A small group learning for evidence-based medicine in pre-clinical medical students: EBM in pre-clinical medical students

Background Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the application of current, best-available clinical evidence to health care decisions for individual patients. Many medical schools put EBM courses in their curriculum as they considering it is important. However, to teach the EBM course in pre-clinical year medical students is challenging owning to their clinical inexperience. Methods A prospective study of the third-year medical students of Walailak University located in the southern part of Thailand. They participated in a two-week course of evidence-based medicine. The effectiveness of the course organization was assessed by percentage of students whose scores reached the minimal passing level and using pre-study and post-study self-reported evaluation. Results The percentage of students whose scores reached the minimum pass level (70%) was 100%. The scores are normally distributed with a mean of 88.59 (SD 3.33). Self-reported evaluation of knowledge and skills increased 4.28 scores (SD 2.06, p-value <0.001) and 4.24 scores (SD 2.08, p-value<0.001), respectively. Conclusion Using small group learning for evidence-based medicine in pre-clinical medical students achieved remarkable learning outcome regardless of clinical experiences. However, the role of the facilitator was of crucial importance as student learning depended on the facilitator's proper guidance and evaluation in the small group sessions.