Healthcare: Critical Analysis of Evidence-Based Medicine vs. Physician Experience

1. Healthcare: Critical Analysis of Evidence-Based Medicine vs. Physician Experience

2. Introduction • Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)vs. Physician Experience views are variously approached • Both are geared towards patient management of decisions • Scholars have held diametrically contrary opinion towards patient management decisions • However, a clear understanding between the two concepts is important for clinical practices

3. Significance • The concepts have over the time been endorsed by medical and pharmacological scholars • for the purpose of providing best clinical practices, the concepts are significant areas of study and understanding • However, the two concepts are contradictory in nature • For instance, EBM is based on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) while physician experience focuses on experienced based medicine

4. Literature Review • EBM focuses on optimizing patient decision based on well conducted research and thus, goes beyond the epistemological evidence • The EBM uses strong type of meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and randomized control trials • physician experience does not focus on any distinctive control and thus, lacks rigor • physician experience relies more on anecdotes leaving many open ended questions

5. Literature review CON’T • During emergencies that requires life and death decisions, both concepts narrow down to specific question • Choice of decision is based on available data • The physician experience, however, provides little documentation and, thus, focuses on analogy and pertinent data • EBM employs existing evidence to make decisions about the individual patients

6. Conclusion • The practice between the two involves integration of clinical experience with the best existing external clinical evidence derived from extensive systematic study • However, the EBM views physician experience’s opinions as limited by knowledge gap and biasness • Therefore, additional evidence derived from scientific literature is paramount for best clinical practices