Understanding and Teaching Key Concepts and Tools of Evidence-Based Medicine: Perspectives of a Clinician-Researcher Pharmaceutical Physician

Clinical practice benefits from research to inform good decision making. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) helps physicians integrate experience and individual expertise with the best evidence. Various philosophical concepts, including “primum non nocere,” are balanced to achieve this. The tools of EBM, such as number needed to treat, are easy to calculate and to use. Other valuable tools include number needed to harm, attributable risk, and likelihood of being helped or harmed. It is also important to distinguish between relative risk and absolute risk to avoid drawing the wrong conclusions. With the right teaching techniques to grab attention and encourage active participation, real examples can be used to impart practical skills that the clinician can employ in translating research findings into something that helps the individual patient.