Am Fam Physician. 2006 Aug 1;74(3):356.
In addition to review articles, each issue of AFP includes departments that provide readers with clinical information, evidence-based tools for decision making, opportunities to obtain continuing medical education (CME) credit, and forums to voice their opinions. These departments present information in various formats to appeal to a variety of reader preferences.
This is a brief description of each of the departments currently appearing in AFP. Some appear in every issue, whereas others appear sporadically based on the availability of information. All are provided online as part of the free full-text version of AFP (https://www.aafp.org/afp). Collections of several of the departments are available at https://www.aafp.org/journals/afp/explore/departments.html.
Clinical Evidence Concise, which lays out the best available evidence on treatments for medical conditions, is a series of excerpts from the publication of the same name produced by the BMJ Publishing Group.
Clinical Quiz offers readers the opportunity to earn CME credit by submitting the quiz card from the print version of AFP or taking the quiz online. The quiz is also a handy tool for studying for board examinations or keeping current in the field of medicine.
CME Calendar provides a state-by-state list of CME courses available throughout the United States, outside the United States and on cruises, and information on international family medicine and general practice meetings and the AAFP Annual Scientific Assembly.
Cochrane for Clinicians summarizes reviews from the Cochrane Library. Each summary is accompanied by an interpretation that helps clinicians put the evidence into practice, a clinical scenario and question based on the Cochrane Abstract, an evidence-based answer to the question, and a critique of the review.
Curbside Consultation uses case scenarios as the basis for giving advice about handling the ethical and interpersonal challenges of practice.
Editorials provide a forum for authors to expound on a topic related to the field of medicine, often the topic of a clinical review article in the same issue.
FPIN's Clinical Inquiries consists of clinical questions submitted by practicing family physicians and peer-reviewed answers provided by members of the Family Physicians Inquiries Network (FPIN), who base their answers on an approved set of evidence-based resources.
Graham Center One-Pagers examine family medicine's role in the U.S. health care system, and are written by the staff of the Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care.
Inside AFP is a column that provides readers with the behind-the-scenes details of how we produce AFP.
Letters to the Editor are another forum for readers to express their views on material that appeared in AFP or on topics (including case reports) related to medicine.
Newsletter contains brief news items of governmental, social, or political issues related to the field of medicine.
Photo Quiz offers clinical challenges in the form of a photograph and description of the patient's symptoms and history. A clinical question and answer related to the scenario and a discussion of the condition are provided.
Point-of-Care Guides are evidence-based tools intended to help family physicians improve their decision making at the point of care.
POEMs (from “Patient-Oriented Evidence that Matters”) summarize research reports that address questions that physicians commonly face, measure outcomes that are relevant to physicians and patients, and have the potential to change practice.
Putting Prevention into Practice provides case studies with questions and answers based on recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
Practice Guidelines summarize important clinical reports from major medical organizations, such as clinical policy statements, clinical practice guidelines, joint conference statements, and committee opinions.
Quantum Sufficit contains brief items designed to give readers bits of entertaining health-related information.
STEPS reviews cover the Safety, Tolerability, Effectiveness, Price, and Simplicity of new medications.
Tips from other Journals are brief synopses of clinical review and research articles from other medical journals that provide readers with a discussion of significant research or clinically useful therapies or procedures.
USPSTF includes summaries of recommendations released by the USPSTF, addressing preventive health services for use in primary care clinical settings.