“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed an idea of them already;  but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him”

Leo Tolstoy

Now,  I know what you are thinking.  How could anyone in his/her right mind question the validity of Evidence-Based Medicine? It is common sense, isn’t it?  It is rational! it’s like motherhood and apple pie!  How could anyone question the precept of using scientific evidence to justify clinical decisions in medicine? How could we practice medicine otherwise? How else can we explain the advances in medical care over the past 100 years?

These are very reasonable responses.  But as with many things,  on closer observation, it turns out that things are not always as simple as they appear. And common sense is not always right. Nor is it always very common. While the manner in which research and evidence inform clinical decision-making may appear to be fairly straight-forward, a closer look reveals that the nature of medical “evidence” and its relationship to clinical practice is somewhat more complex.

Before you decide, however, that this critique of Evidence-Based Medicine is misguided and ill-conceived, Take the Test and see if you might find this website illuminating.