Table 1.
Topics presented in the EBM course
| Topic | Content |
|---|---|
| Introduction to EBM | The principles of EBM are presented and discussed with key examples of EBM in practice |
| Developing an answerable question | The PICO mnemonic is described, with students practicing writing answerable questions using PICO from a variety of clinical scenarios. |
| Searching the medical literature (databases including MEDLINE) | Students attend an 'interactive' library session. Students receive a tutorial on how to effectively search MEDLINE, with the tutor demonstrating on a computer projection and students mimicking the search on their computers. Students are provided with clinical scenarios to practice constructing answerable questions and searching for relevant articles on MEDLINE in the remaining time of the tutorial. |
| Study designs | Content is delivered on how the following study designs are constructed; |
| • Randomised controlled trials | |
| • Cohort studies | |
| • Case-control studies | |
| • Systematic reviews | |
| Specific strengths and limitations of the above study designs are presented and discussed. Also included are methods of bias and overcoming bias in studies (e.g. selection, performance, attrition and detection bias). | |
| Critical appraisal techniques | Critical appraisal techniques for the following clinical questions and study designs are demonstrated; |
| • Therapy | |
| • Harm | |
| • Diagnosis | |
| • Prognosis | |
| • Systematic reviews | |
| Students are presented with a worked example demonstrating the critical appraisal of an article. Students are then required to perform a critical appraisal of another article in small groups and present answers in a large group discussion at the conclusion of the tutorial. | |
| Biostatistics | Presentations on how to calculate and interpret the following biostatistics are provided; |
| • Measures of outcomes (including relative risk, relative risk reduction/increase, absolute risk, absolute risk reduction/increase, number needed to treat and odds ratios) | |
| • Confidence intervals & p-values | |
| • Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values & likelihood ratios |