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Lauia }. Biuce
ENuL 2u2C, Section uS4
Febiuaiy 11, 2u14


2
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5%$30+$.........................................S
Content of the uuiue...................................4
Intenueu Auuience of the uuiue.......................4
Assumptions of the uuiue...........................S
0iganization of the uuiue...........................S
Tips foi 0sing the uuiue..............................6

5%)3$((-)"02 6$7$2)89$"#.............................7
Penn State Piemeuicine Bomepage................................8
Ameiican Association of Neuical Colleges...................9
Ameiican Association of Colleges of 0steopathic Neuicine.........1u

'$($0%+: /))2( ..................................11
Science Baily................................12
PubNeu.....................................1S
New Englanu }ouinal of Neuicine......................14
Catalog of 0.S. uoveinment Publications...................1S
Statistical Abstiact of the 0niteu States.....................16


S







5%$30+$
This section seives as an intiouuction to the guiue, uetailing foi whom the guiue is
uesigneu, the exact puipose of the iesouices, anu how they can useu effectively.




4

4)"#$"# )3 #:$ ,*-.$
This guiue iuentifies anu uesciibes key Inteinet iesouices that aie ielevant foi
unueigiauuate piemeuical stuuents at Penn State. The iesouices pioviueu aie eithei
infoimational websites ielateu to meuical school, oi seaich tools foi accessing meuical-
ielateu liteiatuie. Specifically, this guiue featuies a Penn State iesouice uiiectoiy, two
piofessional meuical associations, a news souice, a peiiouical inuex, a scholaily jouinal,
anu two goveinment uatabases. 0tilization of these iesouices is essential when piepaiing
foi meuical school. The iesouices can be employeu when planning the unueigiauuate
yeais, navigating the meuical school application piocess, completing science couisewoik,
ieseaiching foi a thesis oi laboiatoiy iepoit, oi ieauing to stay well-infoimeu with iegaius
to meuical uevelopments. 0se of the iesouices in the guiue will familiaiize the piemeuical
stuuent with the expectations of the piofessional meuical community.

!"#$".$. ;*.-$"+$ )3 #:$ ,*-.$
This guiue is uesigneu to assist unueigiauuate stuuents of any majoi at Penn State who aie
planning on attenuing meuical school. This applies to stuuents inteiesteu in attenuing an
allopathic meuical school to eain a Neuical Boctoi (N.B.) uegiee, oi an osteopathic meuical
school to eain a Boctoi of 0steopathic Neuicine (B.0.) uegiee, since most stuuents apply to
both types. Fuithei, this guiue is useful to fieshman thiough senioi unueigiauuates,
uepenuing on when the stuuent attains an inteiest in meuical school, anu when they wish
to attenu (uiiectly aftei giauuating fiom Penn State oi latei). Bue to the extiemely
competitive natuie of the meuical school application piocess, unueigiauuate piemeuical
stuuents must succeeu in theii couisewoik, peifoim well on the Neuical College Aumission
Test (NCAT), anu uemonstiate that they possess the tiaits of a iespectable physician, as
inuicateu by shauowing anu ieseaich expeiience, leaueiship in extiacuiiiculai activities,
anu iecommenuation letteis. Thus, the puipose of this guiue is to pioviue piemeuical
unueigiauuates with Inteinet iesouices that will allow them to effectively woik towaius
meeting these ciiteiia.


S


;((*98#-)"( )3 #:$ ,*-.$
This guiue assumes that the ieauei is an unueigiauuate stuuent at Penn State anu has
committeu to applying to meuical school anu becoming a physician. While a stuuent fiom
any majoi may apply to meuical school, aspects of this guiue aie paiticulaily useful foi
science couises, anu thus the guiue assumes that the ieauei will be completing science
couisewoik as a piemeuical stuuent. Impoitantly, consiueiing that meuicine is an
ambitious fielu to puisue, this guiue also assumes that the ieauei is a motivateu stuuent
with an inheient inteiest in leaining about science anu health-ielateu topics. Lastly, this
guiue assumes that the ieauei has a woiking knowleuge of how to navigate the Inteinet,
anu that the ieauei has online access to the jouinals anu uatabases pioviueu by the Penn
State 0niveisity Libiaiies.

