Evidence-based thinking in clinical medicine has impacted greatly on the physician's approach to clinical care. Evidence-Based Dermatology introduces and encourages the concept of evidence-based patient care in dermatology. Incorporating a text that is much more than merely the summary of trial data, the authors worked to explore disease mechanisms and treatments in greater depth and detail in order to provide more insight for the reader. In addition to promoting the understanding of the evidence-based philosophy, the authors have focused on some of the fundamentals in dermatology that need to be approached differently. Issues such as the interpretation of clinical research, disease-oriented evidence versus patient-care evidence, and the use of placebo are examined.