1. Define evidence-based practice and determine what is considered to be evidence.
2. Learn how to formulate a research question. 
3. Review how to use Boolean Operators.
4. Learn about PubMed and how to do a basic search.
5. Learn how to use Filters in Pubmed to limit your results to evidence-based articles.
6. Learn about the PubMed's Clinical Query which is designed for evidence-based searching.
7. See how the MeSH database can be used to build a better search in PubMed.

What is Evidence-based practice? 

The basic steps in Evidence-based practice are listed below. Basically, when you consult the medical literature for "evidence" to help you answer clinical questions about therapy, diagnosis, treatment outcome, and prognosis, you are taking part in evidence-based practice.  

There are five steps in evidence-based practice.  We will be looking at the first three steps:

1. Formulating a well-built question
2. Identifying articles and other evidence-based resources that answer the question
3. Critically appraising the evidence to assess its validity
4. Applying the evidence
5. Re-evaluating the application of evidence and areas for improvement

Definition

EBP is the integration of clinical expertise, patient values, and the best research evidence into the decision making process for patient care. Clinical expertise refers to the clinician's cumulated experience, education and clinical skills. The patient brings to the encounter his or her own personal and unique concerns, expectations, and values. The best evidence is usually found in clinically relevant research that has been conducted using sound methodology.”  

- Sackett, D. Evidence-based Medicine - What it is and what it isn't. BMJ 1996; 312:71-72.

What is evidence? 

We will be searching in PubMed for systematic reviews, practice guidelines, and critically-appraised topics, clinical trials and articles in PubMed . These documents are labelled in the pyramid diagram below illustrating the least clinically relevant at the bottom and the most clinically relevant at the top. 

The four layers above case reports and case series represent actual clinical research; the layers below are least clinically relevant and can be useful as background resources. It is important to note that not all research topics have the highest level of evidence. Often background information and case reports are the only published evidence available.