<%=0"->0#-)" )3 #:$ ,*-.$
This guiue is oiganizeu in a way that allows foi quick accessibility uepenuing on the
ieauei's neeus. The Table of Contents outlines the main levels of the guiue, anu incluues
page numbeis foi efficient navigation. Following the Pieface, the guiue is uiviueu into two
main sections, categoiizing the eight iesouices. The "Piofessional Bevelopment" section
incluues infoimative iesouices fiom Penn State anu piofessional meuical associations that
the ieauei can use to finu meuical school iequiiements, as well as auvice anu suppoit. The
"Reseaich Tools" section incluues publication-baseu iesouices that aie useful foi any
situation wheie the ieauei is conuucting ieseaich on science anu meuical ielateu topics.
Each iesouice listing contains the online location of the iesouice, a uesciiptive abstiact,
anu tips on how to effectively utilize the iesouice. Foi the goveinment uatabases, sample
uocuments aie also incluueu.



6
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This guiue will be most useful if the Table of Contents is utilizeu in oiuei to iuentify the
most ielevant iesouices foi the ieauei. Also, it is impoitant ensuie that you have access to
the Penn State 0niveisity Libiaiies seivices, oi else you will not be able to fully access the
piofessional jouinal oi peiiouical inuex, both of which iequiie a subsciiption. Lastly,
follow the tips incluueu foi each iesouice in oiuei to maximize efficiency anu save time,
anu uo not hesitate to biowse some of the othei Inteinet iesouices that you may uiscovei
while using the iesouices in this guiue. While these iesouices will be helpful to the
piemeuical unueigiauuate, it is up to you to uo the ieseaich anu piepaie foi meuical
school.


7







5%)3$((-)"02 6$7$2)89$"#
The iesouices in this section aie websites that eveiy piemeuical stuuent shoulu
be familiai with, as they pioviue impoitant guiuelines anu auvice iegaiuing how to
piepaie foi meuical school within both the Penn State anu the national context.


8
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53)$&-0*/$301 6"7#/*"89/&"'*$&:

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o http:science.psu.euupiemeu
o Publically accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
As a pait of the laigei Ebeily College of Science (EC0S) website, this homepage is the
cential auvising website foi unueigiauuates eniolleu in the "Piemeuicine" majoi anu all
othei majois who aie inteiesteu in the health piofessions. This is an extiemely useful
anu entiiely ielevant iesouice foi piemeuical stuuents, as it contains a laige uiiectoiy
of infoimation cateieu specifically foi Penn State unueigiauuates who aie applying to
meuical school. The homepage itself pioviues geneial announcements, links to othei
EC0S pages anu associateu social meuia accounts, as well as location anu contact
infoimation foi the Piemeuicine Auvising Centei on campus. The tabs on the left of the
homepage pioviue links to moie specific pages incluuing acauemic auvising, FAQs, the
meuical school application piocess, anu pie-health extiacuiiiculai activities. Nany of
these pages contain extensive infoimation anu a myiiau of links to othei useful
iesouices, similai to those pioviueu in this guiue.

/-8(
o Bookmaik this website in youi Inteinet biowsei anu check it often foi upuates.
This will encouiage you to stay on tiack as you piepaie foi meuical school.
o While it may seem teuious, take the time to ieau thiough eveiything on this website
(especially the "FAQs in Piemeuicine" tab) so that you know what iesouices aie
available. This site was uevelopeu specifically foi piemeuical stuuents at Penn
State, so you can likely finu answeis to questions that you may have.
o Be suie to subsciibe to the email-baseu piehealth newslettei, which contains
infoimation about ielevant news, events, piogiams, anu ieseaich oppoitunities.
Instiuctions foi subsciibing can be founu unuei the "Piemeuicine & Piehealth E-
Newslettei Listseiv" tab.
o Check out the "Acauemic Auvising" tab, anu uo not hesitate to email, attenu walk-in
houis, oi make an appointment with one of the piemeuical auviseis at any point
uuiing youi unueigiauuate caieei. Be suie to follow the instiuctions listeu in this
tab to get the most out of youi one-on-one inteiaction with the auviseis.


9
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o https:www.aamc.oig
o Publically accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
The Ameiican Association of Neuical Colleges (AANC) is a non-piofit piofessional
association that iepiesents accieuiteu allopathic meuical schools, incluuing the 141 in
the 0niteu States anu 17 in Canaua, as well as numeious teaching hospitals, meuical
centeis, anu scientific societies. This website pioviues extensive infoimation about all
aspects of acauemic meuicine, incluuing news, publications, membei seivices, anu
impoitantly, infoimation foi unueigiauuate piemeuical stuuents anu meuical school
applicants. This website will be incieasingly ielevant the yeai befoie you intenu on
beginning meuical school, which is when you can stait the application piocess, so it is
impoitant to be familiai with the site. Fiom the homepage, selecting the "Stuuents,
Applicants, Resiuents" tab anu the "Aspiiing Bocs" tab will biing you to pages that can
answei questions about aumission iequiiements, NCAT iegistiation anu piepaiation,
meuical school tuition, applying thiough the Ameiican Neuical College Application
Seivice (ANCAS), as well as othei meuical school policies anu piogiams. This
infoimation is extiemely impoitant because contains official step-by-step guiuelines foi
the piemeuical stuuent. Auuitionally, will neeu to iegistei foi the NCAT anu submit
youi geneial ANCAS application via the AANC.

