Locate background information online using library resources such as e-textbooks, evidence summaries, drug directories, guides to diagnostic tests, and review articles.
When you need general information about a disease, condition, symptom, or disease process, you should ask background questions.
Examples: What causes migraines? What are the available treatments for type 2 diabetes?
Background information will provide you with basic information and is not appropriate for answering clinical questions about a specific patient.
Background questions are best answered by medical textbooks, book chapters, and narrative review articles.