Evidence-based medicine databases: changing needs along the path from physician assistant student to clinician.

their clinical questions. INTRODUCTION A common question we get from our students is, “What’s the best electronic medical database that will help me answer questions during PA school?” Common to our role as medical educators, our usual response is “it depends.” This conundrum brings to mind the choice we faced as students three decades ago when deciding whether to reach for a voluminous Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine or the concise and timely Lange Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment. In the precomputer era, the choices were perhaps simpler, but less satisfying from an evidence standpoint. A recent study identified more than 30 databases available free or by subscription to students.1 They range from the unscreened, open access breadth of PubMed to carefully appraised and highly clinicianfriendly DynaMed and Essential Evidence Plus. Our noncommittal answer is driven by the need to choose the right tool for the right job. And that job evolves throughout the educational process. The educational and clinical evidence needs of PA students change depending on their stage of training and the depth of their foundational knowledge. The requirements of didactic year students preparing for a gastroenterology final or a problembased learning module differ from those of a student sitting in an examination room with a patient. As a result, it may be prudent for educators responding to this question to be mindful of matching the tool to the student’s stage of training and the setting where the learning takes place.