/-8(
o Bownloau the "AANC Resouices foi Pie-Neu Stuuents" booklet that is available on
the afoiementioneu "Stuuents, Applicants, Resiuents" tab. This booklet contains
official infoimation meuical school anu the implications of committing to a meuical
caieei.
o 0nuei the "Applicants" tab, theie is a useful "Timeline foi ApplicantsAumission to
Neuical School" which will help you make suie you aie completing the impoitant
piemeuical steps uuiing youi unueigiauuate semesteis.
o When ueciuing wheie to apply, unuei the "Applicants" tab, anu the "ANCAS" link,
you can access a list of all "Paiticipating Neuical Schools", which pioviues a
compaiison of schools by tuition, class size, anu location.


1u
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F;;4<EG
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o http:www.aacom.oigaboutcollegesPagesuefault.aspx
o Publically accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
Similai to the AANC, the Ameiican Association of Colleges of 0steopathic Neuicine
(AAC0N) is also a nonpiofit piofessional association that iepiesents the Su 0.S.
colleges of osteopathic meuicine. This website pioviues geneial infoimation anu news
iegaiuing the piactice of osteopathic meuicine, AAC0N publications, as well as
impoitant infoimation anu iesouices foi applicants, osteopathic meuical stuuents, anu
association membeis. 0nuei the "Info foi Applicants" tab on the homepage, piemeuical
unueigiauuate stuuents who aie consiueiing osteopathic schools can finu extiemely
ielevant iesouices. The "What is 0steopathic Neuicine." page can help uistinguish a
B.0. uegiee fiom an N.B. uegiee, anu theie aie vaiious pages that explain the
application piocess, which is auministeieu thiough the AAC0N Application Seivice
(AAC0NAS). Tuition anu financial aiu iesouices, cuiiiculum anu school infoimation,
anu an unueigiauuate timeline aie also locateu on the "Info foi Applicants" page.
Eviuently, this website is ielevant foi piemeuical stuuents who aie applying to
osteopathic schools, oi those who may want claiification about what unique knowleuge
an osteopathic uegiee offeis.

/-8(
o Bownloau the "0steopathic Neuical College Infoimation Book" fiom the "Info foi
Applicants" page. This booklet concisely piesents all of the essentials foi applicants
anu potential applicants.
o 0se this website in tanuem with the AANC website if you aie consiueiing applying
to allopathic anu osteopathic schools. Both iequiie the NCAT, anu both offei similai
iesouices iegaiuing the application piocess.



11







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The iesouices in this section aie publication-baseu anu aie useful foi any ieseaich setting
that a piemeuical stuuent may encountei while completing couisewoik, woiking in a
laboiatoiy, oi expanuing theii knowleuge of cuiient meuical uevelopments.



12
@+-$"+$60-2C
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o http:www.scienceuaily.com
o Publically Accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
ScienceBaily is a usei-fiienuly news website that contains ovei 6S,uuu topical aiticles
iegaiuing the latest uevelopments in the biological, physical, eaith, anu applieu sciences
since 199S. ueneially, the website is upuateu eveiy 24 houis, anu the aiticles pioviue a
ielatively biief, ieauable summaiy of piimaiy ieseaich publications fiom leauing
univeisities anu ieseaich oiganizations. Bieaking news anu heaulines aie available on
the homepage, anu tabs pioviue access to auuitional aiticles that aie ielateu to a
specific fielu. Foi piemeuical stuuents, the most ielevant anu inteiesting aiticles will be
locateu unuei the "Bealth" tab, anu the subsequent "Bealth & Neuicine", "Ninu &
Biain", anu "Living Well" tabs. Beie, stuuents can finu exciting aiticles about meuical
uevelopments, often with images anu viueos. 0nuei the title of each aiticle,
ScienceBaily pioviues the uate of publication, the name of the piimaiy souice, anu a
quick summaiy. ScienceBaily can seive as a staiting point when conuucting ieseaich
foi a class, in oiuei to quickly iuentify a ieseaich topic without having to ieau a
complicateu publication. The aiticles on this website may also be a souice of
inspiiation anu cuiient events foi the piemeuical stuuent. When consiueiing a caieei
in meuicine, it is extiemely impoitant to stay up-to-uate with meuical uevelopments,
anu to connect these uevelopments to the unueigiauuate science cuiiiculum.

