The sophomore-level course focuses on using medical literature databases to research a topic of interest in healthcare to produce a report. This includes discovery of EBM and patient education content.
And many more:
Refine your research topic to an answerable question that is innovative, clearly defined, and focused on problem resolution. Your question should include distinct concepts for analysis and not be too broad or too narrow in scope. Learn more about frameworks that help refine evidence-based clinical questions in "Formulating Answerable Questions: Question Negotiation in Evidence-based Practice.”
Evidence-based frameworks can help map your medical research question. Segment the topic into concepts, and then assign associated terms to each concept. Combine each concept into a literature search strategy for database entry.
PICO (Population/Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) is a popular framework for research in medicine.
PICO Example : What are the effects of low sodium diet on preeclampsia and hypertensive disorders in pregnant women?
Population/Patient: pregnant women
Intervention/Indicator: low sodium diet
Comparison/Control: routine care or minimal interventions
Outcome: preeclampsia, hypertensive disorders
Learn more about PICO and other models for framing the research question in related disciplines in “Formulating the Evidence Based Practice Question: A Review of the Frameworks.”
Once you have established an answerable research question, determine your question’s research need. Does your question address a "gap" within the literature? Does it address a larger societal impact or importance? If not, you may have to formulate a new or modified question.
To assess your topic’s research need, conduct a preliminary literature search in at least one appropriate database. Based on search results, refine your topic by either addressing a related unanswered question, choosing another population, or shifting to another topic altogether.
To master formulating a clinical question using PICO, as well as review how to search for and appraise evidence to answer the question, visit the Maguire Medical Library's PICO: Form a Focused Clinical Question subject guide.
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