribing Resources - a section that includes links to Pharmac, Medsafe, BNF and other medication related resources
• Guidelines and Evidence Based Medicine - links to a variety of EBM sites including NZGG and Bandolier
• Journals - links to a collection of medical journals with a brief review of each
• Midland DHBs - links to the DHBs associated with Pinnacle members. These sites include access to local guideline and planning documents
• Resources for Patients - this site contains links to providers of quality patient information locally (e.g. Everybody) and overseas (e.g. BMJ Best Treatments)
• Search Engines - a section with links to medically oriented search engines

Atlases

• Atlas of Human Anatomy - detailed labelled diagrams of human anatomy
• Instant Anatomy - clearly labelled and colour coded figurative anatomical diagrams
• Atlas of Dermatology - alphabetically listed images of a variety of skin conditions, including histological images
• Atlas of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - endoscopic images of common GI pathologies

Bold Promise Utility Tool
This tool is available for Medtech users to download from the Pinnacle website with instructions regarding installation: Go to the Projects page then access your PHO page using your Pinnacle password. A training session regarding use of the tool has been recorded and is available on the Projects page also. Bold Promise is a utility tool enabling identification of the population eligible for CVRA and monitoring of numbers screened and screening results at a practice population level - it is separate to best practice which is the electronic clinical decision support CVRA software.

Cardiovascular Risk Screening and Management
The assessment and recording of cardiovascular risk leads inevitably to the need for appropriate management. Patients will have varying needs and abilities to self manage and provision of lifestyle modification information in an accessible fashion will be useful for many. Some resources that providers and patients may find helpful are listed below:

• National Heart Foundation - this site has a large variety of information sheets and pamphlets on cardiovascular health topics including exercise, diet etc. Pamphlets may be downloaded for printing or ordered online (free for volumes up to 50).
• Sport Waikato - this site has made available the resources used in the Te Wai O Rona diabetes study and includes simple health messages in Maori and English on exercise, diet and lifestyle changes. These are available for downloading and printing - from the Home page go to Te Wai O Rona, Resources, General Resources.
• Horticulture NZ - this site contains excellent resources on all aspects of vegetable consumption for various age groups. May be downloaded or ordered for free.
• Te Hotu Manawa - resources developed specifically for Maori on topics such as smoking cessation, dietary and lifestyle changes are available for ordering
• Activesmart - this award winning New Zealand site enables your patient to create a healthy living plan to suit their lifestyle and fitness needs
• charts to help explain the benefits and risks of statin medication: 5 year risk 15%, 5 year risk 20% and 5 year risk 25%.
• in order to lessen disparities in access and outcomes you may want to target eligible Maori patients as a priority group. A bpac publication discusses ethnic specific approaches to screening and risk management for Maori

Dermatology

• DermnetNZ - a locally developed site with an excellent collection of skin disease images and treatment advice suitable to show patients and print off. Also features CME quizzes eligible for MOPS/AVE points, dermoscopy quizzes and an extensive resource of worldwide dermatology links.

Diabetes

• Waikato Diabetes Service Community Guidelines - a comprehensive document covering all aspects of community and primary care management of diabetes with some content specific to the Waikato DHB region

ECG Resources

• ECG Learning Centre - an on-line educational resource including basics of ECG electrophysiology and interpretation
• ECG Library - a collection of images with accompanying case studies and aids to interpretation

General

• GP Notebook - an online encyclopaedia of medicine that provides an immediate reference resource for clinicians in the UK and internationally. Updated continuously, the database consists of over 26000 pages of information.
• Medical Dictionary - published by MedTerms, includes medical phrases and spellings of rare conditions, biochemical data etc.
• Medical Encyclopedia - published by Medline, contains an extensive collection of searchable information and images
• Medscape - This US oriented site provides free access (registration required but free) to CME (not RNZCGP approved), medical news, journal articles, the e-Medicine Clinical reference and MedPulse - an e-mail newsletter that highlightd the week's key news and features.
• The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy - this widely used handbook has free on-line access, with the latest edition available from mid-October 2006
• Merck Manual of Geriatrics - free access to the 3rd edition (2000) with content specific to geriatric medicine

Laboratory Results

• The Auckland DIAGNOSTIC MEDLAB site allows access to its diagnostic handbook with details of a huge variety of pathological tests and brief synopses of the conditions associated with them. There is also an antibiotic guidance handbook available with advice on appropriate use of antibiotics in many conditions.

Orthopedics

• A comprehensive on-line orthopedic textbook is available at the Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopedics site. It has a searchable database and covers a wide variety of orthopedic topics including treatment of fractures.
• A more concise orthopedic revision textbook in pdf format can be found here. It contains practical information and line drawings that may be useful for patient information

Pandemic Planning

• For links to regional and national pandemic resources go to pandemic planning.

Travel Medicine

• CDC Travel site - a comprehensive US based site offering information on all aspects of travel health including regualr updates of disease outbreaks and special precautions.
• Fitfortravel - the Scottish NHS travel medicine advice site which gives good general advice including regional detail about malaria requirements for different areas within a country. It is patient-focused.
• Traveldoctor - this is the site from the Australian Travellers Medical and Vaccination Centre clicking on the "staying healthy" icon at the top of the homepage gives links to every travel medicine site you could need including WHO, CDC, ISTM as well as Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and other general travel sites. You can print off fact sheets on various illnesses and food/mosquito precautions, and use the travel advisory service by typing in country, date of departure and length of stay to get instant recommendations on vaccines, malaria etc. Information on latest and recent disease outbreaks is also included.
• Tripprep - this is an excellent US based travel medicine site. You can select any country and see the health risks, recommendations for vaccination and malaria and other general medical advice. It also gives advice on crime, public transport, terrorism etc. Printouts are available on specific countries and specific diseases. Registration is required but is free.

Updates - Research

• Research Reviews
  - Research Reviews focus on the top ten most significant studies in a variety of health areas including general practice, and provide summaries and live links to full studies for more information. They provide an independent local commentary from leading NZ specialists providing high quality advice on why the research matters to New Zealanders. Registration is required but access is free.
• DHB Research Fund Newsletters - The DHB research fund is sponsoring original research on topics which impact on funding and planning for New Zealand DHBs. Regular newsletters available on the site summarise current local research on various themes.