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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 33
| Issue : 3 | Page : 120-121 |
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Evidence-based-medicine amidst the pandemic: A path towards continuing medical education and the combat of misinformation
Henrique de Paula Bedaque1, Ana Karenina Carvalho de Souza2, Isadora Soares Lopes2, Breno C C. Simas2, Maria Paula Ribeiro Dantas Bezerra2, Elaine Lira Medeiros Bezerra3, Ferdinand Gilbert Saraiva da Silva Maia4
1 Otorhinolaryngology Unit Residency Program, Department of Surgery, Onofre Lopes University Hospital, Natal, Brazil
2 Undergraduate Medical Students, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
3 Department of Clinical Medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
4 Department of Integrated Medicine, Cardiology Unit, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| Date of Submission | 09-May-2020 |
| Date of Acceptance | 14-Feb-2021 |
| Date of Web Publication | 16-Mar-2021 |
Correspondence Address:
Elaine Lira Medeiros Bezerra
Department of Clinical Medicine, Rheumatology Unit, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, 620 Nilo Pecanha Av., Natal
Brazil
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/efh.EfH_163_20
How to cite this article:
Paula Bedaque Hd, Carvalho de Souza AK, Lopes IS, C. Simas BC, Dantas Bezerra MP, Medeiros Bezerra EL, da Silva Maia FG. Evidence-based-medicine amidst the pandemic: A path towards continuing medical education and the combat of misinformation. Educ Health 2020;33:120-1 |
How to cite this URL:
Paula Bedaque Hd, Carvalho de Souza AK, Lopes IS, C. Simas BC, Dantas Bezerra MP, Medeiros Bezerra EL, da Silva Maia FG. Evidence-based-medicine amidst the pandemic: A path towards continuing medical education and the combat of misinformation. Educ Health [serial online] 2020 [cited 2022 Aug 10];33:120-1. Available from: https://www.educationforhealth.net/text.asp?2020/33/3/120/311317 |
Dear Editor,
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought intense changes in the life of medical students, such as the suspension of most theoretical classes and a massive load of information sources, from reliable and scientific to sensationalist and fake news.[1] In this context, medical students from a tutorial education program, residents, and professors from our institution had the idea to take advantage of this moment to reinforce important pillars of evidence-based medicine (EBM).
Through public online conferences twice a week, scientific articles concerning COVID-19 were critically analyzed, focused on bringing medical students back to the academic environment, to prompt teaching in the field of EBM and enlighten the truths that science has brought about this pandemic. In April, we held six online meetings, consisting of clinical features, diagnostic tests, therapies and public health interventions, with an average of 51 people per meeting, including listeners all over Brazil, and not only our state.
In every conference, one of the students of the tutorial education program presented a recently published article on the topic of COVID-19 – not only concerned about discussing its content but also critically appraising its methods, biases and conceptualizing EBM. Afterward, debate was stimulated, in which other participants and an invited professor and expert in the area could add remarks, ask and answer questions. Creating a trustworthy online environment to disseminate scientific light and EBM concepts, besides enabling people to interact and exchange ideas, was also a move in promoting virtual educational settings in the student's curriculum – seen as a new goal in medical education.[2]
Our final message is the replicability and resiliency of our attitude. We currently have open access articles from reputable journals, online conferences and above all, our social networks as huge dissemination tools for continuing medical education. These are the ingredients needed to bring medical students, healthcare providers, and teachers to meet again. Social isolation or the pandemic should not stop education.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Ioannidis JP. Coronavirus disease 2019: The harms of exaggerated information and non-evidence-based measures. Eur J Clin Invest 2020;50:e13223.  |
| 2. | Rose S. Medical student education in the time of COVID-19. JAMA 2020;323:2131-2. |
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