EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE:WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

The concepts of evidence-based medicine are coming up on their thirty-fourth anniversary, born in Canada with the publication of a series of articles in the Canadian Medical Association Journal called, Clinical Epidemiology Rounds.1 Over this time, the ideas have slowly permeated their way into academia and are slowly diffusing into everyday clinical practice. The process of evidence-based medicine consists of five steps: 1) defining the question; 2) find evidence; 3) critically appraise this evidence; 4) apply the evidence, making a decision regarding the initial question; and, 5) monitoring one’s own practice.