Teaching Critical Appraisal: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Outcomes Trial in Undergraduate Osteopathic Medical Education

Context: Critical appraisal is an important skill for medical students. A proposed curriculum may be an effective teaching tool.

Objective: To determine whether the teaching of critical appraisal can be successfully introduced into an osteopathic clinical clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology.

Design: Osteopathic medical students (N=77) were assigned by lottery to one of eight rotation groups during their clinical clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology. Four of these rotation groups received instruction in critical appraisal (study group; received evidence-based medicine [EBM] curriculum; n=38); the other four rotation groups did not (control group; received non-EBM; n=39). The ability of the study EBM group to critically analyze the literature was compared with that of the control (non-EBM) group on the basis of results of a multiple-choice examination.

Setting: The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine clinical clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology.

Results: The median scores for critical analysis were 41 for the control group and 64 for the study group. This difference was statistically significant (P<.001).

Conclusion: The teaching of critical appraisal can be successfully introduced into a clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology.