EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE

Abstract

Objectives: Evaluate perception and barriers of practice of Evidence basedMedicine of first and third year medical students of Jinnah Medical and Dental College Karachi.Study Design: Descriptive, cross sectional. Setting: Department of Medicine, Jinnah Medical andDental College Karachi. Period: Dec 2013 to Oct 2014. Subjects & Methods: Of 100 students,response rate was 71% in each year, first year males were n=20 (28.2%) females n=51 (71.8%)in third year males were n=17 (23. 9%) and females n=54 (76.1%). A student based medicineEBM curriculum was imparted to the first and third year medical students in each of 2 semestersof 18 and 16 weeks duration. A Questionnaire based on Likert scale comprising of 10 questionswas filled out at the end of the course of the first and third years during October 2014. Result:Response rate was 71%, on Likert scale 4 and 5 First year students interest in EBM Classeswas n=61(89.5%) as compared to n=36(50.8%) in third year students. Importance of stepsof EBM for practicing clinical medicine was appreciated by n=60(84.5%) of first year studentsversus 47(66.2 %) in third year students. EBM course helped in understanding importance ofarticles in practice of medicine articles in n=44(61.9%) of first year students as compared to39(54.9%) of third years. Barriers perceived were practice of EBM in the institution was lackingas reported by n=35(49.3%) of first year students and n=47(66.2%) in third year students, alonger duration of course was desired by n=41(57.8%) of first year students the respondentsagreed versus=35(49.3%) of third years, and the course was considered more theoretical thanpractical n=35(48.3. %)by first years and n=48(67.6%) by third year students, p values were notsignificant. Conclusion: More Pre-clinical as compared to clinical medical students recognizedEBM as an important component of undergraduate education. This positive attitude needs tobe nurtured for self-directed learning as is evident in their realization of articles being importantfor clinical practice. The declining interest is due to EBM not being an examination subject,lack of practice of EBM in the institution, and poor electronic resources and lack of vision of theinstitution to embed EBM in the curriculum in to sustain interest as students moved to higherlevels and will remain a barrier till senior faculty give way to innovations in the field of medicaleducation.