To make better clinical decisions, be conscientious, explicit and judicious in integrating clinical research evidence with patient values and clinical expertise.

Evidence comes in many forms, but certain study types lead to more confidence in evidence-based recommendations. 

The usefulness of any medical information increases with its relevance and validity, and decreases with the amount of work required to obtain and assess it. 

Prioritize new information that concerns outcomes that patients care about - morbidity, mortality and quality of life. 

If you need shortcuts to obtain medical information, use resources that do not use shortcuts.

Most of the validity concerns in studies involve methods to ensure that the groups compared are as similar as possible except for the exposure or intervention of interest.

When assessing a body of evidence about a question, it's best if the studies are as homogeneous as possible with regard to settings, interventions and outcomes.

Think carefully about the comparators in studies (placebos, other agents, sham surgeries, reference standards) to ensure a fair comparison.

The performance of a diagnostic test can be described from different perspectives and can vary with pre-test probability

Diagnosis is an exercise in probability, not certainty.  Use Bayesian reasoning to answer the question "Will this test change my management?" 

The best understanding of the benefit of an intervention is achieved with Absolute Risk Differences and Number Needed to Treat

Statistics are used to tell us when our study results should be generalized to the whole population, and the possibility of error in those assumptions. 

Examine how similar your patient is to the subjects of the study, and consider the feasibility of the evidence for your practice.

Examine how similar your patient is to the subjects of the study, and consider the feasibility of the evidence for your practice.

Relative statistics are commonly presented; try to understand their implications for the magnitude of benefit.

Distinguish between Standards, Guidelines and Options and examine the role of evidence in each.

Skepticism, honesty, curiosity, commitment

Nourishing the evidence-based mind.

Self-study module.

Epistemology - how we know what we know