The Evidence-based Health Care (EBHC) workshop scheduled for August 1999 in Vail, Colorado, aims to enhance the skills and abilities of health professionals to base patient care decisions on solid evidence, apply these skills and abilities in patient care settings, and ultimately to improve the outcomes of care. Upon completion of the workshop, it is expected that participants will be able to: (1) develop questions arising from health care practice that can be answered through the application of techniques taught; (2) identify and synthesize relevant evidence that can be used to answer questions and make well-informed clinical decisions; (3) critically appraise relevant evidence regarding its currency and validity; and (4) apply these strategies to health care decisions and advice arising in clinical practice. Principal faculty trained in EBHC at McMaster University, the Cochrane Collaboration, and AHCPR Evidence-based Practice Centers will direct the five-day workshop of 80 participants, using a small-group, problem-solving format. Local faculty will assist the principal faculty and will be available to the Colorado Health Outcomes (COHO) Program, the workshop's sponsor, as a nucleus of researchers trained in EBHC. An introductory workshop on how to use Medline, the Cochrane Library, Best Evidence, AHCPR's GUIDELINES website, CONQUEST, and other databases and Internet resources precedes the EBHC workshop. Participants will receive advance educational materials that include a set of health problems, examples of evidence that address these problems, and users' guides for how to critically appraise and use evidence in decisions. General sessions each day may include such topics as how to grade levels of evidence and the strength of recommendations, how to teach EBHC, how to practice EBHC at the bedside, and how to change professional practice. Small group topics are tailored to the needs and interests of the participants to optimize their opportunities to put their new skills into immediate practice. Participants will evaluate the workshop and make recommendations for improving future sessions.
