Evidence-based medicine in the education of psychiatrists.

OBJECTIVE

Evidence-based medicine has an important place in the teaching and practice of psychiatry. Attempts to teach evidence-based medicine skills can be weakened by conceptual confusions feeding a false polarization between traditional clinical skills and evidence-based medicine.

METHODS

The author develops a broader conception of clinical expertise consisting of three tasks, clarifies the role of evidence-based medicine, and explores the implications for teaching and practice.

RESULTS

Evidence-based medicine is an essential tool that enables clinicians to assess causal explanations in etiology, risk, or prognosis, or to compare treatments.

CONCLUSION

An explicit and inclusive conceptualization of clinical skills can provide a framework to implement and assess curricular efforts to teach evidence-based medicine.