Biomedical Organizations: A Worldwide Guide to Position Documents / Edition 1

by Dale Stirling

Overview

Determine what organizations have issued position statements on a specific subject!

A position document establishes the view of an organization based on its knowledge on the subject at that specific time. Biomedical Organizations: A Worldwide Guide to Position Documents puts the results of a survey of hundreds of global medical organizations and their position statements at your fingertips. This comprehensive reference not only analyzes and discusses the history and characteristics of the creation and development of the organizational position statement, but also lists medical organizations and their Web site addresses, and presents an alphabetical index of their position statements. Indexed according to subject as well as by organization, this one-of-a-kind source allows readers to determine what organizations have issued position documents on a specific subject such as alcoholism or HIV, as well as providing an appendix listing biomedical organizations without position documents.

Over several years the author compiled this extensive index, which is designed to help physicians, fellows, residents, interns, medical students, and paramedical personnel to drastically cut their research time. Information can be found with ease quickly, as the index lists organizations by country, medical practice areas, and the core areas of interest of each organization. Ideally suited as a hands-on reference text in clinics, hospitals, and medical libraries, this reference cuts through the overwhelming mountain of information to give medical professionals exactly the information they are searching for while providing a historical account of position documents, their growth, their continued use, and their efficacy.

Biomedical Organizations: A Worldwide Guide to Position Documents reveals the organizations with position statements on a wide variety of subjects, such as:

• abortion
• AIDS
• cancer
• diabetes
• homosexuality
• immunization
• long-term care
• mental retardation
• midwives
• malpractice
• nutrition
• ozone
• the Persian Gulf war
• pharmaceuticals
• pollution
• radon
• tissue transplants
• violence
• and hundreds of others!

Biomedical Organizations: A Worldwide Guide to Position Documents is a timesaving reference helpful to medical professionals, students, educators, and professional medical organizations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780789022974
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/19/2006
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.81(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Foreword Mark Thoman Preface. Identifying Position Documents. Method of Listing Position Documents. Indexing. Acknowledgments. An Overview of Position Documents.
Position Documents Defined. The Historical Imperative. Position Document Efficacy. Biomedical Organization Position Documents. Appendix A. Biomedical Organizations Without Position Documents. Appendix B. Bibliography of Position Document Literature. References. Index.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Marilia Y. Antunez, MLS (Michigan State University)
Description: This is a specialized directory that lists the names of biomedical organizations, their websites, and the titles of the organizations' position papers and other associated documents.
Purpose: This reference can help a user to quickly determine whether a particular biomedical organization has a position paper on a particular topic or issue. This is done by searching for the organization's name, which is listed in alphabetical order, or by using the index. As the author suggests, the type of topics covered in an organization's position documents reflected the interests of the organization at the time that the information was compiled. Thus, the user can see what topics were emphasized, for example, in comparison to a revised position document on an organization's website.
Audience: This book is targeted at medical personnel including health information specialists and students.
Features: The directory lists the titles of the organization's position documents and covers thousands of biomedical organizations from societies to colleges, mainly from the United States and other English-speaking countries. The book can serve as a starting point, and it can complement the search process for these documents. Unlike these organizations' websites, the book can help a user to quickly determine whether a particular biomedical organization has a position paper on a particular topic or issue. This is useful since sometimes these documents are difficult to locate on the organization's website.
Assessment: There is a lack of reference materials dealing solely with position documents. This book assists users with determining if a certain organization has developed a position statement on a particular issue. It also provides information for clarifying what a position document is and how it differs from related documents. The need for this type of work may increase as more biomedical organizations become increasingly politicized, more are able to engage in controversial issues, and many have developed position papers or position statements that summarize the standpoint of their organizations. This title is recommended for a large medical or academic library.

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