An evangelist, I confessed, when Alan Cassels made a remark framed with a question mark in an interview in Madrid 19th Cochrane Colloquium. It is obvious that I support the principles of evidence-based medicine (EBM). I am, therefore, not satisfied to see EBM in captivity due to the challenge of teaching its skills and the challenge of applying it.
I have found it a challenge to build capacity in the domain of teaching EBM because of the mistaken understanding of the nature of EBM among the majority of professors and teachers. The preset misconception clouds their judgment and ability to gain the skills required not only to teach EBM, but also, to practice it. This is what I refer to as Ersatz based Medicine: It is pseudo–EBM. Professors and practitioners pretend to practice by EBM by giving this name to every personal opinion, not supported by the least shred of evidence.
On the other hand, I believe it is a challenge to teach EBM, because it is a major task to practice EBM. Even when a teaching institution has a panel of teachers skilled in teaching EBM, unless trainees can use EBM practically and witness their professors using it practically, we will not achieve the goal of EBM becoming a core competency of every caregiver to save lives.