How are "teaching the teachers" courses in evidence based medicine evaluated? A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundTeaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become widespread in medical education. Teaching the teachers (TTT) courses address the increased teaching demand and the need to improve effectiveness of EBM teaching. We conducted a systematic review of assessment tools for EBM TTT courses. To summarise and appraise existing assessment methods for teaching the teachers courses in EBM by a systematic review.MethodsWe searched PubMed, BioMed, EmBase, Cochrane and Eric databases without language restrictions and included articles that assessed its participants. Study selection and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers.ResultsOf 1230 potentially relevant studies, five papers met the selection criteria. There were no specific assessment tools for evaluating effectiveness of EBM TTT courses. Some of the material available might be useful in initiating the development of such an assessment tool.ConclusionThere is a need for the development of educationally sound assessment tools for teaching the teachers courses in EBM, without which it would be impossible to ascertain if such courses have the desired effect.

Effectiveness of teaching evidence-based medicine to undergraduate medical students: A BEME systematic review

“…EBM experts have systematically reviewed the literature regarding teaching EBM to postgraduates (Coomarasamy & Khan 2004;Flores-Mateo & Argimon 2007) and allied health professionals (Dizon et al 2012), teaching critical appraisal (Norman & Shannon 1998;Taylor et al 2000;Parkes et al 2001), assessing the effectiveness of journal clubs (Ebbert et al 2001;Harris et al 2011), evaluation methods of EBM education (Shaneyfelt et al 2006;Walczak et al 2010) and barriers to EBM application by residents (van Dijk et al 2010). However, the most effective methods for teaching EBM to undergraduate medical students have remained unclear.…”

Challenges to Learning Evidence-Based Medicine and Educational Approaches to Meet These Challenges

“…24 Several institutions provided EBM faculty development, which is key because faculty who receive EBM training are more likely to provide EBM instruction to trainees and encourage the application of EBM skills in practice. 25 In addition to offering EBM skills training, faculty members were encouraged to explicitly act as EBM role models by exposing their uncertainty and describing their use of EBM to students. This supplement to traditional EBM faculty development is important because students regard EBM role models as major enablers to their practice of EBM.…”

Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) to Undergraduate Medical Students through Flipped Classroom Approach

“…Review of the literature showed the necessity of teaching EBM to undergraduate medical students to make them conscious about the models of working in clinics based on the best available and appraised evidences about diagnosis and treatment of diseases (6, 14, [16][17][18][19]. A study on teaching EBM in UK medical schools suggested that EBM was a theme running through the whole curriculum, integrating the EBM into every part of the curriculum (8).…”