Author: Pamela Hargwood
Objectives:
To describe the successful implementation of a project to increase the ability of pediatric residents at a medical school to practice evidence based medicine (EBM) in real time; examine if patient care is supported or changed based on the resident’s findings; and discuss the role of the medical school librarian in this process.
Methods:
In July 2014, the Department of Pediatrics implemented “hands-on ” inpatient EBM rounds to help pediatric residents learn how to better formulate clinical questions, locate relevant literature, and apply their EBM findings to patient care in “real time”. These hour long rounds take place bi-weekly and are held on inpatient wards. All pediatric residents rotating on the inpatient team are invited to attend the EBM rounds. The medial librarian and two pediatric faculty members assist the residents with formulating clinical questions based on the inpatients they are currently following and searching for an answer to their question. The residents summarize their search and findings using a PICO worksheet. The following day the residents are evaluated on whether or not they presented their EBM findings on attending rounds and if patient care was supported or changed based on these findings.
Results:
The pediatric residents became more familiar and comfortable with using PICO to formulate their clinical questions. They also are more prepared to search the literature systematically and interpret the findings of their literature search.
