Over the last ten years, there has been an increasing realization of the importance of information. Much of this can be related to the increased availability of Internet information sources throughout society, along with the ease by which material can be located and used. The impact of the Internet can also been seen in this book. The first edition contained only two pages of information about the Internet, which reflected the small amount of medical information available and the little impact that it had on the profession at that time. In this new edition, it seems as if hardly a page can be found without some reference to Internet material. This increased emphasis on information has had an effect on both the health care professional, who uses the material, and the patient, who may look up material directly and even bring it in to talk about with a pharmacist or physician. The ability to obtain, manage, and use information has become an important core skill for the professional.
Unfortunately, pharmacists in practice may find it difficult to learn how to manage information, due to a lack of good, comprehensive resources to teach them proven methods for improving their skills. Students also need a source to supplement the classroom and clerkship training they receive. It is to serve those populations that this book was originally written. In this third edition, the goal of this book continues to be to educate both students and practitioners on how to efficiently research, interpret, collate, and disseminate information in the most usable form. While there is no one right method to do these things, proven methods are presented and demonstrated. Also, seldom-addressed issues are covered, such as the legal and ethical considerations of providing information.
The book begins by introducing the concept of drug information, including its history, and providing information on various places drug information specialists may be employed. The book continues on by describing the various steps for obtaining, evaluating, and providing information. As with the first edition, the “Modified Systematic Approachâ€Â to answering a question is presented. “Formulating Effective Responsesâ€Â further expands on this topic by addressing problems that pharmacists experience when answering questions and providing techniques for overcoming these issues in order to reach appropriate conclusions. This section of the book is designed to teach pharmacists and students useful methods for determining what information is actually needed and how to adequately respond to requests.