/-8(
o Befoie ieauing an entiie aiticle, ieau the shoit summaiy unueineath the title to
ueciue if you aie inteiesteu.
o 0n the left siue of eveiy aiticle page, theie aie "Relateu Aiticles" anu "Relateu
Topics" listings, which may be useful if you aie beginning pieliminaiy ieseaich foi a
class.
o Consiuei subsciibing to the ScienceBaily email newslettei to moie easily access the
populai content. Subsciiption instiuctions can be founu at the bottom of eveiy
ScienceBaily website page, unuei "Fiee Subsciiptions".


1S
5*1E$.
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o http:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpubmeu
o Full access pioviueu by Penn State 0niveisity Libiaiies

6$(+%-8#-)"
PubNeu is an online peiiouical inuex pioviueu by the National Centei foi Biotechnology
Infoimation (NCBI) anu is often consiueieu to be the piemiei souice foi ieseaiching
topics in the fielus of human biology anu meuicine. When accesseu thiough the Penn
State 0niveisity Libiaiies system, piemeuical stuuents have access to ovei 2S million
citations, linking to many full-text aiticles anu online books fiom vaiious meuical,
biomeuical, anu life science jouinals that weie publisheu anytime aftei 19Su. Notably,
this uatabase pioviues access to the National Institutes of Bealth (NIB) uatabases,
incluuing "Piotein", "uene", anu "uenome". PubNeu is paiticulaily useful foi the
piemeuical unueigiauuate stuuent when ieseaiching foi science laboiatoiy iepoits,
papeis, anu piojects, oi when finuing backgiounu infoimation foi a couise topic. Foi
instance, theie aie myiiau citations ielateu to new meuical technologies, clinical tiials,
epiuemiology, basic biological concepts, anu othei health topics that come up in an
unueigiauuate science cuiiiculum. In the basic seaich bai, you can filtei by uatabase
(NIB-ielateu oi PubNeu) anu keywoiu. In the "Auvanceu Seaich", you can filtei by
auuitional fielus such as authoi, uate, publishei, jouinal, anu ISBN.

/-8(
o Reau the "PubNeu QuickStait uuiue" as noteu on the homepage befoie beginning
youi seaich. The tips in this guiue will make youi ieseaich much moie effective anu
will save you time.
o 0se the pioviueu YouTube viueo tutoiials if you piefei veibal anu visual
instiuctions on how to filtei youi seaich, oi gain full access to the jouinal aiticles.
o In the "Auvanceu Seaich", tiy using the "Limits" tab to put iestiictions on youi
seaich anu filtei out citations that aie not ielevant to youi ieseaich.



14
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o http:www.nejm.oig
o Full access pioviueu by Penn State 0niveisity Libiaiies

6$(+%-8#-)"
The New Englanu }ouinal of Neuicine (NE}N) is a piemiei, peei-ievieweu meuical
jouinal that is auministeieu by the Nassachusetts Neuical Society. The jouinal has
been in publication since 1811, although only unuei the cuiient NE}N title since 1928.
The online veision of the jouinal incluues cuiient biomeuical anu clinical infoimation
via piimaiy ieseaich publications, ieviews, case iepoits, anu euitoiials publisheu since
199S, all of which aie accessible in full foi the piemeuical unueigiauuate thiough the
Penn State 0niveisity Libiaiies system. While an oveiall numbei of publications is not
pioviueu, unuei each categoiy in the "Specialties & Topics" tab, a numbei of aiticles is
listeu. Foi instance, the "Caiuiology" categoiy is noteu to contain 169S aiticles. When
seaiching foi a topic, the "Basic Seaich" tool can filtei by keywoiu, title, authoi, oi
citation, anu the "Auvanceu Seaich" tool can filtei with auuitional fielus such as jouinal
title, publication uate, anu moie specific citation infoimation. Notably, this jouinal
website incluues inteiactive multimeuia publications such as the weekly "Image
Challenges", which iequiies the ieauei to inuicate what might be wiong with a ceitain
patient when piesenteu with a photogiaph of a meuical ailment. The NE}N is
paiticulaiity ielevant to the piemeuical unueigiauuate stuuent who is conuucting
ieseaich foi a couise oi ieseaich pioject. Foi physiology topics especially, the NE}N is
ielevant because it categoiizes aiticles by specialties ielateu to uiffeient bouy systems,
such as "Enuociinology" anu "Nephiology".

