Evidence Based Medicine: EBM

1. ASK
   • Create an answerable clinical question.
2. ACQUIRE
   • Search for information.
3. APPRAISE
   • Evaluate the information.
4. APPLY
   • Use what you learned.
5. ASSESS
   • Evaluate the outcome.

Bandolier is an independent journal about evidence based healthcare. Included in as part of their website is a glossary of often used terms in medicine and medical research.

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford also maintains a glossary but warns that it "is not a comprehensive glossary but it outlines some of the key terms that should be understood in relation to Evidence-Based practice.

The conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine requires the integration of individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research and our patient's unique values and circumstances.
-Centre for Evidence Based Medicine (CEBM), Toronto, CA

Evidence-Based decisions usually involve five steps:

1. Forming a clinical question
2. Gathering high quality, current evidence
3. Examining and appraising the evidence
4. Apply the evidence, taking into account patient preferences 
5. Evaluating outcomes

Sackett D, Rosenberg W, Gray J, Haynes R, Richardson W. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ. 1996;312(7023):71-72.

Evidence alone is never enough to make a clinical decision.

There is a hierarchy of evidence to guide clinical decision making.

Phone:  (334) 699-2266 ext. 4242

Inside ACOM, just dial 4242.

Text:  (334) 384-0868

Email:  lrc.ask@acom.edu