MPH2002

Clinical epidemiology

Dr R Buchbinder

2 hours per week over 14 weeks

Synopsis This subject will apply epidemiological techniques to clinical research. Topics covered will include clinical diagnostic strategies, measuring clinical agreement and strategies to minimise disagreement, selection of diagnostic tests, interpretation of diagnostic data, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, likelihood ratios, clinical decision analysis, screening, prognosis, optimising therapy, compliance, side effects of treatment and critical appraisal of the literature. Clinical research methodology with emphasis on determining optimal research design, clinical trial design and analysis, recognising and dealing with bias, practical aspects of conducting a clinical study, ethical considerations, blinding, data analysis, interpretation and validation of results.

Assessment Performance in a series of exercises throughout the course