Continuing Professional Development
Evidence-Based Medicine
Framing clinical questions, appraising studies critically and applying evidence at the bedside.
- track
- Continuing Professional Development
- format
- Self-paced
What this module covers
Framing clinical questions, appraising studies critically and applying evidence at the bedside.
This is a self-paced training module that maps to NMC CPD framework - Category 1 (clinical knowledge and skills). It is delivered inside the MedNext app so clinicians and hospital staff can work through it between shifts, with no live sessions or fixed deadlines.
What it covers in detail
Evidence-Based Medicine
- Framing an answerable clinical question using the PICO structure (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome).
- The hierarchy of evidence and where different study designs sit, and their strengths and weaknesses.
- Critical appraisal: recognising bias, confounding and the difference between statistical and clinical significance.
- Understanding common measures such as relative and absolute risk reduction, number needed to treat, and confidence intervals.
- Applying evidence to the individual patient, weighing benefit, harm, values and context.
Who should complete this, and why
Evidence-based practice is a core skill for every clinician who makes management decisions and for anyone who reads the literature or teaches. The NMC CPD framework places appraising and applying evidence within clinical knowledge and skills, because the ability to judge a study is as important as knowing a guideline.
What you will be able to do after this module
On completion you should be able to
- Turn a clinical uncertainty into a PICO question.
- Place a study within the hierarchy of evidence.
- Appraise a paper for bias, confounding and the meaning of its results.
- Apply the evidence to an individual patient's circumstances.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between statistical and clinical significance?
A result can be statistically significant (unlikely to be due to chance) yet clinically trivial (too small to change practice). Good appraisal asks not only whether an effect is real but whether it is large enough to matter to a patient.
What does number needed to treat mean?
The number needed to treat is how many patients must receive an intervention for one additional patient to benefit. It converts a relative effect into a tangible sense of how useful a treatment is.
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Learn moreStart Evidence-Based Medicine in the MedNext app
Explore clinician-written learning resources, structured revision and practice across the MedNext platform.
Open in the MedNext appSee plans