“If physicians would read two articles per day of the six million medical articles published annually, in one year, they would fall 82 centuries behind” (Miser, 1999). Both the public as well as health care providers are inundated with information from a variety of sources. Recent estimates suggest that the web posts ~114 million English-language academic articles and Google scholar indexes ~100 million documents (Khabsa & Giles, 2014). The ability to critically review and analyze ever-changing medical literature is a necessary and fundamental skill required of all physicians throughout their careers. Competency in the domain of evidence-based medicine (EBM) is essential in that patients expect that their physicians will be up-to date with
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spends more money per capita than any other developed nation in the world (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2016). However, evidence suggests that many Americans receive inadequate and suboptimal care (US Burden of Disease Collaborators, 2013). Competency in the practice of EBM gives physicians tools to critically appraise the literature and utilize best-practices for patients. The use of EBM has been reported to improve care in a wide-range of cases (e.g., breast cancer patients’ quality of life, emergency care for severe allergic reactions) (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, 2013). Although the definition and use of EBM has evolved and it is currently defined as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research” (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996), its use must be coupled with sound clinical reasoning and judgment (Sheridan & Julian, …show more content…
However, an important and more recent survey of evidence-based medicine curricula in U.S. and Canadian medical schools revealed that EBM was a formal curricular element in 109 of the 115 medical schools (Blanco, Capello, Dorsch, Perry, & Zanetti, 2014). Although survey results indicated that there were a total of 900 EBM learning objectives distributed throughout 4-year curricula, there were marked decreases in measurable learning objectives as students progressed from the first-year of medical school (n=233) to the fourth-year (n=22). In the third-year, the most common EBM content was: 1) point of care use of computer or handhelds; 2) meta-analysis and randomized controlled trials; 3) prescription and medication resources. In addition, recent data suggest that EBM is often incorporated into existing curricular content instead of stand-alone courses (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2015) Despite time-pressure during clinical rotations and students frequently dispersed at several clinical sites, there are reports of longitudinal EBM curricula demonstrating sustained benefit throughout the third year of medical school as measured by the Berlin Questionnaire and Fresno
spends more money per capita than any other developed nation in the world (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, 2016). However, evidence suggests that many Americans receive inadequate and suboptimal care (US Burden of Disease Collaborators, 2013). Competency in the practice of EBM gives physicians tools to critically appraise the literature and utilize best-practices for patients. The use of EBM has been reported to improve care in a wide-range of cases (e.g., breast cancer patients’ quality of life, emergency care for severe allergic reactions) (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, 2013). Although the definition and use of EBM has evolved and it is currently defined as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research” (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes, & Richardson, 1996), its use must be coupled with sound clinical reasoning and judgment (Sheridan & Julian, …show more content…
However, an important and more recent survey of evidence-based medicine curricula in U.S. and Canadian medical schools revealed that EBM was a formal curricular element in 109 of the 115 medical schools (Blanco, Capello, Dorsch, Perry, & Zanetti, 2014). Although survey results indicated that there were a total of 900 EBM learning objectives distributed throughout 4-year curricula, there were marked decreases in measurable learning objectives as students progressed from the first-year of medical school (n=233) to the fourth-year (n=22). In the third-year, the most common EBM content was: 1) point of care use of computer or handhelds; 2) meta-analysis and randomized controlled trials; 3) prescription and medication resources. In addition, recent data suggest that EBM is often incorporated into existing curricular content instead of stand-alone courses (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2015) Despite time-pressure during clinical rotations and students frequently dispersed at several clinical sites, there are reports of longitudinal EBM curricula demonstrating sustained benefit throughout the third year of medical school as measured by the Berlin Questionnaire and Fresno