Evidence-based medicine means that the best available scientific evidence is used in healthcare, together with clinical expertise and the patient’s values and preferences.

The methodology of evidence-based medicine is important for all healthcare education programs. How we teach students to find, assess, and use scientific publications is central to safe and high-quality care. Training in this methodology during education gives students confidence and familiarity with key concepts, principles, and approaches, enabling later application in professional practice. Students’ understanding of evidence-based methodology is best developed through a progressive structure with increasing levels of difficulty, combined with opportunities for repetition and varied application.

Conducting different types of knowledge syntheses is important in healthcare in order to evaluate which treatments and interventions are most effective. Systematic searching and assessment of scientific literature form the foundation of knowledge syntheses. Research shows that information specialists contribute to higher quality literature reviews through expertise in systematic searching, transparent documentation, and reproducibility. Methodological development for systematic reviews concerns both how technical tools can facilitate the process and how research methodology itself is further developed.