Advancing Resident Skills In Evidence-Based Practice And Research: PICO And Pubmed Search Educational Workshop

Background: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is a central component of modern clinical practice, requiring clinicians to define clinically relevant questions, appraise the best available evidence, apply it in practice, and evaluate its effectiveness. Despite emphasizing EBM in residency programs, residents often face barriers to engaging in EBM and research. Objective: To evaluate the impact of a targeted PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) and PubMed article search workshop on residents’ confidence and skills in EBM and research. Methods: A one-hour workshop was conducted for residents at the internal medicine residency in Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in 2024. The workshop covered formulating PICO questions, PubMed searches, and using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Pre- and post-workshop surveys assessed participants’ confidence in EBM. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with statistical significance defined as a p-value < 0.05. Results: 57 potential participants were in the residency program. A total of 31 participants (54.4% of total potential participants) completed the pre-workshop survey, and 21 (38.9%) completed the post-workshop survey. Statistically significant improvements were observed across all assessed domains, with the global confidence score increasing from 2.65 pre-workshop to 3.32 post-workshop (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our workshop significantly enhanced participants’ confidence and skills in EBM and research. It effectively addressed knowledge gaps and fostered EBM proficiency in the residency program. Further research is needed to replicate these findings in larger cohorts using structured interventions and validated assessment tools to explore the long-term impact of such workshops on residents’ scholarly activity and clinical practice. Keywords : Evidence-Based Medicine, Evidence-Based Practice, Workshop Efficacy, Resident Scholarly Activity