Evidence Seekers

About Us

 

Evidence Seekers is a not-for-profit volunteer agency founded in May 2016 by university student Michael T. Lam of Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. Its vision is to match family physicians without easy access to major university or teaching hospital support services with university student volunteers, the 'Evidence Seekers', who would provide them with voluntary research service via email.

 

Michael was inspired by a series of simple research requests emailed to him by his mentor, family physician/magician Dr. Lalit Chawla of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. The requests were simple reference questions such as “Is there any evidence that a quotidian multivitamin supplement is recommended for everyone?”, or factual questions such as “How much time does the average person spend in front of electronics/TV every day?”. 

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After some discussion, Michael and Dr. Chawla agreed that setting up an email based research service might be benefitial to both parties. The physicians will receive free and timely research service for their simple questions, and the students will solidify their research skills, obtain real world knowledge related to evidence-based healthcare and get a glimpse of what goes through a clinician's mind during the clinical decision making process.

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Our approach is to recruit undergraduate science students who are interested in a career in healthcare and provide them with basic training on research skills; particularly on where and how to search for scientific evidence. The students use the skills acquired to answer simple research questions for his/her assigned physician.

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The whole process is voluntary-based. We thrive on the enthusiasm of our volunteers and do not accept any monetary donations.

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