Introducing “AFP By Topic: Editors’ Choice of Best Current Content”

JAY SIWEK, MD, and KENNY LIN, MD
Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

Published ahead of print on May 11, 2010.

Are you looking for a good source of high-quality information on common clinical topics? Do you want to brush up on specific content areas for the Board exam? Look no further. AFP is pleased to announce the introduction of a new online feature -- “AFP By Topic: Editors’ Choice of Best Current Content.” This new resource makes the best content from AFP Online for 30 core clinical topics (such as asthma, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and hypertension) available in one place. These collections include articles, AFP’s Point-of-Care Guides, Cochrane for Clinicians reviews, FPIN’s Clinical Inquiries, and summaries of practice guidelines from major medical organizations. AFP medical editors handpick the content, based on its usefulness, currentness, and quality, and then organize it in a user-friendly way to aid in answering clinical questions. The main categories include Screening and Diagnosis, Prevention, Treatment, and Complications. We also include links to patient handouts (AFP and FamilyDoctor.org), Family Practice Management articles, and METRIC practice improvement modules.

This resource has been assembled to assist our readers in meeting a variety of learning needs. For example, consider when you want to choose an initial oral medication for a patient in your office with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. From the “AFP By Topic” home page (http://www.aafp.org/afp/topics), simply select “Diabetes: Type 2,” then click “Treatment” or scroll down to the “Treatment” subheading, where you will find overviews of available drugs, as well as concise summaries of the evidence of effectiveness of specific drug classes and lifestyle changes. Or, perhaps you are planning to return to maternity care practice after some time away and want to review common clinical situations that you may encounter. You will find exactly what you need in our collections on prenatal care; labor, delivery, and postpartum issues; and newborn care.

AFP By Topic represents one way we are improving the display and usefulness of the large amount of clinical resources available on AFP Online. You can find the link to AFP By Topic on AFP’s home page and under the “New Feature” icon in the list on the left side of any AFP page. We also will be improving our search function to help you get to the most relevant sources of content. If you have suggestions for making AFP Online work better for you, please let us know by sending an e-mail to afpedit@aafp.org.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Siwek is editor of American Family Physician, and Dr. Lin is the associate medical editor for AFP Online.