Overview
A guide to reflective practice for qualifying GPs and other health care professionals.
The book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Synopsis
A guide to reflective practice for qualifying GPs and other health care professionals.
Terrence Shaneyfelt
This book offers critical appraising skills to clinicians to help them reflect on their own practice, and demonstrations of how research can improve practice. The purpose is to provide primary care physicians with a practical, hands-on approach to critical reading and relating research findings to daily practice. The primary audience is physicians who wish to learn basic critical appraisal skills. The book is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on fundamental principles used to critically appraise the medical literature. Basic epidemiological and statistical principles are presented in an easy to understand format. The second half focuses on skills needed to reflect on our own practice patterns and to determine what information is needed in the primary care setting. Skills to efficiently gather this information are highlighted (e.g., efficient MEDLINE searching). A unique feature is the use of ""jargon boxes"" to summarize key points. The book is loaded with actual examples from the medical literature demonstrating basic principles. Many chapters end with exercises to test the reader's understanding of key concepts. This book complements other texts in this field; difficult topics are explained in easy to understand terms. Furthermore, a framework is provided to enable readers to reflect on their practice, and useful tools to improve practice using the medical literature are included. If readers desire in-depth knowledge of epidemiological or statistical principles, other textbooks will be required. Several texts are available to help readers gain critical appraisal skills. Sackett's Evidence-Base Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM (Churchill Livingstone, 1997) containsmore in-depth critical appraisal principles based on the JAMA User's Guide Series and presents methods to teach EBM. Fletcher's Clinical Epidemiology: The Essentials, 3rd edition (Williams & Wilkins, 1996) is also directed at practicing clinicians but is more comprehensive and shorter in length. Finally Sackett's Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine (Lippincott-Raven, 1991) contains an almost identical collection of topics but is written by internationally recognized pioneers in evidence-based medicine.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Terrence T. Shaneyfelt, MD(University of Alabama at Birmingham)Description: This book offers critical appraising skills to clinicians to help them reflect on their own practice, and demonstrations of how research can improve practice.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide primary care physicians with a practical, hands-on approach to critical reading and relating research findings to daily practice.
Audience: The primary audience is physicians who wish to learn basic critical appraisal skills.
Features: The book is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on fundamental principles used to critically appraise the medical literature. Basic epidemiological and statistical principles are presented in an easy to understand format. The second half focuses on skills needed to reflect on our own practice patterns and to determine what information is needed in the primary care setting. Skills to efficiently gather this information are highlighted (e.g., efficient MEDLINE searching). A unique feature is the use of "jargon boxes" to summarize key points. The book is loaded with actual examples from the medical literature demonstrating basic principles. Many chapters end with exercises to test the reader's understanding of key concepts.
Assessment: This book complements other texts in this field; difficult topics are explained in easy to understand terms. Furthermore, a framework is provided to enable readers to reflect on their practice, and useful tools to improve practice using the medical literature are included. If readers desire in-depth knowledge of epidemiological or statistical principles, other textbooks will be required. Several texts are available to help readers gain critical appraisal skills. Sackett's Evidence-Base Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM (Churchill Livingstone, 1997) contains more in-depth critical appraisal principles based on the JAMA User's Guide Series and presents methods to teach EBM. Fletcher's Clinical Epidemiology: The Essentials, 3rd edition (Williams & Wilkins, 1996) is also directed at practicing clinicians but is more comprehensive and shorter in length. Finally Sackett's Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine (Lippincott-Raven, 1991) contains an almost identical collection of topics but is written by internationally recognized pioneers in evidence-based medicine.
Terrence Shaneyfelt
This book offers critical appraising skills to clinicians to help them reflect on their own practice, and demonstrations of how research can improve practice. The purpose is to provide primary care physicians with a practical, hands-on approach to critical reading and relating research findings to daily practice. The primary audience is physicians who wish to learn basic critical appraisal skills. The book is divided into two parts. The first half focuses on fundamental principles used to critically appraise the medical literature. Basic epidemiological and statistical principles are presented in an easy to understand format. The second half focuses on skills needed to reflect on our own practice patterns and to determine what information is needed in the primary care setting. Skills to efficiently gather this information are highlighted (e.g., efficient MEDLINE searching). A unique feature is the use of ""jargon boxes"" to summarize key points. The book is loaded with actual examples from the medical literature demonstrating basic principles. Many chapters end with exercises to test the reader's understanding of key concepts. This book complements other texts in this field; difficult topics are explained in easy to understand terms. Furthermore, a framework is provided to enable readers to reflect on their practice, and useful tools to improve practice using the medical literature are included. If readers desire in-depth knowledge of epidemiological or statistical principles, other textbooks will be required. Several texts are available to help readers gain critical appraisal skills. Sackett's Evidence-Base Medicine: How to Practice and Teach EBM (Churchill Livingstone, 1997) containsmore in-depth critical appraisal principles based on the JAMA User's Guide Series and presents methods to teach EBM. Fletcher's Clinical Epidemiology: The Essentials, 3rd edition (Williams & Wilkins, 1996) is also directed at practicing clinicians but is more comprehensive and shorter in length. Finally Sackett's Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine (Lippincott-Raven, 1991) contains an almost identical collection of topics but is written by internationally recognized pioneers in evidence-based medicine.Booknews
Discusses reading medical texts critically, and provides a way to channel common sense and experience into a formal evaluation and interpretation of published work. Assists in working with the idea of "evidence based medicine," which carries the message that reading, interpreting, and acting on published literature should become a routine part of clinical practice. Explores such topics as summarizing, results and bias, statistics, making sense of screening, types of evidence, issues in asthma and diabetes, cervical screening, and referrals to out-patient clinics. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.3 Stars from Doody