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In episode 159, Mike and James decide to tackle the issue of critical appraisal head on with a common-sense approach. We talk about why we need to do critical appraisal, how to save time by doing a quick scan of the abstract and how to search, identify, and deal with potential sources of bias. At the end we critique each other and find out that we are both packed full of bias but also loaded with high quality outcomes. 

Show notes

1) The ACCORD study

N Engl J Med 2008; 358:2545-59

In this second very special episode our good friend Bruce Arroll comes back to discuss all sorts of issues around insomnia. We learn all about the evidence and an interesting and very effective treatment that uses the concept of restriction of time in bed. Both of us fall asleep during the podcast but at the end realize it in no way interfered with the content.

Check out our new iPad app released to day MyStudies – www.mystudies.org. The app and 10 studies are free – hopefully it will give you enough of an idea of what we have created. To get all the studies requires a subscription. I would love it if you would check it out and support us – this is only a 1.0 version and we have lots of plans for updates in the future. I would also love feedback as to how to improve the app. I co-created it with the same guy who made the awesome iPhone/iPad app MedCalc. If you think it is useful PLEASE let all your friends and colleagues know. Thanks.

You want to use evidence in your clinical practice from the landmark studies – those studies that change practice. Your patient comes in and asks you about the latest greatest study. How can you quickly and easily get all that information? Let MyStudies help.

You are at a presentation and you start to wonder if the presenter is really telling you everything you need to know about a study. Did they just present relative numbers? Did they only present the benefits with no mention of harms? Did they come up with conclusions that don’t really match the results? MyStudies can help.

As a student/resident on rounds did you feel hopeless when someone asked you about the HOPE trial? Did you ever have to prove what was in the PROVE-IT study? Should you care what the CARE trial showed? Did not knowing the results of the TNT trial make you want to explode?

Have you wanted to enthusiastically let everybody know about the GUSTO trial? MyStudies is there for you.Have you ever had to make a presentation and not have time to look up all the studies and make slides to show the results? MyStudies was designed to help you with all this as well. MyStudies brings the results of hundreds of the major clinical studies to your fingertips.

We have done the work for you – all you have to do now is look at the results. 

In this very special no-Mike episode, James gets together with our good friend and colleague Bruce Arroll from New Zealand who capably sits in to fill Mike’s shoes which Mike actually left in New Zealand last year. We discuss impetigo, otitis externa, chronic supporative otitis media and eczema and decide that the old drugs are still very useful.

Show notes

1) Impetigo

Cochrane Library

2) Otitis externa

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3) Beta-lactam versus beta-lactam-aminoglycoside combination therapy in immunocompetent patients with sepsis

BMJ 2004;328:668–72

4) Beta-lactam versus beta-lactam-aminoglycoside combination therapy in cancer patients with neutropenia

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 5) Chronic supporative otitis media

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