This post courtesy ofAnne Taylor-Vaisey: This is a forwarded message from Laure Perrier at the University of Toronto
Faculty of Medice Office of Continuing Education. Laure and Joanne Goldman
disseminate a CME literature report entitled Research Digest. You can
read past digests here:
http://www.ktp.utoronto.ca/events/archives/researchDigest/index.htm Research Question:How can evidence-based medicine skills be
effectively taught? Does teaching EBM skills improve clinical
practice?
Articles: Internet-based journal club: A randomized, controlled trial.
1. Teaching practicing surgeons critical appraisal skills with an
Fitzgerald W, Hill A, Richard C, Webber EM, McLeod RS. Surgery 2004;136:641-6.
PubMed Abstracthttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15349113
2. Teaching evidence-based medicine skills can change practice in a community hospital.
C, Balcombe N, Sheldon J, McAlister FA. J Gen Intern Med 2005;20:340-343.
PubMed Abstracthttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15857491
Summary:
MacRae et al. conducted
a randomized controlled study to evaluate the effectiveness of an Internet-based
journal club in developing critical appraisal skills in practicing general
surgeons. The intervention consisted of eight monthly clinical and methodologic
articles, moderated listserve discussions, and methodologic and clinical
reviews. The control group received the clinical articles and had online access
to medical and surgical journals. Physicians in the intervention group performed
better on a test of critical appraisal skills than those in the control group.
Straus et al. conducted a before/after study in a
UK
hospital toexamine whether a multifaceted evidence-based medicine intervention changed
clinical practice. The intervention consisted of an EBM training c! ourse of
seven 1-hour sessions, an EBM syllabus and textbook, and evidence-based
resources on the hospital network. According to discharge summaries for patients
admitted before and after the intervention, patients admitted after the
intervention were significantly more likely to receive therapies proven to be
beneficial in randomized controlled trials, and the trials supporting these
therapies were significantly more likely to be high quality than before the
intervention.
Implications:
§ These
studies demonstrate the importance of both assessing effective ways to teach EBM
skills as well as whether possession of these skills is translated into improved
clinical outcomes. The critical next stage, an RCT of EBM teaching on clinical
behaviour and outcomes, is currently being performed by Straus.
Further reading: appraisal skills training for health care professionals: a randomized controlled trial.
Taylor
RS,Reeves BC,
Ewings
PE
, Taylor
RJ. BMC Medical Education; 2004 7;4(1):30. Full-Text
Search the RDRB (Research & Development Resource Base):
articles search the RDRB - available at no cost online at: http://www.cme.utoronto.ca/search.
Some keywords to use: evidence based medicine AND
teaching
