Online Evidence-Based Emergency Medicine (EBEM)

Section II—The Principles and Skill Set of EBM

What Is EBEM?  
Searching Skills and Evidence-Based Resources  
General EBM Concepts and Skills  
Systematic Approaches to Evidence Based Care (Knowledge Translation)  
Therapy Concepts and Skills  
Diagnostic Testing Concepts and Skills  
EBM Methodology  
EBM Education  

This section presents a collection of Annals of Emergency Medicine articles that provide the foundation of EBM medical practice. The basic skills of EBM-formulating a question, searching for best evidence, and analyzing (critically appraising) evidence-are reviewed. Because EBM integrates evidence from scientific research into clinical practice, important concepts about research and study methodology are provided.

What Is EBEM?

Evidence-Based Emergency Medicine: Integrating research into practice
Joseph F. Waeckerle, MD, William H. Cordell, MD, Peter Wyer, MD, Harold H. Waeckerle, MD
November 1997 • Volume 30 • Number 5 • p626 to p628
Full Text    Journal Format-PDF

Evidence-Based Emergency Medicine
Gordan H. Guyatt, MD
November 1997 • Volume 30 • Number 5 • p675 to 676
Journal Format-PDF

Searching Skills and Evidence-Based Resources

Searching for Best Evidence

How to find evidence when you need it, part 1: Databases, search programs, and strategies
C. James Corrall, MD, Peter C. Wyer, MD, Laura S. Zick, MIS, Christine R. Bockrath, MLS
March 2002 • Volume 39 • Number 3 • p302 to p306
Full Text    Journal Format-PDF

How to find evidence when you need it, part 2: A clinician's guide to MEDLINE: The basics
Patricia E. Gallagher, MLS, AHIP, Tracy Y. Allen, MLS, Peter C. Wyer, MD
April 2002 • Volume 39 • Number 4 • p436 to p440
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How to find evidence when you need it, Part 3: A clinician's guide to MEDLINE: Tricks and special skills
Patricia E. Gallagher, MLS, AHIPTracy Y. Allen, MLSPeter C. Wyer, MD
May 2002 • Volume 39 • Number 5 • p547 to p551
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How to find evidence when you need it, part 4: Matching clinical questions to appropriate databases (Skills for Evidence-Based Emergency Care)
P C Wyer, T Y Allen, C J Corrall,
July 2003 • Volume 42 • Number 1 • p136 to p149
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The Cochrane Collaboration

The Cochrane Library as a Resource for Evidence on Out-of-Hospital Health Care Interventions
Smith E, Jennings P, McDonald S, MacPherson C, O'Brien T, Archer F
March 2007 • Volume 49 • Number 3 • p344 to p350
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A Primer on the Cochrane Collaboration, Its New Priorities in Out-of-Hospital and Emergency Health, and the Role of Annals of Emergency Medicine
Rowe BH, Brown MD
March 2007 • Volume 49 • Number 3 • p351 to p354
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The Cochrane Library: A resource for clinical problem solving in emergency medicine
Brian H. Rowe, MD, MSc, Phil Alderson, MFPHM
July 1999 • Volume 34 • Number 1 • p86 to p90
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Identification of randomized controlled trials from the emergency medicine literature: Comparison of hand searching versus MEDLINE searching
Julia Langham, BA, MSc, Elizabeth Thompson, BSc, RGN, Kathy Rowan, MSc, PhD
July 1999 • Volume 34 • Number 1 • p25 to p34
Full Text    Journal Format-PDF

General EBM Concepts and Skills

Critically Appraised Topics (CATs)

The critically appraised topic: Closing the evidence-transfer gap
Peter C. Wyer, MD
November 1997 • Volume 30 • Number 5 • p639 to p640
Full Text    Journal Format-PDF

Confidence Intervals

What is confidence? Part 1: The use and interpretation of confidence intervals
Kelly D. Young, MD, Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD
September 1997 • Volume 30 • Number 3 • p307 to p310
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Evidence-Based Decision Making

Evidence, Values, Communication: Essential Ingredients of Shared Emergency Medicine Decisionmaking
Wyer PC, Brown MD, Newman DH, Rowe BH
May 2007 • Volume 49 • Number 5 • p690 to p692
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Systematic Approaches to Evidence Based Care (Knowledge Translation)

The Concept of Knowledge Translation

Knowledge Translation: Closing the Evidence-to-Practice Gap
Lang ES, Wyer PC, Haynes RB
March 2007 • Volume 49 • Number 3 • p355 to p363
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Evidence-Based Asthma Pathway

