The effect of evidence-based medicine (EBM) training seminars on the knowledge and attitudes of medical students towards EBM

Background There is debate about the most effective method for teaching evidence-based medicine (EBM) in medical schools. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of integration of EBM training seminars into the curriculum of the community medicine course in changing the knowledge and attitudes of the fourth year medical students towards EBM. Methods This is a quasi-experimental study conducted on the fourth year medical students who joined the community medicine mandatory summer course at Jordan University of Science and Technology in the period between July 1 and August 31, 2008. We measured medical students' self-reported attitudes about and knowledge of EBM before the integration of EBM seminars into the community medicine course and at the end of course. Results A high proportion of students had positive attitude towards EBM before and after the course. After the course, the vast majority (91.8%) became aware of the presence of guidelines and protocols for diseases compared with 59.0% who were aware of that before (P < 0.005). Only small proportion of students reported that they understand and able to explain the common epidemiological concepts that are used in EBM before the training. After the training, a significantly higher proportion of students reported understanding the epidemiological concepts. Conclusion Integration of EBM training course into community course for the fourth year students improved their EBM knowledge. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of EBM curriculum in changing behaviours, practice patterns and patient care outcome.