What is evidence? Reflections on the AMEE symposium, Vienna, August 2011

In this article, we present a summary of the discussion from the symposium on 'what is evidence', which took place at the AMEE conference in 2011. A panel of five academics and clinicians, plus the chair, considered the nature of evidence, in particular in relation to the 'evidence' in the best evidence medical education reviews. Evidence has multiple meanings depending on context and use, and this reflects the complex and often chaotic world in which we work and research.