Otolaryngologists and head and neck surgeons have not always fully engaged with the evidence-based medicine (EBM) movement. Now that EBM has been identified as one of the most important milestones in medicine in the last 150 years, I hope things will change. In reviewing the tenets of EBM and considering its implementation I explain why we must embrace its principles and argue that optimal medical practice is both “evidence” – and “wisdom”-based, both being necessary but neither alone being sufficient.
