Clinicians' Awareness and Use of Evidence-based Medicine Resources: A Study at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal

The study was conducted to evaluate user needs and awareness of aspects of evidence-based medicine (EBM) resources - their features, utility, and the areas covered under various facets of clinical practice and patient care by the clinicians (faculty members and postgraduate students) of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal. The EBM resources provide the expertise and practical knowledge of top physicians, researchers and leading academic experts worldwide, and KMC health sciences library subscribe various EBM resources. The data collection was performed using self-administered questionnaire to faculty members and postgraduate students from eight clinical departments of KMC, and included a total of 74 participants. Evaluating the different EBM resources at work revealed that 'UpToDate', 'PubMed/Medline', and 'MD Consult' always came first in user-preference. The results of data analysis and summary of responses and suggestions for effective utilisation of the EBM resources gathered from the survey are presented. The outcomes pointed that clinicians possessed awareness of several EBM resources subscribed by KMC Health Sciences Library as well as from the external sources. The summarised data and the ideas gathered from the survey are helpful to propose a few suitable recommendations for effective utilisation of the EBM resources available in the KMC Health Sciences Library.