A locally created EBM course for faculty development.

International EBM workshops have significant barriers and lack focus on institutional needs. The authors describe a local EBM curriculum and report its effectiveness and participant satisfaction. Local EBM experts devised an EBM course designed to improve faculty understanding of EBM skills and concepts. Retention of EBM concepts was assessed with a 10-item EBM knowledge test administered before and after the course. Participants were also asked to self-assess five EBM skills immediately after and nine months after the course. They also filled out a satisfaction survey. In total, 61% of the participants completed the course. The EBM knowledge test showed a significant change in scores for EBM concepts. The participants' self-assessed EBM skills remained high at nine months. Participants rated most course variables highly. It is concluded that a locally developed EBM faculty curriculum can succeed if scholars define institutional needs, receive broad institutional support, use proven educational methodologies and avoid scheduling conflicts.