EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN HEALTH AND MEDICAL SCIENCES

Abstract

The evolution of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) represents one of the most transformative developments in modern healthcare. Although the formal terminology emerged only in the early 1990s, the philosophical foundations of evidence-informed clinical decision-making date back several centuries. Historically, medical practice relied predominantly on expert opinion, clinical intuition, and personal experience, often with limited empirical validation. The rapid advancement of biomedical research, epidemiology, and biostatistics throughout the twentieth century fundamentally altered this paradigm by introducing systematic methods for evaluating scientific evidence. Consequently, EBM emerged as a framework that integrates the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient preferences to optimize healthcare decisions