The true challenge of clinical practice is effective decision making, especially regarding treatment strategies.  The crucial clinical question is, "How good is one treatment strategy compared with another, considering both benefits and harms?”  Do you 1) treat immediately, 2) perform the test and base treatment on the test result, or 3) continue observation without treatment or testing?  Ineffective strategies are neither free nor benign.

Most chiropractors depend upon their college courses, textbooks, continuing education, peer opinions and personal experience when making clinical decisions.  Although these sources can be valuable, they have limitations.  Updating our skills does not mean we have to abandon our "traditional" information sources.  Rather, it means we must acknowledge the limitations of these sources and take steps to supplement our knowledge with valid research data. 

Evidence-based chiropractic promotes the synthesis and application of the most reliable research-derived evidence when making clinical decisions.  While research information is an important component in the health care decision making process, it should be used in conjunction with clinical experience and judgment, clinical circumstances, and preferences of the patient.

For a more detailed discussion of this topic, please read our article Practicing Evidence-based Chiropractic and Increasing Referrals, reproduced here as a PDF document (use Acrobat Reader).