Dr. John O'Keefe (l.) and Dr. Alastair Nicoll, shared the vision and outlined the benefits of JCDA Oasis at its official launch in April.
CDA officially launched JCDA Oasis, its new Online Advice and Searchable Information System, during the CDA annual general meeting events which took place in Ottawa in April. This latest generation of innovative dialogue and information tools is intended to fill a gap in the existing range of resources available to practitioners.
“JCDA Oasis has been a project driven by dentists,” explained Dr. Alastair Nicoll, CDA vice-president in a presentation to representatives of organized dentistry. “The impetus for the project began to emerge a few years ago, in response to a clearly identified need from Canadian dentists, who told us they wanted access to clinical resources and an interactive platform to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and foster communication between general practitioners and specialists.”
Now, by visiting a single website (jcdaoasis.ca), dentists can access credible, up-to-date, peer-reviewed clinical information. The JCDA Oasis product offerings are divided into 3 core components—jcda.ca, Oasis Help and Oasis Discussions.
jcda.ca
jcda.ca is CDA`s online, open access publication designed to keep dentist informed of professional, clinical and scientific developments that are pertinent to practising dentistry in Canada. jcda.ca is indexed in Medline, Journal Citation Reports and Science Citation Index and includes 3 main sections:
- Research: original research articles that contribute to the scientific literature and oral health care policy in Canada.
- Clinical Dentistry: clinically related articles and educative case reports that serve as important clinical reminders to dentists.
- News & Issues: updates on the Canadian dental profession along with debate and opinion articles on clinical, demographic, educational, ethical, legal and regulatory issues in Canada.
“jcda.ca will continue to give CDA an international presence in dentistry,” noted Dr. Nicoll. “Rest assured that we are not moving away from our flagship publication.”
Oasis Help
Oasis Help is a chairside support system designed to help dentists and dental team members with clinical decisions. It provides point-of-care support through a user-friendly searchable database of clinical knowledge in priority areas:
- Medical conditions with implications for dental treatment
- Prescription drugs with implications for dental treatment
- The most common medical and dental emergencies (urgent care scenarios) likely to be encountered in dental practice
Oasis Help is the result of consultations with dentists across Canada who identified their need for up-to-date, quick and concise clinical knowledge to help them make sound and informed decisions. Dentists indicated that while clinical content is available through various means, it is often cumbersome and not easily retrievable. Oasis Help aims to solve this problem.
“Oasis Help is where dentists can go to get fast answers,” said Dr. Nicoll. “You can find what you want, it is organized very logically and intuitively, and you can go straight to the information you need.”
Oasis Help will also provide dentists with links to further in-depth resources that complement the quick and concise clinical knowledge.
Coming Soon! Oasis Help will also feature a diagnostic support tool and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.
Oasis Discussions
Oasis Discussions is an online space where Canadian dentists submit their clinical questions (anonymously, if preferred) and receive rapid credible answers from expert colleagues.
Oasis Discussions offers dentists:
- A virtual gathering place to discuss challenging and interesting clinical cases and learn from cases which may not proceed as intended.
- An exciting new way for JCDA expert panels, Canadian dental schools, specialty organizations, educational academies and study clubs to showcase excellent clinical content and invite comments and discussion that can help develop this content further.
- An experimental environment for new and creative ways of seeking and presenting clinical knowledge.
Comments submitted by dentists help develop content that will be subsequently presented in Oasis Help in an FAQ section.
“The content generated in Oasis Discussions will be refined by the answers from our peers,” added Dr. Nicoll. “It will create a question and answer package that might end up in another format, searchable by discipline.”
"With the JCDA Oasis suite of tools, we want to help Canadian dentists make informed clinical decisions through the use of readily available materials, developed and reviewed by our colleagues,” explains Dr. John O’Keefe, director of CDA knowledge networks.
Visit jcdaoasis.ca today!