Do anaesthetists believe their teaching is evidence-based?

Knowledge translation (KT) and evidence-based practice are widely referenced in clinical medicine, with parallel calls for clinical teaching to better reflect best educational practice. How clinical teachers use medical education theory and evidence is largely unknown.

To explore anaesthetists' attitudes to clinical teaching and medical education theory and evidence: whether they use it, what sources they access and attitudes to possible barriers to its use.

Data were collected from anaesthetists via on-line questionnaire.

364 anaesthetists (19% response rate) completed the questionnaire. Respondents preferentially approach colleagues and access short courses or workshops to improve their teaching. Twenty-eight percent reported consciously using medical education theory or evidence often or regularly, with 24% having never done so; 52% have never accessed any medical education article; and only 21% have read an article from a medical education journal. Lack of available time due to clinical commitments was the major barrier identified to greater use of medical education evidence and theory.

A "knowledge-practice gap" does appear to exist in anaesthesia teaching in spite of the improved medical education evidence base. KT methodology may provide a guide to improving clinician engagement with medical education.