Question 1: Discuss your thoughts and concerns with Evidence Based Practice after going through tutorials. After going through tutorial I have to conclusion that evidence-based medicine (EBM) is not simply technical process; instead, it is integration of external clinical evidence and clinical expertise. I think that contemporary clinicians should think of evidence based medicine as an excellent opportunity to master skills, to realize the importance of asking questions and looking for medical evidence. EBM gives an opportunity to combine past experience with modern evidence and literature.
Recent researches show that expertise plays crucial role in diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. The key concern of many patients is that they think that clinicians may only guess what they suffer from, but they should remain that professional clinical that practices EBM always rely on codified criteria of how to find good evidence. (Evidence Based Medicine Tutorial) I think that clinicians should choose EBM as the core of medical practice because memory of every person loses its freshness and you may forgot what you have learnt.
EBM promotes life-long professional development and growth offering new treatment methods. One more problem is that you may not be aware of new treatment methods as far as they weren’t taught; however, EBM gives you a possibility to remain on the top pf new developments. I found out that EVM provides students and clinicians with new medical research and practical implications. The amount of knowledge is greater and more reliable than expertise of one clinician. Practitioner doesn’t have to look through masses of journal and to know everything.
Instead, practitioner’s task is to find relevant information that matches patient’s needs. Many lives can be saved if the practitioner has knowledge of exact outcomes of medical interventions. (Evidence Based Medicine) Section B Question: Discuss where, in your everyday practice or employment as a clinician, you may encounter the need to formulate questions and how to may strategize to be able to look further into those questions (i. e. point of care, writing down for later searching, etc).
What process do you currently follow to answer important questions? What resources do you consult? Do you have peers to discuss difficult questions with? Is it difficult to find answers to unresolved questions? Of course, asking questions is important not only in evidence-based medicine, and it can be applied to everyday life. Employment as a clinician suggests asking questions with the purpose to identify patient’s needs, desired outcomes and treatment methods, to find out true causes of illness and so on.
The clinical question is important to me and to every person, who is going to practice evidence-based medicine, as every professional should be aware of possible consequences and feedbacks. (Davis et al. , 1995) The importance of this clinical question is undeniable and immense. In everyday practice we may ask questions ranging from asking the right time or deciding what clothes will be the best suited to asking questions about job, job opportunities, contracts, necessary acquaintances, etc.
As a clinician I prefer five-step model of asking questions and finding proper answers: crafting question, searching the best evidence, appraising the evidence, integrating the evidence, and evaluating its effectiveness. The number of sources to be consulted is not limited to merely encyclopedias and technical handbooks; we are provided with on-line catalogues with search engines to narrow our research and to save time, with Internet resources, articles in medical journals and magazines.
However, there are always questions that I can’t find answers at once, and I have to ask my peers, professors or other professionals for help. I think that it is normal for a person to ask for help as we can’t know everything. (Sibley, 1982) Actually, EBM doesn’t call for that. Instead, it promotes searching for necessary literature. Of course, it is difficult for me to find answer for unresolved problems as for any other person, but I never give up. I have professional support and desire of professional growth.
References
Evidence Based Medicine Tutorial. Sunny Downstate Medical Center. Retrieved March 25, 2009, fromhttp://library. downstate. edu/EBM2/contents Davis, D A, et al. (1995). Changing Physician Performance. A Systematic Review of the Effect of Continuing Medical Education Strategies. JAMA, 274, pp. 700-701. Sibley, J. C. (1982). A Randomized Trial of Continuing Medical Education. N Engl J Med, 306, pp. 511-515. Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). Retrieved March 25, 2009, from http://www. mclibrary. duke. edu/subject/ebm? tab=overview