Assignment: Clinical Epidemiology
Assignment: Clinical Epidemiology
Why Is There a Disconnect? A contributor to the existing disconnect between EBM and SDM may be that leaders, researchers, and teach- ers of EBM, and those of SDM, originated from, and his- torically tended to practice, research, publish, and col- laborate, in different clusters. Some forms of SDM have emerged from patient communication, with much of its research presented in conferences and journals in this field. A seminal paper in 19974 conceptualized SDM as a model of treatment decision making and as a patient- clinician communication skill. However, it did so with- out any connection to EBM—perhaps not surprisingly, be- cause EBM was in its infancy.2
the best available research evidence. If SDM does not in- corporate this body of evidence, the preferences that pa- tients express may not be based on reliable estimates of the risks and benefits of the options, and the result- ing decisions not truly informed.
Conversely, with its origins in clinical epidemiology, much of the focus of EBM has been on methods and resources to facilitate locating, appraising, and synthe- sizing evidence. There has been much less focus on dis- cussing this evidence with patients and engaging with them in its use (sometimes even disparagingly referred to as “soft” skills). Most of the EBM attention has involved scandals (eg, unpublished data, results “spin,” conflicts of interest) and the high technology mile- stones (eg, systems to make EBM better and easier). Information about using evidence in decision-making with patients has been scant.
Disconnect between the 2 ap- proaches is also evident in, and main- tained by, the teaching provided to clinicians and students, again often reflecting the backgrounds of their teachers. Opportunities to attend EBM teaching abound with content largely
focused on forming questions and finding and criti- cally appraising evidence.5 Learning how to apply and integrate the evidence is usually absent, or mentioned in passing without skill training.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
