Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)

As Dr. David Sackett put it, ‘evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients’ (White, 2004). The practice of EBM involves integrating clinical expertise of each clinician with sound and reputable clinical guidelines established based on high quality clinical research. Largely, EBM consists of three components of clinical expertise, patients’ values and preferences, and sound clinical evidence to support decision making process in caring for patients. As the British Medical Journal calls EMB as one of the greatest breakthroughs in medicine, it has replaced the previous model of expert-based medicine and brought a dramatic change

Hence, many patients can benefit from the best possible treatments derived from the reputable clinical trials. This past May, I had to visit an urgent care center due to a lingering chest pain. After about 3-4 days of having this unpleasant feeling, I knew that I needed to be seen. Although I did have to wait about half an hour after telling them the reason for my visit, I was seen by a pleasant and competent team of providers. As I was seen by a nurse practitioner, she was very thorough during her exam with me. To come to think of it, she was a really good listener compared to some other providers I had seen. She asked questions to discern if my symptoms were due to cardiac (stroke), musculoskeletal, GI, thyroids, or anxiety issues. After cardiac cause was ruled out due to lack of family history and normal EKG, she ordered CBC, cardiac enzyme test, and thyroid function test to follow up on. Also, she asked me if there had been any possible physical strain or stress factor. Also, I know I ‘tried’ a new work out, which probably, in retrospect, strained my muscle. Based on the history I provided, she determined that my chest pain was brought on by either stress or muscle strain. The NP of course asked me if I would want to try any