Interdisciplinary Health Research: Evidence Based Health Care

The following tutorials are very detailed and time-consuming-- but they are excellent resources if you really wish to acquaint yourself with the concept of evidence-based healthcare.

Systematic Reviews: Usually focus on clinicat topic and answer a specific question. Searches systematically the literature available to find valid studies with good methodology.  It is not original research it reviews the research that has already been conducted.  Some might list the keywords and databases used for finding such research.

Meta Analysis: A systematic review which combines vast reseach and then analyzes the data with statistics

Randomized Controlled Trials: A research study in which participants are randomly placed in a control and comparison group. Blinding of participants and researchers is an important aspect  to reduce bias. 

Click on the following links to view a short tutorial on each topic. For flash-free mobile and Apple devices click on

Introduction to Cochrane Library  

Introduction to PubMed   

Evidence- based healthcare comes into practice when a clinician or care provider conscientiously takes into account (1) their own clinical and professional experience, (2) the best available external clinical research, and (3) the unique qualities of the patient or case in question.

In practice, one will have their professional experience and the particular qualities of the case immediately available to them; external clinical research, however, is something one must learn to locate and distinguish among.

The Systematic Review-- the "Gold Standard" of Evidence