Research of EBM skills

Evidence-based medicine skills including critical appraisal of medical literature are considered essential skills for modern medical practice. Journal clubs are one of many ways how to develop these skills. However, they are rarely quantitatively assessed.

Sceptical Medic is running research on how our journal club improves evidence-based medicine skills of its participants – authors and discussants.

We are looking for all volunteers who are willing to spend 15-30 minutes (assessment is not timed) completing standardised test to assess your evidence-based medicine skills and help us understand how big of an impact Sceptical Medic has on improving your critical appraisal skills. Any prior or future involvement in Sceptical Medic is accepted (from none to regular) and this will allow us to stratify results according to experience.

Have you previously participated in the study? You can repeatedly take assessment if since last time

  • it has been more than 3 months
  • and you have attended at least one Sceptical Medic journal club session.

Assessment uses UCSF Fresno Medical Education tool. This is standardised tool to assess the level of your existing EBM skills. It consists of 12 questions. 7 questions require short answers, 2 require mathematical calculations and 3 require longer answers. Allow yourself up to 30 minutes to complete the test and complete it in one sitting.

All data collected are anonymous and will not be used for any profit or sold to third parties. They will be used only for research and education purposes.