Evidence-based medicine in clinical curriculum

The teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has now been incorporated as an integral part of medical curriculum at the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital but there is little research into the effectiveness of the course. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the EBM skills of medical students and competency of the faculty member.

The EBM course was created by the EBM Working Group at the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital for 3rd- to 6th-year medical students. The principles of EBM, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics were gradually instilled during the 4 years of medical school. Information technology infrastructure was also provided to facilitate critical appraisal skills. At the end of the Community Medicine clerkship, students anonymously evaluated aspects of the course regarding their EBM skills and faculty member competency with Likert scale questions.

Medical students generally gave high evaluations to all aspects of the EBM course taught in the Community Medicine Department. For each of the evaluation questions, the means were higher for faculty member competency.

The teaching of EBM course at the Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital is useful for medical students to enhance their critical thinking skills, and they seem to value the sessions positively.