The Consultant Librarian and Evidence Based Medicine

Abstract

Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is a term coined at McMaster Medical School (Canada) in the early eighties to identify a process of critical learning, aimed at solving clinical problems. This process consists of four phases:

• Clinical problem formulation in terms of a clear question;

• Systematic identification of the literature able to answer this question, through a computerised search;

• Critical evaluation of the retrieved literature;

• Use in clinical practice of the evidence found.