Student BMJ March 1998 Vol 6 Editorials 46 Recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse 47 Dead sober or dead drunk? 48 Critical appraisal for medical students 49 The internet: quantity not quality News 50 Public consultation on human cloning launched UK "drink drive" limit may be cut Mature students set to lose out in new finance arrangements China recognises AIDS problem Foreign doctors face increasing racism in Ireland Vitamin B may reduce risk of heart disease Education 53 You should know, you're a medic: Are x rays harmful 54 Picture Quiz 55 Anna Donald on the NHS 55 Net.Philes 56 How to read a paper: Assessing the methodological quality of published papers 60 Recent advances: Treatment of myocardial infarction 65 ABC of mental health: Anxiety Papers 69 Clinical experience, performance in final examinations, and learning style in medical students: prospective study 74 Review: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are effective for mixed chronic pain Life 75 Profiling the EBM man - Professor Sackett 76 Both sides of the intensive care unit 77 The not-so-secret diary of a medical student 78 France - planning your elective 79 Etudiante en médecine 80 Two degrees and a trauma list 81 Students and sport 82 Out There Letters 83 The importance of ethics Good study habits lead to knowledgeable doctors Don't get cynical about medicine Let people decide beef issue Abortion - a tough decision Racism continues among doctors in Europe Soundings 85 Going out with a bang 85 Close encounters of the third dimension Art & Reviews 86 The Wisdom of the Body 86 Book of the Month - Easy Way to Stop Smoking Personal view 87 I lost my breast but is anyone to blame? Minerva 44 Editor's choice So medicine is all down to chance then? Does this new evidence based medicine concept mean that we've spent five years learning all these facts when there isn't even the evidence to prove them right? Evidence based medicine may be the current buzz word, but it has left many students puzzled. Jonathan Hobson is shocked to discover that it really is as simple as it sounds when he interviews Dave Sackett (p 75) who pioneered the concept, and Mark Loveland and colleagues say that you can start learning in an evidence based way right now (p 48). The first lesson we can take from EBM is that we should be able to critically appraise what we read. Trisha Greenhalgh explains how asking a few key questions about a paper can help you decide whether to believe it or not (p 56). Try out your essential new skills (p 69) with the paper that asks if medical students' clinical experience relates to their performance in their final exams. For maximum marks in exams, the internet has loads of medical information (Nick Loman lists the best in this month's special EBM Net.Philes p 55). Unfortunately not all the material on the web is accurate - so Andrew Booth offers a guide for assessing the quality of electronic material (p 49). In this month's soundings Helen Burnett gathers the mounting evidence that she is growing old. Consequently the studentBMJ is looking for some young talent, and if you think you have what it takes to join our team of soundings columnists, turn to page 85. Front cover: Looking at evidence based medicine Images Colour Library/The Charles Walker Collection