Audit encourages an evidence-based approach to medical practice

Objectives This study was designed in order to identify any changes taking place in students' ability to incorporate research evidence into clinical p ractice after the introduction of an evidence-based medicine session into t heir audit teaching. Design We chose to look at the references cited in students' audit projects as a way of making a retrospective assessment of their ability to use evid ence. Each of a sample of 221 projects was analysed for the number and accu racy of references, the phase of the audit cycle in which the references we re cited, the topic chosen and the use of computers. A smaller sample were assessed for quality. Setting The Department of General Practice at Glasgow University. Subjects Final-year medical students. Results We found that there was an increase in quality and quantity of cita tion of references by the students over a 3-year period which corresponded with changes in teaching methods. Conclusions It is possible that this increase in the quantity and quality o f reference citation by final-year students was in response to a change in the content of teaching sessions, but there may be other reasons for this. The experience of researching and carrying out the projects has given stude nts first-hand experience of the techniques of evidence-based medicine. Req uiring students to state their information sources and include a copy of th e abstracts from cited papers would assist further studies of this kind.