What is Evidence Based Medicine?

Evidence Based Medicine has been defined as:

...an approach to practising medicine in which the clinician is aware of the evidence in support of clinical practice, and the strength of that evidence.

Evidence Based Medicine Working Group

...the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decision about the care of individual patients...integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.

Centre for Evidence Based Medicine

Evidence-Based Medicine is a process of life-long, problem-based learning. The process involves:

1. Converting information needs into focused questions.
2. Efficiently tracking down the best evidence with which to answer the question.
3. Critically appraising the evidence for validity and clinical usefulness.
4. Applying the results in clinical practice.
5. Evaluating performance of the evidence in clinical application.

The practice and teaching of Evidence-Based Medicine has outcome products which help the health care provider and consumer keep up with the medical literature and assess the evidence. These products synthesize/filter/evaluate the primary research literature. Dissemination and incorporation of valid clinical research findings into medical practice is the ultimate goal.

• Systematic Reviews/Meta-Analyses
• Critically Appraised Topics (e.g., ACP Journal Club)
• Practice Guidelines
• Evaluated Bibliographic Databases (e.g., Cochrane Library)
• Consensus Development Reports
• Decision Analyses
• Patient Education/Decisions Tools

Several groups have been leaders in Evidence Based Medicine . Their initiatives in promoting the practice of EBM are numerous and are detailed in various sections of this guide.