Evidence-based healthcare, clinical knowledge and the rise of personalised medicine

摘要

In the 10th Thematic Edition within Volume 13 of the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice published in August 2007 , we made reference to the decade-long period over which the Journal had systematically contributed to the international discussions on the theoretical foundations and practical applications of evidence-based medicine (EBM) and indicated our determination to progress the debate in the direction of an eventual intellectual resolution. In accordance with that statement of scholarly intent, we are gratified to commit in this 11th thematic edition of the JECP, some 53 papers which either reflect upon or directly illustrate current thinking on EBM and we structure the Edition into three delineated parts: Part One (Philosophy and Concepts - 24 articles); Part Two (Clinical Attitudes to and Understanding of EBM & Guidelines Use/Implementation - 19 articles) & Part Three (Progress in Methodology & Statistics - 9 articles). We therefore advance the current Edition as a major stimulus to epis-temological, ethical, methodological and clinical debate on the nature of evidence for clinical practice and commit this Thematic Issue to the international literature on knowledge in Medicine.