title: A Cross-Sectional Study of Medical Student Knowledge of Evidence-Based Medicine as Measured by the Fresno Test of Evidence-Based Medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been included in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) milestones project as a required component during emergency medicine (EM) residency training. Milestone Level One states that graduating medical students must be able to "describe basic principles of EBM."
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to identify the EBM skills of third- and fourth-year medical students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our institution, a network with 17 different residencies, hosts U.S. osteopathic and allopathic medical students. As a part of orientation, students are required to complete an entry Fresno Test of EBM (FTEBM). Retrospectively, medical student FTEBM scores from 2011 were assessed using descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred seventeen FTEBM scores were analyzed. Participants represented 40 medical schools, including 17 allopathic (MD) and 23 osteopathic (DO) schools. Fifty percent of participants (n = 210) were female, and 51.6% (n = 215) were from a DO medical school. Overall mean performance for the FTEBM was 47.2%. Exploring the results by individual question were (individual EBM question topics are in parentheses): 1A (study question), 62.0%; 1B (study question), 64.4%: 2 (sources of evidence), 67.6%; 3 (study design), 57.1%; 4 (search strategies), 53.2%; 5 (relevance), 41.2%; 6 (internal validity), 43.6%; 7 (magnitude), 37.8%; 8 (two-by-two grids), 30.0%; 9 (number needed to treat), 16.9%; 10 (confidence intervals), 34.3%; 11 (diagnosis), 5.0%; and 12 (prognosis), 43.4%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As measured by the FTEBM, senior medical students demonstrate understanding of about half of EBM. EM residencies can anticipate the need to instruct their residents in EBM concepts in order to meet ACGME/ABEM milestone requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Amy B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Semler
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Zachary G
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Katie L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Ahmadzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Crellin
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Falkowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Kalif A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Kendig
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Brent H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Steinweg
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Dusza
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glenn-Porter
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Bryan G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Kane
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: EBM; Fresno