Attitudes of teachers to evidence based medicine

To describe the attitudes of general practitioners and specialist clinical teachers toward teaching evidence based medicine (EBM).

Questionnaire survey of 114 general practitioner and 162 specialist university teachers teaching EBM.

Two hundred and six (80%) teachers responded; 196 regularly consulted with patients, 21% had received training, and 40% taught EBM. Those with formal training (68%) taught more often than without (32%) (p = 0.0001), 27% had taught EBM for over 5 years. More GPs (57%) than specialists (40%) asked students to assist in finding evidence (p = 0.036). Most welcomed EBM and were confident in teaching it. Barriers included antagonism to EBM philosophy, shortage of time, and a need for training in teaching EBM.

Although not all trained, GPs and specialists teach EBM, enjoy doing so, and want to increase their ability to teach it.