/-8(
o 0n the homepage, listen to the "Weekly Auuio Summaiy", which is a poucast that is
useful if you aie biowsing the jouinal foi new topics.
o 0nuei the "Issues" tab, consiuei selecting the aiticles that weie publisheu "This
Week" oi "Last Week" foi the most iecent jouinal uevelopments.


1S
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o http:catalog.gpo.gov
o Publically accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
The Catalog of 0.S. uoveinment Publications (CuP) is a goveinment uatabase anu a
valuable ieseaich tool foi finuing cuiient anu histoiical feueial piimaiy publications.
The catalog is essentially a seaich engine that encompasses appioximately Suu,uuu
electionic anu piint publications fiom the 0.S. goveinment, upuateu uaily since 1976.
While ieseaiching, useis can naiiow a basic seaich by keywoiu, title, authoi, oi subject.
Theie aie also auvanceu anu expeit seaich options with a vaiiety of auuitional seaich
fielus, such as goveinment agency, title, yeai, language, foimat, oi seiies numbei, if
those fielus aie known. Foi those publications that aie available online, the catalog
pioviues uiiect links to the uocument, with the option of senuing the selecteu iecoiu via
email.

This catalog can be useful foi unueigiauuates who aie planning on applying to meuical
school, as it contains ielevant backgiounu infoimation about the meuical piofession
anu healthcaie. Foi instance, the papei titleu 122$3.,*$&$'' 42 54&.,&6,&7 8$9,3+)
1963+.,4& (http:peimanent.access.gpo.govlps81277cme.puf) fiom the 0.S. Agency
foi Bealthcaie Reseaich anu Quality is an example of a ielevant publication you can finu
thiough the CuP. This papei was accesseu by seaiching "meuical euucation" in the
basic seaich box, anu by filteiing the iesults by most iecent uate. The uocument
uesciibes the cost-effectiveness of continuing meuical euucation foi physicians anu
othei meuical piofessionals latei in theii caieeis. This type of uocument can be useful
to the piemeuical stuuent, as caieeis in meuicine aie expecteu to evolve uiastically
with 0.S. healthcaie iefoim, necessitating an inciease in continuing meuical euucation
even aftei a meuical uegiee is obtaineu.

/-8(
o Consiuei using the auvanceu seaich option to naiiow youi seaich, as using vague
key woius will often pioviue thousanus of uocuments.
o Check out the "seaich hints" at the bottom of the auvanceu seaich page foi tips
pioviueu by the CuP.
o 0nce you have completeu a seaich, you can soit the iesults by yeai oi title unuei
"Soit 0ptions".


16
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o http:www.census.govcompenuiastatab
o Publically accessible

6$(+%-8#-)"
The Statistical Abstiact of the 0niteu States is a goveinment uatabase of vaiious
abstiacts that summaiize statistical infoimation about social, economic, anu political
aspects of the 0niteu States. 0vei 1Suu statistical abstiacts in Su categoiies, such as
"Euucation", "Population", anu "Tianspoitation", have been publisheu since 1878.
Bowevei, the 2u12 euition was publisheu as the final veision uue to lack of funuing.
The abstiacts available on the website, which contain Excel anu PBF foimatting, aie
concise but quite uense. While the abstiacts can be accesseu online, they aie also
available in piint veision at the Penn State Libiaiies.

These abstiacts can be helpful to the piemeuical stuuent who might be ieseaiching a
vaiiety of topics foi couisewoik, such as health infoimation, uevelopments in science
anu technology, euucation, financing, anu even law as it ielateu to the meuical
piofessional. Foi instance, unuei the "Beath & Nutiition: Bealth Conuitions, Biseases"
categoiy, the abstiact titleu "+:)$ ;<=> 5+&3$0?1'.,@+.$9 A$B 5+'$'C +&9 -60*,*+) D+.$'
(http:www.census.govcompenuiastatab2u12tables12su182.puf) is an example
of an abstiact that is ielevant to the piemeuical majoi who may be inteiesteu in cancei
ieseaich. This abstiact uesciibes the S-yeai suivival iates between 199u anu 2uu7 foi
vaiious types of canceis foi inuiviuuals in the 0.S., categoiizing the patients by genuei
anu iace.

/-8(
o The numbeis listeu next to each abstiact aie table numbeis that coiiesponu to the
piinteu veisions. These numbeis aie also piesent when the uocuments aie openeu
as a PBF oi Excel file.
o Reau ovei the "uuiue to Souices" file on the homepage of the website. This explains
the uiffeient souices of statistical uata that aie iepoiteu in the abstiact.