PBL Research Guide

• Are inspired by a clinical scenario
• Seek general, established knowledge; for example, relating to a condition, diagnostic test, or treatment
• Provide basis for formulating foreground questions
• e.g., PBL learning questions

 For example:

"What is pericarditis and how is it treated?"

The best resources to use to find information for background questions are web resources, textbooks, point-of-care tools, practice guidelines, and review articles.  When looking for information in online resources, it's best to keep searches to essential keywords and short phrases.

The chart above illustrates the bottom of the evidence pyramid--these sources are good starting points and can help answer background questions. To learn more about these resources, see the sections below.

You might also be in need of other resources in the Beyond the Biology section of this guide.

Use Google to:

• get your bearings on a topic
• correct the spelling of a term
• identify synonyms for a term
• find information from reliable web sources, such as those on MLA's Top Health Websites
  • generally academic institutions (.edu), government websites (.gov), medical associations (.org)

Limitations of Google:

• search algorithm is opaque: top results are not necessarily the most authoritative or accurate
• freely available information on the Web is often geared towards consumers, where depth of information is not sufficient for professionals