Professor Saravana Kumar

Professor of Allied Health and Health Services Research

Evidence-based practice is often presented as a linear process of finding and applying research evidence. Yet in the complexity of real-world healthcare, evidence alone is seldom sufficient to guide clear decisions. This keynote reframes evidence-based practice as a dynamic, interpretive process in which clinical reasoning and decision-making sit at its core. Drawing on examples from allied health practice, education, and research, this presentation explores how clinicians integrate evidence into practice drawing on research findings, clinical expertise, patient values, and contextual constraints through skilled reasoning. The keynote will examine common misconceptions about evidence-based practice, including the over-reliance on hierarchies of evidence and protocol-driven care, and consider how these may inadvertently undermine professional judgement. It will also highlight the often invisible cognitive work that underpins high-quality clinical decisions, particularly in situations of uncertainty, complexity, or competing priorities.

This presentation argues that strengthening evidence-based practice requires more than better access to research; it requires explicit recognition, deliberate development, and valuing of clinical judgement and reasoning. By making decision making visible and teachable, those involved in healthcare delivery, education, leadership, and policy can better support nuanced, patient-centred, and defensible practice across contemporary healthcare systems.