PA Program Library Guide
Core Resources
In This Guide
Finding Books
Finding Articles
All About PubMed
Websites
Check out our Evidence-Based Practice
guide for more in-depth information!
Contact the Library
Librarian for the Physician Assistant Program
Emma Fernandez (she/her)
efernandez@stephens.edu
(573) 441-5129
Library Contact Info
library@stephens.edu
Front Desk: (573) 876-7182
Text the Library: (573) 475-4211
Chat (when available)
"The Librarian is IN." Click to chat.
Chat is offline. Please call or email us.
Finding Books
Resources
Content types: books, videos, reference. Contains the full text of more than 130 medicine-related books, as well as more than 900 cases, 1,000 videos, and 11,000 Q&As.
Note that you must create a personal account with AccessMedicine in order to access cases, the self-assessment, download bulk images, and to create favorites/folders.
Content type: books. Contains more than 3,800 full-text titles focusing on medical specialties, nursing, allied health and general practice areas.
Content type: books, video, and reference info. Search the traditional catalog for Stephens College books, videos, and more.
Content type: books. Search the MOBIUS Consortium catalog and request books be sent to Stephens for pickup. Books are generally ready to be picked up in two to three work days.
Physical Book Locations
PA books are located in the following sections (second floor of the Stephens Library):
R697.5 - Physician Assistant Student Guides
RC - Internal medicine
RD - Surgery
Search Tips
Search the Stephens Library Catalog to find physical materials and eBooks held at Stephens Library. The MOBIUS Catalog is also a good option to broaden your search for print books to libraries across Missouri.
When searching, use medical terminology! Scientific terminology will help you get more precise results.
Example:
Searching for Myocarditis can be more effective than searching for "heart inflammation."
Use the advanced search function and searching for these phrases as subject terms to find materials about that term (rather than narrowing to a specific title).
In addition, use the filters on the left hand side of the catalog to narrow or broaden your search.
Finding Articles
Resources
Content type: articles, books, and video. Provides full-text access to over 600 journals, 1,000 books, and 9,000 medical and procedural videos.
Content type: reference info. Clinical reference tool that assists with point-of-care needs.
Content type: reference info. Provides both clinical and drug information.
Content type: articles. PubMed contains more than 30 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature.
When searching these you will likely come across articles that are not immediately available. In such cases, choose to “Request It” and complete the process. Articles usually become available within one work day although it can take as many as five days. You can review your request history and make requests from scratch by using Interlibrary Loan.
Search Tips
Break your research question into essential key words and connect with AND.
exercise AND mental health
Use synonyms and connect them with OR
adolescents OR adolescence OR teens OR teenagers OR young adults
Use truncation (*) to get plurals and alternative endings.
educat* = educate, education, educating, educated, etc.
Put quotes around a term that’s a phrase to keep the words together.
“body image”
When you find a good article, look at the works cited or reference list at the end to help identify other useful resources on the same topic.
All About PubMed
PubMed is a free search engine provided by the National Library of Medicine (or NLM), which you can use to find published biomedical and health science research.
What’s in PubMed?
PubMed has citation information (e.g., title, author, journal, publication date) and abstracts of published articles and books (including articles that report on research funded by the National Institutes of Health) and links to most full text from other sources (when available) such as the publisher’s website and/or the PubMed Central archive.
This online guide provides detailed directions for numerous search methods and database functions.
Citations
Each result has a “Cite” link, which lets you grab a properly formatted citation in the citation format of your choice, to copy-and-paste or to download to your computer.
Search Tips
One of the key design focuses of PubMed is sensors built into the search box. These sensors analyze your search query and try to detect what exactly it is you’re looking for.
Video: Learn How to Search by Subject!
PubMed matches your search terms to MeSH (Medical Subject Headings.)
How to Search by Author
Search by the author’s last name and initials (without punctuation).
If you only know the author’s last name, use the author search field tag.
How to Research a Topic
Enter your search terms into the search box
Be specific
Avoid quotation marks
Avoid truncation (*).
Websites
American Academy of Physician Associates - Advocates and educates on behalf of the profession and the patients PAs serve. Works to ensure the professional growth, personal excellence and recognition of PAs.