Background Resources
Background resources provide an overview of a disease or condition, including what is generally known and accepted. Important background resources include:
- core health sciences textbooks
- review-type journal articles (also known as "narrative reviews")
- point-of-care tools
- clinical practice guidelines
Make sure to note the publication date for background resources -- knowledge of diseases, conditions and treatments changes frequently.
For additional suggestions from librarians, see the following guide content: Clinical Point-of-Care Tools, Clinical Practice Guidelines, and Health Sciences E-Books
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UC Davis Library Catalog: Advanced Search
Search UC Library Search for books, journals (not articles) and other materials available online or in the library.
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AccessMedicine This link opens in a new windowAccessMedicine is a core medical e-book collections from McGraw-Hill relevant to health sciences professions graduate students and practicing clinicians (MD, MEPN, NP, PA). Includes test preparation tools and audio-visual resources.
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Clinical SkillsEvidence-based competencies for nurses, therapists and other health care professionals. Includes hundreds of skills and procedures to ensure knowledge and skills are current and reflective of best practice.
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ClinicalKey for Nursing This link opens in a new windowEvidence-based clinical decision support information platform for nursing and allied health providers. Includes books and journals, clinical overviews, guidelines, scales, drug calculators, labs, videos/images, and patient education.
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LWW Health LibraryRelevant to health professions students (MD, MEPN, NP, PA), the OVID/LWW Health Library includes core basic biomedical science and clinical textbooks, with a strong focus on primary care and anatomical science.
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MedlinePlusIntended for patients, offers plain language definitions and descriptions of medical conditions and tests in a variety of languages. Links out to credible health information websites.
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PubMed for UC Davis This link opens in a new windowProvides access to the MEDLINE database of journal citations (1902-present) and online books for medicine, nursing, allied health, and public health. This version is customized for UC Davis users to find the full-text of articles.