Evidence Based Medicine in General Practice

The intervention applied in this study was the modified academic detailing method, performed by sixth-year medical students as academic detailers. The students qualified for that role because they were taught about EBM in several courses during their undergraduate curriculum. During the family medicine rotation, each GP mentored six students in total. In Split each student visited two mentors for two weeks. In the course of rotation each mentor chose two patients (cases) from real life who represented diagnostic, therapeutic or prognostic challenge. The students' task was to form an answerable question, using the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome (PICO) scheme, find the best evidence-based answer to that question and to write a brief report according to Practical Evidence about Real Life Situations (PEARLS) pattern. The mentor then reviewed the report and discussed it with the student.