Reference books in hospitals?

Question

Hello doctors and nurses.

What reference books do you use in the hospitals, doctors surgerys and other medical facilities?

Snow Man

Answer 1

Usually bound volumes of old journals. We have the basic books at home. Sometimes you refer to a text that you don't own. Medical Libraries also carry a lot more journals than one ordinarily subscribes to, and if you want something current that is not in one of the journals you take, you go to the Library.

Or are you asking what the standard medical texts are?

Answer 2

At the university hospital where I was on staff there was an extensive library with three librarians at your beck and call, wonderful women who could find the most obscure article within a few minutes, often sooner.

I also was on staff at a small community hospital where the library consisted of one or two standard textbooks in each discipline, such as Harrison and Cecil (Int Med); Nelson and Oski (peds), etc. They also had current journals in various specialties, and bound volumes of those journals. The librarian was part-time in early years, but later full time.

On the shelf in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit we kept a few reference books.

In our private office we kept books on pediatrics, educational and behavioral problems, adolescent diseases, adolescent gynecology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric radiology atlas, dermatology atlas, the PDR, and of course the Red Book, the pediatrician's bible on infectious diseases and immunization practices. Nowadays some of this info is online or available on a hand held device.

Answer 3

Hi Snow Man

You can check out the Medical Central page on Facebook. There are several recommended books, video training and free online medical journals too. And of course since it is a community of medical students and researchers, you can ask around there too :)

http://www.tinyurl.com/medicalcentral

Hope you find it useful!

David