Ability of an information mastery curriculum to improve residents' skills and attitudes.

The teaching of an evidencebased approach to medical care has progressed from a novelty to a standard feature of the curriculum of many family medicine residencies. This approach of basing health care decisions on the best available valid and relevant evidence requires a set of knowledge, skills, and, most important, attitudes if it is to improve patient care.1 Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has evolved to the stage where there are two teaching approaches. The classic EBM approach emphasizes the teaching of critical appraisal of the medical literature with a focus on evaluating research design and statistical methods.2-6 This approach may not, however, increase physicians’ use of evidence to make individual patient care decisions in outpatient medical care.7-10 In contrast, the “information mastery” approach emphasizes evaluating and using information resources ranging from pre-digested information in the form of research synopses and systematic reviews to guidelines and expert opinion.11,12 We have suggested that this approach is a more practical application of the basic skills of EBM and is more likely to result in implementation in day-to-day practice.13 In many instances, EBM or information mastery is taught in special curriculum sessions devoted strictly to this topic.4,14,15 However, EBM teaching is most effective when the principles and practices are embedded in the culture of a residency and when teaching and implementation