CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
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Many physicians struggle to keep up with new developments in their fields. The internet can provide a solution to this problem by allowing rapid access to a broad spectrum of reliable information. Becoming familiar with a few clinically relevant and freely available medical resources on the World Wide Web may enhance a physician's efforts to provide evidence-based care on a daily basis. This article outlines a simple strategy for physicians to make the internet a useful tool.
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The ability of many intensive care unit (ICU) technologies to prolong life has led to an outcomes-oriented approach to technology assessment, focusing on morbidity and mortality as clinically important end points. With advanced life support, however, the therapeutic goals sometimes shift from extending life to allowing life to end. The objective of this study was to understand the purposes for which advanced life support is withheld, provided, continued or withdrawn in the ICU. ⋯ The orchestration of death involves process-oriented as well as outcome-oriented uses of technology. These uses should be considered in the assessment of life-support technologies and directives for their appropriate use in the ICU.