Awareness of Evidence-Based Medicine among Interns of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background & Objective: Interns are one of the most important groups among medical student, and thus, must learn to use evidence-based medicine (EBM). The present study was performed with the aim of evaluating the knowledge of medical interns of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), Iran, on evidence-based medicine in 2013 Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 70 medical interns were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were gathered using a standard questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive statistics and SPSS software. Results: The information source for clinical decision making in 65.7% of interns were their textbooks among which 62.9% used textbooks because of their accessibility. In addition, 95.7% of interns believed EBM to be useful in improving patient care. However, only 37.1% of them knew the meaning of EBM and 95.7% were not familiar with EBM internet sites. Conclusion: Integrated planning is necessary in order to include EBM courses in medical curriculum and to teach the use of internet and correct forms of searching. Keywords Knowledge Medical interns Evidence-based medicin