The Health Workforce Information Center recently added a set of literature searches to its website. The new searches, created by HWIC’s information specialists, connect users directly to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed search results listing journal articles on the health workforce in each state, as well as workforce articles by profession and on a wide range of health workforce topics. The search strategies primarily use workforce-related subject headings from MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), in some cases also using keywords to focus the search results. Each search is listed as a “key resource” on the relevant state, profession or topic guide, as well as being available in the resources section of the site.

While HWIC primarily focuses on the gray literature – reports issued by federal and state agencies, professional associations, and research centers that are typically freely available online – the HWIC website does include selected journal articles. The new access provided by the PubMed searches will help users identify additional journal articles, beyond those featured on HWIC.