Library Home: Physician Assistant: Essential Databases

Original Research Articles (requires a good search & critical appraisal of articles)

Research for Physician Assistant students primarily means searching for journal articles, which you will mostly find in the databases CINAHL (the index for nursing and allied health professionals) and PubMed (the largest biomedical research database in the world).

PubMed This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive index to articles in the field of medicine.
CINAHL with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Full text for the top nursing and allied health literature available and covers a wide range of topics including nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and 17 allied health disciplines.
ScienceDirect Health & Life Sciences College Edition This link opens in a new window
For full text, set Source to Subscribed journals
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar allows you to cross search scholarly literature across many disciplines.
PsycInfo (APA) 1887-Current This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive international coverage of scholarly literature in psychology. Includes articles from more than 1300 periodicals in over 25 languages.

Finding a Full-Text Journal Article

Some of our databases provide full-text articles (indicated by a PDF or HTML link after the citation). Others only show you the titles of articles. For these, click Article Linker to find out whether we own the journal in print and/or online.

If we do not have access to the article you need, you can request it (free of charge). After logging into your InterLibrary Loan account, the system will automatically fill out the necessary information - you just need to hit Submit Request at the bottom of the page!

New Users to the InterLibrary Loan service, may set up an InterLibrary Loan account here:

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad)
Borrow from other libraries with our interlibrary loan system. *Articles & book chapters will be sent electronically and books will be available at the front desk unless you request to have them mailed to you.*

Pre-Appraised Resources (background & summary info, less appraisal needed)

Access Medicine This link opens in a new window
Includes videos, self-assessments, leading medical textbooks including Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, diagnosis tools, case studies, images and more to help educate nurses and physician assistants. Updated daily.

Clinical Summaries

Access Medicine This link opens in a new window
Includes videos, self-assessments, leading medical textbooks including Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, diagnosis tools, case studies, images and more to help educate nurses and physician assistants. Updated daily.
Bates Visual Guide This link opens in a new window
Clinical skills videos featuring head-to-toe and systems-based physical examination techniques with an emphasis on clinical accuracy and patient care; Also has OSCE clinical reasoning modules; Each volume, broken into chapters.
Available for on-campus use.
Off-campus use is currently unavailable.
ClinicalKey Student This link opens in a new window
ClinicalKey Student is an interactive medical learning platform with books, videos, images and quick access summaries. You can take and share notes, and create revision flashcards.
Registration is required to access all content and personalized features.
UpToDate This link opens in a new window
Evaluations, reviews, and analysis of the latest evidence of peer reviewed journals, medical resources, and industry guidelines by professional clinicians. Authoritative clinical decision support to make diagnosis and treatment decisions.
Login with your AU credentials. Then, register for an account to benefit from mobile access to clinical content.