Abstract Manager

Dedicated Poster

LP17 - 04

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I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.

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General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)

Poster

Education Research

Student

Identifying Gaps in Critical Appraisal Skills development in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Needs Assessment Survey

Critical appraisal skills are essential for the provision of high-quality evidence-based patient care. The learning needs of medical students must be better understood in order to provide an education that will ensure successful acquisition of medical literature critical appraisal skills. The objective of this study was to 1) understand medical students' current medical literature critical appraisal skill and 2) determine medical students' education needs to help establish a foundation for the acquisition of these skills.

An online survey was distributed to medical students at the University of Ottawa over a 2-month period. The survey collected background and demographic information, as well as educational experiences, learning preferences, and general opinions on medical literature critical appraisal.

Fifty-nine students completed the survey. Thirty-four (57%) and forty-four (75%) of respondents reported that they were lacking both competence and confidence in critical appraisal, respectively. Lectures and seminars were identified as the most common content delivery methods for teaching critical appraisal skills while, journal club, case-based learning and journal articles were perceived as being the most effective content delivery methods.

The majority of students recognize the value of critical appraisal but report lacking competence and/or confidence to apply these skills in clinical practice. Interestingly, our survey identified a discrepancy between students' preferred content delivery methods, and the ones thought to be most effective for the teaching of medical literature critical appraisal. This shortcoming in teaching evidence-based medicine may contribute to the difficulties encountered by medical students in the application of their critical appraisal skills.

Medical Education

Medical literature critical apraisal

Evidence-based medicine

Undergraduate

Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate

Distributed Medical Education

Assessment

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes