EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE (EBP-301) SLP: Course Outline

This course introduces the concept of evidence-based practice in speech language pathology
including the formulation of answerable clinical questions, methods of obtaining peer-reviewed
evidence to those clinical questions, and how to critically appraise evidence once located. This
course is a lecture and seminar course that will focus on developing the skills need for
evaluating, critiquing, and consuming the literature germane to physical therapy practice.
Current journal articles, texts, and online resources will be used in the course to develop critical
reading and writing skills.

• Analyze the major components of the EBP process.
• Utilize PICO question(s) for framing clinical inquiry.
• Search online databases for evidence.
• Synthesize collected evidence to develop a guideline and clinical decision support
tools.
• Determine appropriate measures to evaluate the effectiveness of EBP implementation
and use data for quality improvement.

Evidence-Based Speech Language Therapy
• An introduction about evidence-based practice in Speech Language Therapy:

• o What is high quality clinical research’?
• o What do we mean by patient preferences’?
• o What do we mean by practice knowledge’
• o Additional factors

• Types of Evidence
• Types of Practice
• History of Evidence-Based Health Care
• Steps for evidence-based practice in Speech Language Therapy
• Relevant clinical questions
• Importance of evidence-based practice in Speech Language Therapy:

• o For patients
• o For Speech Language therapists and the profession
• o For funders of Speech Language therapy services

• Principles of inter-professional collaboration;
• Understanding of the expectations, support, difficulties of the newly qualified

speech and language therapist;
• Critical appraisal of research articles