uptodate.com - worth the $?

[minime]

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Just wondered if anyone had used uptodate.com. It was recommended to me by one of my preceptors, but before I spend the money on it ($20/month) I wanted to see what opinions others had on it.
Thanks

 

[souljah1]

I'm just about to start on the wards but my friends in the class ahead of me swear by it. Before you buy it you should check with your school's hospitals to see if the hospital will have it on their computer systems. Also, it isn't uncommon that an intern or resident will just share their password with you.

 

[Savasana]

Yeah, my preceptor loves it, and she's totally computer-illiterate, so that's saying something. The hospital she's in pays for it, so you may want to look into that before spending the money on it. I'm not sure if all the hospitals I will be in do the same, so I may end up getting it, too. We'll see.

 

[southerndoc]

I had an UpToDate subscription until I started clinical rotations (the hospital where I did my clinicals had an institutional subscription).

I plan on resubscribing soon when I start residency. The only reason I plan on subscribing is so I can load UpToDate on my Pocket PC.

I love UpToDate and think it's one of the best resources out there. It literally is UpToDate as each article is updated at least once per year by people renown in their fields.

 

[JPMD03]

My university holds an institutional licence. Every resident and med student has a fre access. It is worth the money. I would definitly subscribe if it was not free for me.

 

[DOtobe]

Definitely worth the money. All of the previous places where I rotated had a subscription, and I used it constantly. The place where I am now, though, doesn't, and I really wish I had it. Up to Date is full of information about everything, and it is written in a way that is easy to understand.

I love Up to Date! 👍

 

[Blade28]

I plan on resubscribing soon when I start residency. The only reason I plan on subscribing is so I can load UpToDate on my Pocket PC.

Takes a 1 gig Compact Flash card or Secure Digital card, no? Impressive. 🙂

I also love using it...one of the hospitals provides it for free, though, so for now I'm just going to use their access. After graduation, I think I'll pay for it. It's best for Medicine and Peds, IMHO.

 

[MustafaMond]

Its a waste of time to subscribe, because literally EVERY teaching hospital in the country has it.

 

[doc05]

I'd be very surprised if you hospital or medical school doesn't have an institiutional license.

try emedicine.com...it's free.

 

[Fermi]

I'd be very surprised if you hospital or medical school doesn't have an institiutional license.

try emedicine.com...it's free.

My school just got an institutional license 👍

But how does it compare to emedicine.com, (or Harrison's Online) which I've used for the past couple years? How well is UpToDate kept, er, up to date? How well is it reviewed for errors and omissions and such? It seems like it is just a collection of review article-style web pages written by a whole bunch of random physicians (just like emedicine). What makes UpToDate such a "killer app," and is it a replacement for Harrison's?

 

[southerndoc]

Its a waste of time to subscribe, because literally EVERY teaching hospital in the country has it.

The only reason I plan on subscribing is to load it on a Pocket PC. For some reason UTD won't allow that with institutional licenses.

 

[Fermi]

The only reason I plan on subscribing is to load it on a Pocket PC. For some reason UTD won't allow that with institutional licenses.

I think they're pretty strict about keeping the onsite access physically on the site. I can't log into my institution's UpToDate from off campus even when I connect through VPN and get a university IP address. They must have to exclude remote/modem users as a stipulation for the license.

 

[JPMD03]

At my University, it's possible to have access from home through the VPN. I only work from home, since I'm 300 kilometers from my university (Residency in Family Medicine in a "rural" hospital)

 

[Jaded Soul]

I think they're pretty strict about keeping the onsite access physically on the site. I can't log into my institution's UpToDate from off campus even when I connect through VPN and get a university IP address. They must have to exclude remote/modem users as a stipulation for the license.

Ditto for me too. I can't tunnel through VPN to use it offsite, even though I can access everything else that's supposed to be "on site only." I'd love to be able to use it from home, but I guess my school decided it costs too much for a license that allows it.

 

[roja]

Check your library. I found MD consult to be incredibly useful and free through my school (or try merckmedicus.com) these are usually all you need.