Staying current with evidence isn't about reading everything. It's about having the right information delivered to you at the right time in a format you'll actually use.
A personal evidence dashboard makes this possible. 20 minutes per week reviewing a well-designed dashboard beats 2 hours of random searching every time.
What Is a Personal Evidence Dashboard?
Think of it as your own customized news feed for clinical evidence. Instead of you going out to find information, your dashboard brings the most relevant evidence directly to you - automatically, organized, and on a schedule that works for you.
Bringing It All Together: Your Complete Evidence Dashboard
A sustainable evidence dashboard has four components working together:
Pillar 1: OVID Medline Auto-Alerts - see blog post
- 2-3 alerts on your main topics
- Delivered: Monday mornings
- Time: 5-10 minutes to review
Pillar 2: Journal Email Alerts - see Instagram post
- 3-5 core journals in your specialty
- Delivered: As each issue publishes
- Time: 10 minutes Friday afternoon
Pillar 3: Specialty Organizations - see blog post
- Your Royal College + 2-3 key organizations
- Delivered: Weekly/monthly digests
- Time: 5 minutes Monday morning
Pillar 4: RSS Feed Dashboard (Optional) - see Instagram post
- 10-15 curated sources
- Check: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
- Time: 25 minutes per week
Total weekly time commitment: 45-60 minutes
Less than one hour per week to stay completely current in your specialty.
Your Weekly Evidence Routine
Monday Morning (15 minutes with coffee):
- Check OVID alerts (5 min)
- Skim organization updates (5 min)
- Review RSS "Daily Check" folder (5 min)
- Flag interesting items for later
Wednesday Midweek (5 minutes):
- Quick RSS scan
- Note trending topics
- Share anything urgent with team
Friday Afternoon (20 minutes):
- Review journal TOCs (10 min)
- Check RSS "Weekly Review" (10 min)
- Read abstracts of flagged articles
- Archive/delete processed items
- Plan weekend reading
Weekend (Optional—30 minutes):
- Read 2-3 full articles you flagged
- Make notes for practice
- Share key findings with team next week
Email Management for Your Dashboard
Having a dashboard means managing emails effectively. Here's how:
Create these Outlook folders:
Set up Outlook rules:
Every email gets ONE of these actions:
- Delete - Not relevant after all
- Flag - Interesting, read abstract/article
- Share - Forward to colleague/team
- Archive - Reviewed, nothing relevant right now
Troubleshooting Your Dashboard
Problem: Too much information
Symptoms:
- Hundreds of unread items
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Avoiding checking your dashboard
Solutions:
- Unsubscribe from 50% of sources
- Use "mark all as read" and start fresh
- Be more specific in OVID searches (narrower results)
- Change email frequency to monthly
- Consider RSS instead of email
Problem: Not finding relevant content
Symptoms:
- Alerts rarely contain useful articles
- Considering canceling everything
- Not sure why you set these up
Solutions:
- Broaden OVID search terms (use more OR)
- Check different journals (maybe wrong specialty focus)
- Add more organizations (not just main Royal College)
- Ask librarian to review search strategies
- Reassess your actual information needs
Problem: Never reading the alerts
Symptoms:
- Alerts pile up unread
- Good intentions but no follow-through
- Feeling guilty about it
Solutions:
- Schedule specific time in calendar (Friday 3pm)
- Reduce to just 2-3 sources maximum
- Try different format (RSS instead of email)
- Pair with existing routine (Monday coffee)
- Be honest—do you actually need this?
Problem: Information overload
Symptoms:
- Trying to read everything
- Spending hours, not minutes
- Stressed about missing things
Solutions:
- Accept you can't read everything (nobody can!)
- Focus on abstracts, not full articles
- Use "title scan only" for most items
- Read deeply only 2-3 articles per week
- Remember: awareness beats deep reading for most items
Dashboard Examples by Role
Example 1: Resident Doctor - General Medicine
OVID Alerts:
- Alert 1: "Acute Medical Emergencies"
- Alert 2: "Quality Improvement Methods"
Journals (via email):
- BMJ
- Clinical Medicine
- Journal of Hospital Medicine
Organizations:
- Royal College of Physicians
- BMA Resident Doctors
- NHS England updates
RSS:
- Not using RSS yet (keeping it simple)
Time: 30 minutes/week
Example 2: Diabetes Nurse
OVID Alerts:
- Alert 1: "Diabetes Management Primary Care"
- Alert 2: "Patient Education Diabetes"
Journals:
- Journal of Advanced Nursing
- Diabetic Medicine
- Practical Diabetes
Organizations:
- RCN Diabetes Forum
- Diabetes UK Professional
- NICE Diabetes Updates
RSS (Feedly):
- Cochrane Diabetes Reviews
- Evidence-Based Nursing blog
- NHS Diabetes guidance updates
- RCN news feed
Time: 45 minutes/week
Example 3: Pharmacist
OVID Alerts:
- Alert 1: "Antimicrobial Stewardship"
- Alert 2: "Adverse Drug Events Prevention"
Journals:
- Pharmaceutical Journal
- International Journal of Pharmacy Practice
- BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
Organizations:
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- UK Clinical Pharmacy Association
- NICE Medicines Updates
RSS:
- BNF updates feed
- MHRA Drug Safety Updates
- SIGN Guidelines (Scotland)
- Hospital Pharmacy Europe
- Pharmacy news aggregator
Time: 45 minutes/week
Example 4: Physiotherapist
OVID Alerts:
- Alert 1: "Low Back Pain Rehabilitation"
- Alert 2: "Exercise Therapy Outcomes"
Journals:
- Physiotherapy Journal
- British Journal of Sports Medicine
- Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
Organizations:
- Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
- HCPC Professional Updates
- NICE MSK Guidelines
RSS:
- Cochrane Back Review Group
- Sports Physio blog aggregator
- CSP news
- Physio Network
- Evidence-Based Rehabilitation
Time: 40 minutes/week
Getting Help
Your Clinical Librarian team can:
- ✅ Review your OVID search strategies
- ✅ Recommend journals for your specialty
- ✅ Troubleshoot alerts not working
- ✅ Suggest organization newsletters
- ✅ Help set up RSS feeds
