Dan Mayer Essential Evidence-based Medicine

The medical literature: an overview 31
(4) Finally, the discussion should address all potential biases in the study and
hypothesize on their effects on the study conclusions. The directions for
future research in this area should then be addressed.
Conclusion
The study results should be accurately reflected in the conclusion section, a
one-paragraph summary of the final outcome. There are numerous points that
should be addressed in this section. Notably, important sources of bias should be
mentioned as disclaimers. The reader should be aware that pitfalls in the interpretations
of study conclusions include the use of biased language and incorrect
interpretation of results not supported by the data. Studies sponsored by drug
companies or written by authors with other conflicts of interest may be more
prone to these biases and should be regarded with caution. All sources of conflict
of interest should be listed either at the start or at the end of the article.
Bibliography
The references/bibliography section demonstrates how much work from other
writers the author has acknowledged. This includes a comprehensive reference
list including all important studies of the same or similar problem. You will
be better at interpreting the completeness of the bibliography when you have
immersed yourself in a specialty area for some time and are able to evaluate this
author’s use of the literature. Be wary if there are multiple citations of works by
just one or two authors, especially if by the author(s) of the current study.
How can you get started?
You have to decide which journals to read. The New England Journal of Medicine
is a great place for medical students to start. It publishes important and high
quality studies and includes a lot of correlation with basic sciences. There are
also excellent case discussions, review articles, and basic-science articles. In general,
begin by reading the abstract. This will tell you if you really want to read this
study in the first place. If you don’t care about this topic, go on to the next article.
Remember, that what you read in the abstract should not be used to apply
the results of the study to a clinical scenario. You still need to read and evaluate
the article, especially the methods section. JAMA (Journal of the American Medical
Association) is another excellent journal with many studies regarding medical
education and the operation of the health-care system. For readers in the United
Kingdom, the Lancet and the BMJ (British Medical Journal) are equivalent journals
for the student to begin reading.