PILOT SURVEY OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN BULGARIA ON INTEGRATING EBM TRAINING IN MEDICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Nikoleta Leventi; Antoniya Yanakieva

doi:10.12955/cbup.v6.1272

Nikoleta Leventi Faculty of Public Health / Head of Dept. HTA, Medical University of Sofia
Antoniya Yanakieva Faculty of Public Health / Head of Dept. HTA, Medical University of Sofia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12955/cbup.v6.1272

Keywords: EBM training, medical professionals’ education

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Many medical schools all over the world have incorporated evidence-based medicine (EBM) training into their curriculum. According to their results, teaching EBM helps health professionals both to update their knowledge and also to provide better care to their patients in their daily practice while improving the quality of the healthcare system.

OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of this paper is to present the necessity of the integration of EBM training into the medical curriculum in order to improve the quality of education. The introduction of EBM in medical professionals’ education in Bulgaria is explored with a pilot study together with the respective opportunities and challenges.

METHODS: About one hundred practicing medical professionals (physicians, dentists, nurses, midwives, and physiotherapists) were included in this pilot study. A paper questionnaire, including three parts (demographic characteristics, attitude towards EBM, application of EBM in everyday clinical practice), was used for collecting data.

RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 84 medical professionals. From the respondents 55 were familiar with the term EBM. The majority (59) of the participants agreed that EBM training would help them in their daily practice. According to 59 of the respondents EBM improves the quality of the provided health and care services to the patients. From the data collected, 65 participants support the necessity of incorporating EBM in their medical education, 9 do not support, and 10 cannot evaluate. Most of the respondents (69) speak and understand a foreign language good enough to read and understand scientific literature without difficulty, as well as the majority (81) of the participants reported computer skills at a good level.

CONCLUSIONS: Data from this pilot study demonstrated a positive attitude from medical professionals toward EBM. The majority confirmed the need to integrate EBM training as a discipline into the medical education curriculum.

References

Davies K. (2007), The information-seeking behavior of doctors: a review of the evidence, Health Information and Libraries Journal 2007; 24(2): 78-94.

Fourier I. (2009), Learning from research on the information behaviour of health care professionals: a review of the literature 2004-2008 with a focus on a motion, Health Information and Libraries Journal 2009; 26(3): 171-86.

Guyatt G. (1991), Evidence-based medicine. ACP J Club (Ann Intern Med), 1991; 114(suppl. 2):A-16.

Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Gray J. (1996), Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. BMJ: British Medical Journal 1996; 312 (7023): 71.

Guyatt G., Rennie D., O. Meade M., Cook D. (2015), Users’ Guide to medical Literature, 3-rd edition, Mc Graw Hill Education, New York, ISBN: 978-0-07-180872-9, 2015.

Straus S., Glasziou P., Richarson W.S., Haynes R. B. (2011), Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach it, 4-th edition, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, Edinburg, ISBN: 978-0-7020-3127-4, 2011.

Greenhalgh T. (2014), How to read a paper: The basics of Evidence-Based Medicine, 5-th edition, Willey Blackwell, BMJ Books, UK, ISBN: 978-1-118-80096-6 (pbk.), 2014.