Creating a System to Facilitate Translation of Evidence Into Standardized Clinical Practice: A Preliminary Report
Stewart W. Wright, Alexander Trott, Christopher J. Lindsell, Carol Smith, W. Brian Gibler
January 2008 • Volume 51 • Number 1 • p80 to p86
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Correspondence and Controversies Regarding Knowledge Translation

Lost in Translation
Robert L. Wears
January 2008 • Volume 51 • Number 1 • p80 to p86
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Finding One's Way In Translating Evidence Into Practice
Eddy Lang, Emergency Care Knowledge Translation Working Group
January 2008 • Volume 51 • Number 1 • p791 to p792
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Making Change in the Emergency Department
Jane O'Shaughnessy
January 2008 • Volume 51 • Number 1 • p792 to p793
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In reply
Robert L. Wears
January 2008 • Volume 51 • Number 1 • p793 to p794
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Therapy Concepts and Skills

Number Need to Treat (NNT)

Number Needed to Treat (NNT)
William H. Cordell, MD, Roger J. Lewis, MD, PhD
April 1999 • Volume 33 • Number 4 • p433 to p436
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Diagnostic Testing Concepts and Skills

Likelihood Ratios (LRs)

Likelihood ratio: A powerful tool for incorporating the results of a diagnostic test into clinical decisionmaking
Stephen R. Hayden, MD, Michael D. Brown, MD
May 1999 • Volume 33 • Number 5 • p575 to p580
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Clinical utility of likelihood ratios
E. John Gallagher, MD
March 1998 • Volume 31 • Number 3 • p391 to p397
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Application of likelihood ratios to clinical decision rules: Defining the limits of clinical expertise
E. John Gallagher, MD
November 1999 • Volume 34 • Number 5 • p664 to p667
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Interval likelihood ratios: Another advantage for the evidence-based diagnostician
Michael D. Brown, MD, Mathew J. Reeves, PhD
August 2003 • Volume 42 • Number 2 • p292 to p297
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The problem with sensitivity and specificity…
E. John Gallagher, MD
August 2003 • Volume 42 • Number 2 • p298 to p303
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EBM Methodology

General EBM Methodology

The clinician and the medical literature: When can we take a shortcut?
Peter C. Wyer, MD, Brian H. Rowe, MD, MSc, Gordon H. Guyatt, MD, MSc, William H. Cordell, MD
August 2000 • Volume 36 • Number 2 • p149 to p155
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Ten challenges at the intersection of clinical research, evidence-based medicine, and pain relief
Alejandro R. Jadad, MD, DPhil, M. Soledad Cepeda, MD
September 2000 • Volume 36 • Number 3 • p247 to p252
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Knowledge Translation: Closing the Evidence-to-Practice Gap
Lang ES, Wyer PC, Haynes RB
March 2007 • Volume 49 • Number 3 • p355 to p363
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Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis

Dueling meta-analyses
Robert L. Wears, MD, MS
September 2000 • Volume 36 • Number 3 • p233 to p236
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Evaluating the quality of systematic reviews in the emergency medicine literature
Karen D. Kelly, BScN, PhD, Andrew Travers, MD, MSc, Marlene Dorgan, BA, MLS, Linda Slater, BEd, MLIS, Brian H. Rowe, MD, MSc
November 2001 • Volume 38 • Number 5 • p518 to p526
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Finding truths in clinical medicine: Through the looking glass—cracked
DL Schriger,
November 2001 • Volume 38 • Number 5 • p566 to p569
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Controversies

One is the loneliest number: Be skeptical of evidence summaries based on limited literature reviews
David L. Schriger, MD, MPH
November 2000 • Volume 36 • Number 5 • p517 to p519
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One is the only number that you'll ever need!
Brian H. Rowe, MD, MSc, Terry Klassen, MD, MSc, Peter C. Wyer, MD
November 2000 • Volume 36 • Number 5 • p520 to p523
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EBM Education

Continuing Education Meetings and Workshops: Effects on Professional Practice and Health Care Outcomes (SRA)
M. Fernanda Bellolio, Latha G. Stead
May 2009 • Volume 53 • Number 5 • p685 to p687
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Teaching emergency medicine residents evidence-based critical appraisal skills: A controlled trial
Jeffrey J Bazarian, MD, Colleen O Davis, MD, Linda L Spillane, MD, Howard Blumstein, MD, Sandra M Schneider, MD
August 1999 • Volume 34 • Number 2 • p148 to p154
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Is evidence-based medicine a teachable skill?
Rose Hatala, MD, MSc
August 1999 • Volume 34 • Number 2 • p226 to p228
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Evidence-based medicine: A primer for the emergency medicine resident
David H. Newman, MD, Peter C. Wyer, MD, Amy Kaji, MD
January 2002 • Volume 39 • Number 1 • p77 to p80
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