Academic Skills
Full course description
Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) is one of the strings to the caregiver's bow to provide optimal care delivery. It is a tool to support clinical decisions.
Within the framework of the CAT (Critical Appraisal of a Topic) learning line, students are asked to formulate and answer a clinical question following a patient contact from practice, in which a dilemma regarding the care of that specific patient is central. In the successive clusters of year 3, the methodological themes Diagnostics, Prognostics, Therapy, and Follow-up are discussed. On the basis of the clinical question, a systematic literature search is carried out, in which the currently available "best evidence" must be sought, in order to be able to scientifically substantiate the answer to the clinical question and translate it back to the patient. In the first 3 periods of 10 weeks, students create both a group assignment (multi-CAT) and an individual assignment (solo CAT); in cluster 4, only a multi-CAT assignment needs to be created. The multi-CATs are presented and discussed in the education group and the students receive both oral and written feedback (standard form). Each solo CAT is assessed according to predetermined criteria; the final assessment is then carried out by means of a combination table.
Course objectives
Through the CAT training, medical students are trained to become critical consumers of scientific research results, which is important for direct patient care. In addition, cat education increases knowledge about the epidemiological background of scientific research, concerning these four methodological perspectives Diagnostics, Prognosis, Therapy, and Follow-up. At the same time, skills are trained during practicals such as; writing a good patient presentation, formulating an answerable clinical question, systematically searching for literature, critically assessing a scientific article, weighing evidence and applying evidence to the patient, and formulating a scientifically based answer to a clinical question.
Recommended reading
Amelsfoort van, L., Brouwer de, C., Gool, C., Kant, IJ., Mesters, I., Mommers, M. (Eds.) (2022). Critical appraisal of a topic. How to integrate patient characteristics and preferences with clinical expertise and external evidence. Publisher Maastricht University, Department of Epidemiology. Obtainable via https://www.msvpulse.nl/cat-boek/