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Physician Assistant Studies: Evidence-Based Practice: EBP

Defining EBP

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is the framework for your clinical decision-making process. It is the integration of

  • your knowledge, skills, and past experience (Clinical Expertise);
  • the unique preferences, concerns and expectations of your patient (Patient Characteristics); and
  • valid and clinically relevant research (Best Evidence).

      

 

Why EBM?

David Sackett defined evidence-based medicine as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients."  Read this article from BMJ entitled Evidence-Based Medicine:  what it is and what it isn't to learn more.

Definition from the Center for Evidence-Based Medicine

5 A's - EBP Process

                    

  • Review the Situation (Assess)
  • Define the clinical problem as a question (Ask)
  • Select resources, design a strategy, & search for the answer (Acquire)
  • Summarize the evidence yield (Appraise)
  • Apply the evidence (Apply)

EBP Acquiring Evidence steps

MORE EBM/EBP INFO:

Evidence-Based Medicine: An Oral History