EBP skills

This resource is an alphabetical list of selected, peer-reviewed journals that may publish articles that are relevant to your practice. Those that are open-access (available without a subscription) are identified.

This is a critical appraisal tool (CAT) which was designed by UNSW Medicine but is equally applicable across allied health areas including optometry. A CAT is useful when appraising research evidence, since it provides a list of key points to look for during critique, helping to identify confounding factors related to factors such as masking, randomisation, control and other forms of bias. Use the tool while you read a research paper, as a checklist or reminder of key points to look for.

This resource is a description of an assignment I have used in a postgraduate course on Evidence-based Optometry, but which could also be used at undergraduate level or by practitioners wishing to hone their EBP skills. The assignment involves working through the first three steps of the EBP process: Ask (formulating a clinical question around a clinical scenario), Acquire (obtain research evidence to address the question) and Appraise (evaluate the evidence to find the best available evidence relevant to the clinical question).

WHAT IS EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN OPTOMETRY?

"application of knowledge to decision making in optometric practice"

EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE (EBP):

EBP involves

Acquisition and use of:

                        Information skills

What is Peer Review?