BEST EVIDENCE MEDICAL

EDUCATION
Prepared by:
Dr. Abdulmateen A. Shukri
M.B.Ch.B F.I.B.M.S
University of Duhok/ college of
medicine
 AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER , WE SHOULD BE
ABLE TO:

# to understand the need for evidence-based 

education.
# to know the evidences from where they come.
# to assess how these evidence are reliable and to 
pick up best evidences.
TWO MAJOR OBJECTIVES:
To judge the actions that we do as teachers and 
learners.
To apply the evidence where it is available
and relevant.
Teachers should use
research to enhance
their teaching
practice.
Tell me and I FORGET

Teach me and I REMEMBER

Involve me then I LEARN .

 EXERCISE

True or False: 
Most health care professions are not aware that there is 
literature on education.

We do the things we do because that is the way we have been

raised ourselves.
Opinion-based
teaching

Evidence-based
teaching
FROM PERSONAL OPINION TO EVIDENCE-BASED.
Teaching decision were based on PHOG approach in the 
past.
Methods of medical education should be evidence-based. 
Evidence-based education has the same significance as 
evidence-based medicine.
Use of evidence needs special care regarding what works 
best and what does not work.
Integration of individual expertise with the best available 
external evidence.
Research on medical education is significant to have best 
evidences.
 DO WE NEED IT?
“ The evidence base is as important
in educating new doctors as it is in
assessing a new
chemotherapy ” (Harden 1998, Hart 1999, Peterson 1999
in Medical Teacher & BMJ)
Evidence from research in medical education 
should be incorporated as seamlessly as possible
into education programmes.

Translation of evidence from research into 

teaching practice.
 SOURCES OF EVIDENCE

Your own personal experience in your own setting. 

The experience of colleagues. 
Experiences reported in the literature or presented at 
educational meetings.
A published review, guide or editorial on a topic. 
A systematic review of what has been published on the 
topic.
 SUGGESTED GUIDES TO BE HELPFUL

~ AMEE guide on faculty development. 

~ AMEE Guides cover topical issues in medical and 
healthcare professions education and provide information,
practical advice and support. They are designed for use by
teachers individually to inform their practice and are widely
used in staff development programmes. AMEE Guides can
also provide a valuable resource to inform curriculum and
course committees.
AMEE Guides are available in the following categories:
Teaching and Learning 
Curriculum Planning 
Assessment 
Education Management 
Research in Medical Education 
Theories of Medical Education 
 ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCES

@ (QUESTS) criteria can assist with this task. 

@ power of the evidence ( quality, extent, strength). 
@ relevance of the evidence to your teaching practice ( 
utility, target and setting).
@ can be good in some aspects but poor in others. 

HOW TO GRADE THE
EVIDENCE? THE QUESTS
MODEL:
1. Quality
How good is the evidence.
Is it based on professional judgment,
educational principles, case studies, cohort
studies, RCT.
The method itself does not guarantee the
quality.
2. Utility:
To what extent can the method be
transferred and adopted without
modification.
Lectures/ PBL as examples.
3. Extent
What is the extent of the evidence?
Is the evidence based on a single study or
on metanalysis?
4. Strength
How strong is the evidence?

Examples:
Simulated patients in medical education
research.
Co-operative learning.
5. Target
What is the target?
What is being measured?
The extent to which the outcomes measured
by researcher and outcomes expected by the
teacher are similar.
How valid is the evidence?
6. Setting
How close does the context or
setting approximate?
How relevant is the evidence?
 BEME

- helps teachers to make decisions about their teaching 

practice on the best evidence available.
- introduced in the context of other systematic review 
initiatives, specifically the Cochrane and Campbell
collaboration.

- http://www.BEMEcollaboration.org 
 THE LAST STEP

Use judgement on your teaching method.

 Improvement

JUDGE

Think
Think

Actions
Judge

Medical teachers
Teaching strategies had to: 
$ Be supported by hard research, instead of anecdotal case 
studies or untested theories
$ Have a substantially higher effect on student results than 
other teaching strategies
$ Be able to be used on a wide range of subjects and in 
every year level