Evidence-based Medicine: Defining Evidence

The overall goals of evidence-based medicine (EBM) are to provide physicians and medical
personnel with the best information available in the field so that the clinical practices of these
professionals provide patients with the best possible care. 

Contents:

Introduction

The Philosophy of Evidence-based Medicine

Science and Medicine: Objectivity vs. Subjectivity

Medical Rhetoric as a Social and Communicational Construct

The Social and Rhetorical Implications of Medical Discourse

The Social and Rhetorical Implications of Defining Evidence

Conclusion

References

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Conclusion

While the pursuit of truth has been the aim of science and other disciplines for centuries, these ideas cannot be entirely separated from social communication systems and interaction.  The evidence-based medicine movement provides a complex situation in which the pursuit of truth through traditional scientific methods conflicts with the demands of the reality of the situation.  In the search for the definition for a single central term, evidence, issues ranging from the rhetorical to the social to the literary to the clinical come into play.  These issues woven together provide a cross-section of human interaction and goals.