Some Thoughts...

Hi everyone! Melissa and I have been brainstorming about some of the questions that were circulated to the group, and some of our collective thoughts are listed below. Looking forward to chatting with everyone this afternoon!

Resources we would you use in relation to a guideline topic:
For a question related to the guideline (i.e. PICO style question), we consult medical journals (both online directly through the publisher and through the databases provided by the library), guideline databases, government websites (e.g., National Cancer Institute), non-profit organizations (e.g., Canadian Cancer Society), and data sources such as SEER or Statistics Canada.

Some specific resources we refer to:
Guideline databases: National Guidelines Clearinghouse, CMA Infobase, SAGE (CPAC)
Guideline developers: Cancer Care Ontario, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), New Zealand Guidelines Group, European Society for Medical Oncologists, Society of Surgical Oncologists, American College of Radiology, Society of Gynecologic Oncology, BC Cancer Agency
Systematic reviews: Cochrane database, MEDLINE
Research articles: MEDLINE, Pubmed, EMBASE, CINAHL
Data/statistics: SEER, Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada

Key benefits of checking these resources:
It's important to consider the source of the information. When trusted sources and/or high level evidence, such as guidelines, meta-analyses, or randomized controlled trials are available, we assess these sources first. Lower-level evidence, such as retrospective cohort studies or case series, can provide information, but should have the caveat that strong evidence is lacking. Data from SEER and Stats Canada are thought to have been collected in a systematic, standard fashion and are therefore reliable. Data from individual studies may or may not have used sound methodology and need to be reviewed.

Why we're interested in the topic of "clinical practice guidelines":
We develop clinical practice guidelines for cancer treatment as our core business. The guidelines serve (1) to articulate standard practice in Alberta, (2) as teaching tools, and (3) to inform family physicians, other specialists, and patients and families of what to expect for a particular type of cancer. The process of developing a guideline often gets the Tumour Team to discuss important or controversial issues and/or new research.