Introduction

In 1885, when John Shaw Billings started the database which would, over time, morph into PubMed he recognized the hopelessness of trying to keep abreast of the medical literature.  In addition, he was cognizant of how trivial most of what passes for “the literature” is when he wrote:

There is a vast amount of effete and worthless material in the literature of medicine.  Our preparers of compilations and compendiums, big and little, acknowledged or not, are continually enlarging the collection, and for the most part with material that has been categorized as ‘superlatively middling, the quintessential extract of mediocrity.

          Over the past 132 years, the situation has only gotten worse.  Today, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) receives 165 dermatology journals and indexes 57 of them in MEDLINE (searchable via PubMed).  What dermatologist could read all of these even if all one did was pore over skin journals?

We are starting a Virtual Journal Club for Dermatology.  Each month, members will post the one or two (or none) articles they deem most important from their assigned or chosen journals.  The references will be stored here for referral and open-access whenever possible.  The Label field can be used to locate articles of interest to readers.

Please consider joining our Virtual Dermatology Journal Club