Evidence-based medicine - how to teach critical scientific thinking to medical undergraduates

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) offers asystematic and structured approach to teaching critical scientific thinking. In the Faculty of Medicine at the U niversity of Nelsinki, after an extensive training of medical teachers and piloting the course with a small group of volunteer students, a 40-hour EBM course was organized for the fourth-year medical students. Feedback from s tudents and teachers has been enthusiastic. The EBM course activated the st udents' critical thinking, enhanced social learning and group processes, an d promoted their attitudes towards independent information retrieval and cr itical appraisal.