title: Understanding and practice of evidence based search strategy among postgraduate dental students: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  One of the core attributes of competent practice is the ability to locate and analyze high-quality evidence. Research on information seeking knowledge of dental graduates is scarce.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to evaluate pertinent knowledge and skills on formulation of answerable questions and searching skills through the understanding and application of EBP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants' understanding and abilities to develop answerable questions in application of EBP were assessed through a quasi-experimental study design among freshly inducted postgraduate dental students at Dow University of Health Sciences. Pre and post workshop activity sessions were conducted and assessment was made through a tool that was an adaptation of the Fresno Test. The assessments performed were calculated for mean scores and standard deviations to draw descriptive results for the participants' understanding of the search items and clinical question formulation skills. Wilcoxon-signed rank test was performed to compare the pre and post workshop mean scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty two participants (females = 20, males = 22) attended the workshop. Pre-workshop knowledge and understanding about the terminologies used in EBP was low among participants. Post-workshop performance of the participants to formulate a question, find evidence and search on PubMed was improved to a "Limited" level. The improvements were statistically significant but could not attain "Strong" and "Excellent" grades as far as the EBP skills were concerned.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study observed a potential to improve search skills of dental graduates after their training and exposure to search strategies available on databases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Sarfaraz Rafiqui Shaheed Road, Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address: ambrinaqureshi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ambrina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qureshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, University Medical & Dental College, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Syed Akhtar Hussain
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bokhari
authors.affiliation: Department of Material Sciences, Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Madiha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirvani
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Dentistry, Dr. Ishratul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences, Dow University of Health Sciences, Sarfaraz Rafiqui Shaheed Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Narendar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dawani
mesh_terms: D003815:Dentists; D004499:Education, Dental, Graduate; D055094:Evidence-Based Dentistry / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058980:Information Literacy; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence; D039781:PubMed; D012107:Research Design; D009626:Terminology as Topic
keywords: Dental education; Evidence based practice; Postgraduate students