Objective: To determine whether longitudinal design and delivery of evidence-based decision making (EBDM) content was effective in increasing students' knowledge, skills, and confidence as they progressed through a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.
Design: Three student cohorts were followed from 2005 to 2009 (n=367), as they learned about EBDM through lectures, actively researching case-based questions, and researching and writing answers to therapy-based questions generated in practice settings.
Assessment: Longitudinal evaluations included repeated multiple-choice examinations, confidence surveys, and written answers to practice-based questions (clinical inquiries). Students' knowledge and perception of EBDM principles increased over each of the 3 years. Students' self-efficacy (10-items, p<0.0001) and perceived skills (7-items, p<0.0001) in applying EBDM skills to answer practice-based questions also increased. Graded clinical inquiries verified that students performed satisfactorily in the final 2 years of the program.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated a successful integration of EBDM throughout the curriculum. EBDM can effectively be taught by repetition, use of real examples, and provision of feedback.
Keywords: curriculum; evidence-based decision making; evidence-based medicine; longitudinal evaluation.