Introducing EBM for postgraduate training
Imura, H.
Rinsho Byori. Japanese Journal of Clinical Pathology 48(12): 1143-1148
2000
ISSN/ISBN: 0047-1860 PMID: 11215424 Document Number: 514457
The introduction of Evidence-based medicine(EBM) for residency training is recommended by the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine. At our hospital, we put the emphasis on learning vital clinical epidemiology through clinical experience. When educating EBM to our residents, we especially focus on the diagnostic process, because the knowledge of clinical epidemiology is useful while making the diagnosis and evaluating the diagnostic hypothesis. In our daily conference among residents and medical educators, the logic of clinical epidemiology is used for evaluating the validity of clinical judgment on diagnosis. We suggest three components upon making a diagnosis: 1. Always suspect a particular disease when ordering a laboratory test 2. Know the sensitivity and specificity of the test 3. Apply the test result in order to reevaluate the pretest hypothesis In this article, interaction among staff and residents are presented and discussed with these components in our minds. By repeating these interactions, the residents will be able to understand the importance of EBM and will be able to apply it in the clinical practice.