Dr Kamal R. Mahtani and Dr Jeremy Howick held the first EBM teaching workshop in Vilnius, Lithuania earlier this month. They delivered two lectures on the theory and practice of EBM in the morning session to a 250-member audience consisting of Professors, doctors and medical students. Dr Howick delivered a plenary entitled “The Philosophy of Evidence Based Medicine and Levels of Evidence” while Dr Mahtani gave a plenary entitled "How does EBM improve Medicine and How Does it Impact Daily Practice?" In the afternoon Dr. Mahtani and Dr. Howick ran an interactive workshop limited to 50 participants covering basics of EBM practice:
- how to ask clinical questions (PICO)
- how to search for answers
- how to appraise the evidence (RAMBO).
The workshop attendees were asked in a survey to state how likely they were to use the knowledge gained in their practice. On a scale of 1-10 (where 1=unlikely, and 10=certainly), 70% of respondents checked 10, and the remaining 30% chose 7, 8, or 9.
Dr. Mahtani and Dr. Howick are planning follow up activities to continue developing EBM education in Lithuania.