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Physical Therapist Assistant - Researching in the Technical Phase

Databases for Physical Therapist Assistants

Finding Systematic Reviews and Clinical Queries in PubMed

PubMed's systematic review articles are highly valued in the physical therapist community, as they demonstrate growing consensus on scientific topics. After running a search in PubMed, go to the sidebar under "Article Type" and check the box to limit to systematic reviews.

check box for systematic reviews 

 

Also try this search of PubMed Clinical Queries. See the difference in the results when you set the scope to Broad vs Narrow.

Pubmed Clinical Queries

Peer Reviewed Journals for PTA Students

scientific journal

Peer reviewed journals are a student's best source of original research in the field. To read the most current issue of a professional journal is to keep up to date on the latest scholarly conversation in the field, and be more aware of the issues and trends that are most relevant to your peers. To search a database that collects the most current issues as well as previous issues, using key words to focus on specific topics, is to understand how the conversation has evolved into its latest form, and what future evidence-based research may be pursued on topics of great importance. 

When quoting directly or paraphrasing from peer reviewed sources from professional journals, be sure to give credit to the authors using the proper method of citation. 

Below: Peer Review explanation video and Peer Review Explanation (two-sided pdf)

Tutorial: How to find articles

Tutorial: How to analyze scholarly articles