Teaching numeracy to physicians-in-training. Quantitative analysis for evidence-based medicine.
Many physicians admit to having some degree of innumeracy--difficulty understanding and working with numbers. Yet, increasingly, physicians in all specialties are committing to practicing evidence-based medicine (EBM) and, as a result, must learn to discern quantitative differences and address statistical significance. Although no one expects a practicing physician to be able to evaluate a statistician's choice of methods or conduct an independent rendering of a clinical study's analysis, practitioners of EBM must learn how to assess the importance of results found in a clinical study. Since 2001, Mayo Clinic has been teaching its residents in pediatric and adolescent medicine the skills required for EBM. This article describes the 5 steps involved in practicing EBM, focusing on the interpretation of study results.
Jacobson
Robert M
RM
Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, College of Medicine at Mayo Clinic, USA.
D001699:Biometry / Q000379:methods*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008910:Minnesota; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data