After dozens of visits to physicians' offices, and in consultation with Practice Visitors, the Director of Practice Improvement has prepared a list of favorite references for a primary care medical office in Alberta.

To keep the list brief, only print material available from within Alberta or electronic materials available without charge from the Internet are included. Canadian sources are listed first or exclusively when they are equivalent to non-Canadian sources.

This list represents a collection of resources that practicing Alberta physicians have found useful in guiding their decisions. It is not a recommendation or endorsement by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. The Director of Practice Improvement thanks the many physicians who provided valuable input through their work with the PAR program.

1. Reference material for the office

This list represents reference material that should be available on site to assist in timely decisions, while the patient is still in the office.

A. "I can't practice without!":

• Compendium of Pharmaceutical and Specialties (CPS) or equivalent drug reference (e.g. Epocrates, MosbyRx, Lexidrugs)

• Bugs and Drugs (antimicrobial pocket reference by Blondell-Hill and Fryters)

• Treatment Guidelines for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (published by Alberta Health and Wellness)

• Clinical Practice Guidelines (published by the Alberta Clinical Practice Guideline Program)

• Basic medical reference text (e.g. one or more of Therapeutic Choices, Griffith's 5-minute Consult, Washington Manual series, Current Diagnosis and Treatment)

• Basic pediatric reference text (e.g. Griffith's 5-minute Pediatric Consult, Washington Manual series, Current Pediatric Diagnosis and Treatment)

• Determining Medical Fitness to Drive (published by the Canadian Medical Association) and available at: www.cma.ca under Office for Public Health, then under Public Health Issues.

• Tables and charts:
  • Comparative potencies of oral contraceptives
  • Pediatric growth charts
  • Body Mass Index graph
  • Prenatal forms
  • Mini Mental Status Examination charts

  • Diabetes Care Flow sheet (available through Alberta CPG Program or on website)

• Current phone numbers:
  • Poison Centre for Alberta
  • Child Abuse Hotline
  • Local hospitals
  • Local Travellers' Clinic
  • Local Social Services office
  • Local AADAC office
  • Local Mental Health clinic

   

B. "Highly recommended":

• Palliative care reference manual (e.g. Alberta Palliative Care Handbook)
• Basic reference on fracture treatment (e.g. Practical Fracture Treatment by McRae)
• Basic guide to interpretation of laboratory tests
• Synopsis and/or atlas of dermatology
• Basic reference on drugs in pregnancy (e.g. Drugs in Pregnancy by Briggs)
• Basic reference on clinical procedures (e.g. Procedures for Primary Care Physicians by Pfenninger)
• Quick Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from the DSM IV (published by the American Psychiatric Association)

• Mental Disorders in Primary Care - a guide and flow sheets for common conditions from the World Health Organization, available on-line

• Tables and charts
  • Comparative potencies of topical corticosteroids
  • Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care - Quick Tables

   

2. Browsable reference material for office and after-hours

• CMA* website, "Stay Informed" for access to practice guidelines, Medline, texts, and articles
• AMA website for clinical practice guidelines
• College of Family Physicians of Canada Library Services
• American Academy of Family Physicians to search past issues of American Family Physician
• Motherisk Program website for drugs in pregnancy, and more
• Cochrane Collaboration for abstracts of scientific reviews on subjects of wider interest

3. Patient education literature for general practice

Top five picks for sources of condensed information for your patients on common and not-so-common subjects:

• Canadian Medical Association* (Go to "MD Consult" then "Patient Handouts")
• Calgary Health Region
• Capital Health Authority
• College of Family Physicians of Canada
• American Academy of Family Physicians
  

*This site is free to members of the Alberta Medical Association but does require registration. Some resources may only be available to members.