Must Have Resource: High-Powered Medicine

Here at RxTeach we are big supporters of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). We are constantly citing our primary literature and landmark trials in our articles. Therefore....

We are incredibly excited to announce that all paid subscribers of RxTeach will now have access to a free PDF version of High-Powered Medicine: Landmark Clinical Trial Reviews by Alex Poppen, PharmD. Keep reading below for more details on why this is your next must-have resource!


EBM is defined by Oxford Languages as "medical practice or care that emphasizes the practical application of the findings of the best available current research."

According to ClinicalTrials.gov, there were 437,535 trials registered in their database in 2022. As of May 2, 2023, there are already 450,818 trials registered. Of these studies, an average of 13% of them have results posted.

If we need to be practicing medicine using the most up-to-date literature, and there are roughly 50,000 studies reporting final data every year, how on earth are we supposed to sift through all of the recent data and apply it to practice? This is in addition to all of the previous literature from the 1900s and early 2000s, of course.

To help guide us, there are trials known as Landmark Clinical Trials. "Landmark clinical trials are practice-changing and highly influential studies that either caused a paradigm shift in medical practice or clarified previously unclear answers to critical questions in medical management." (MyEndoConsult)

But how do we find these "landmark" trials, stay up-to-date on newly published ones and keep track of the clinically relevant results?

These questions led Dr. Poppen to begin building High-Powered Medicine, as a way to collect and condense the most useful information from landmark trials (new and old) into a single EBM resource.

As written by Dr. Poppen, "while one’s clinical expertise increases with experience and practice, the ability to grow and maintain a working knowledge of available research and trials is severely limited by the finite hours per day, few of which can be freely dedicated to said task."

High-Powered Medicine (2nd Ed.) includes concise, clinically relevant data with evidence-based recommendations from over 150 landmark trials spanning more than 30 years which can then be paired with one’s own clinical expertise to optimize pharmacotherapy in chronic disease management.


I have personally used this resource as a handy reference to help write several of the articles posted on RxTeach (and I’ve had a hard copy version of HPM on my bookshelf since the beginning of my PGY1 residency).

Lessons Learned from the ACCOMPLISH and ALLHAT Trials
Today we will discuss the ACCOMPLISH Trial from 2008 and ALLHAT Trial from 2002. Yes, a trial from over 20 years ago. Why are we bringing these back to the limelight? I wanted to review these trials specifically to show you that not all first-line guideline-recommended therapies are the same.
DELIVER Trial Journal Club
The New England Journal of Medicine published the DELIVER trial at the end of August 2022. This post is going to be a journal club breaking down the DELIVER trial and what change it may bring to our clinical practice.
MANDALA Trial Journal Club
The New England Journal of Medicine published the MANDALA trial online in May 2022. This post is going to be a journal club breaking down the MANDALA trial and what change it may bring to our clinical practice.

RxTeach and Dr. Poppen are happy to share this free PDF version of the HPM book to further promote the practice of evidence-based medicine. Consider investing in a subscription to RxTeach to further aid your education and expertise in the field of healthcare.

Interested in a physical copy of the book? Or subscription access to the HPM database? Visit www.highpoweredmedicine.com for more information.


Are you ready to invest in your next must-have resource and start practicing evidence-based medicine? Go to the RxTeach.com homepage and find the "High Powered Medicine" tab at the top of the page to get started!