Critical Appraisal Worksheets for Integration Into an Existing Small-Group Problem-Based Learning Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Medical students possess diverse backgrounds, leading to varied abilities in critically appraising health science literature.
• A gap exists in essential critical appraisal skills among incoming medical students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a critical appraisal exercise for first-year medical students.
• To assess the effectiveness of this exercise in improving students' literature appraisal skills within a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum.

Main Methods:

• An 8-week intervention integrated weekly literature reviews and critical appraisal worksheets into the first-year PBL curriculum.
• Students discussed articles and worksheets in small groups, with faculty guidance.
• A validated questionnaire (Berlin questionnaire) measured critical appraisal skills before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• Participants (N=60) demonstrated a statistically significant average improvement of 4% in critical appraisal skills (p = .03).
• Students scoring at or below the 50th percentile pre-intervention showed a greater average improvement of 12% (p = .002).

Conclusions:

• The critical appraisal worksheets are an effective tool for enhancing medical students' literature appraisal abilities.
• This intervention is easily adaptable to existing problem-based learning curricula and benefits students most in need of skill development.