Teaching evidence-based medicine skills through a residency-developed guideline.
Though many residencies have recognized the need for instruction in evidence-based medicine, the best way to teach these skills to resident physicians remains uncertain. We designed a curriculum intended to develop a resident-produced, evidence-based guideline for the care of patients with diabetes. Each resident was supervised going through the steps of evidence-based medicine: asking a clinical question, searching for the evidence to answer that question, appraising that evidence, and producing an evidence-based answer. These answers were then compiled into a guideline distributed in the residency practice. An evaluation of this curriculum using focus group and survey data showed that learners appreciated the skills and knowledge gained in devising guidelines in an evidence-based manner but were uncertain that their searches were complete. The clinical evaluation of the guideline implementation showed improvement in several clinical markers of diabetes care.
Epling
John
J
Department of Family Medicine, SUNY-Upstate Medical University, USA. eplingj@upstate.edu
Smucny
John
J
Patil
Anita
A
Tudiver
Fred
F
D003479:Curriculum; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000628:therapy; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000193:education*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D017144:Focus Groups; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014481:United States