Question 17 from the first paper of 2012 (and to a lesser extent Question 2b from the first paper of 2001) ask the candidate to define "evidence-based medicine". David Sackett, a great pioneer of EBM, came up with a definition which seems to be frequently quoted, and therefore probably meets with the approval of the CICM examiners (in fact they essentially repeated it in Question 2b):
"Evidence based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research."
LITFL identifies five steps in the application of evidence-based medicine:
1. Ask an answerable question
2. Systematically retrieve the best evidence
3. Critically appraise the evidence for validity, clinical relevance, and applicability
4. Make a clinical decision on the basis of the evidence
5. Audit the performance of the decisions thus made
Advantages of EBM
Disadvantages of EBM
Relevance of EBM to ICU practice
"How will you apply this?"
Cook, D. J., and M. K. Giacomini. "The integration of evidence based medicine and health services research in the ICU." Evaluating Critical Care. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2002. 185-197.
Kotur, P. F. "Evidence-Based Medicine in Critical Care." Intensive and Critical Care Medicine. Springer Milan, 2009. 47-57.