Searching MEDLINE for Evidence in the Primary Medical Literature

INTRODUCTION TO EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE: REASONS FOR PRACTICING EBM

1. New Types of Evidence are Changing the Way We Practice Medicine

Evidence Based Medicine is based on using existing medical evidence to make decisions about patient care. In the practice of EBM, Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) play a crucial role. RCTs are considered to provide the best evidence, and are the "gold standard" of care. A Randomised Controlled Trial is a report of a group of patients, which are randomised into an experimental group and a control group. These groups are followed up for the variables / outcomes of interest.

RCTs have proven the effectiveness of many treatments.
RCTs have also proven many common treatments to be either useless or harmful.
Keeping up-to-date with advances in knowledge = practicing better medicine. Knowing about the latest RCTs is one effective way to keep current!

For more information about RCTs, visit bmj.com at http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7167/1217.
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