Scribd
Upload
16 views

Statistics in Medicine Syllabus

This syllabus outlines a self-paced online course on statistics in medicine. The course covers topics such as descriptive statistics, study designs, probability, statistical inference, comparing groups, and regression analysis. Students can complete quizzes, homework, and a final exam to earn a statement of accomplishment upon reaching a minimum score.

Uploaded by

MC Mejia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views

Statistics in Medicine Syllabus

This syllabus outlines a self-paced online course on statistics in medicine. The course covers topics such as descriptive statistics, study designs, probability, statistical inference, comparing groups, and regression analysis. Students can complete quizzes, homework, and a final exam to earn a statement of accomplishment upon reaching a minimum score.

Uploaded by

MC Mejia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Statistics in Medicine Syllabus, Self-Paced Version

Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. Students will need to be familiar with a
few basic math tools: summation sign, factorial, natural log, exponential, and the equation of a
line; a brief tutorial is available on the course website for students who need a refresher on these
topics.
Pacing: You may complete this course at your own pace. Each Unit will take approximately 4 to
8 hours to complete.
Course Content:
Unit 1: Descriptive statistics and looking at data
Unit 2: Review of study designs; measures of disease risk and association
Unit 3: Probability, Bayes’ Rule, Diagnostic Testing
Unit 4: Probability distributions
Unit 5: Statistical inference (confidence intervals and hypothesis testing)
Unit 6: P-value pitfalls; types I and type II error; statistical power; overview of statistical tests
Unit 7: Tests for comparing groups (unadjusted); introduction to survival analysis
Unit 8: Regression analysis; linear correlation and regression
Unit 9: Logistic regression and Cox regression
Final Exam

Optional Content: The course offers a number of optional videos and modules. These cover
more in-depth math topics, proofs and derivations, more challenging problems, or training in
data analysis in R (with Deducer). You may link to some, all, or none of these modules
depending on your interest and math background. Skipping these extra modules will not affect
the continuity of the course; and they are not required for course completion (earning a
Statement of Accomplishment).
Grading/Statements of Accomplishment:
Students can monitor their individual progress and cumulative grade on the course website.

Grading Formula:
Quizzes…………..10% (students will have multiple attempts to get the right answer)
Homework………..45% (the lowest grade of the 9 problem sets will be dropped)
Final Exam………..45% (multiple-choice exam, 1 out of 21 questions will be dropped)

To earn a Statement of Accomplishment, a score of 60% is required. To earn a Statement of


Accomplishment with distinction, a score of 90% is required.

Optional Readings:
There are no required textbooks for this course. Dr. Sainani authors a column called Statistically
Speaking for the journal PM&R. PM&R and Elsevier have generously agreed to make these
articles freely available. Links to these optional reading articles are provided with the weekly
content.
Students may also benefit by reading the following optional books:
What is a P-value anyway? By Andrew Vickers
The Signal and the Noise By Nate Silver

Outcomes:
After completing this course, you will (1) have a deeper appreciation for how to interpret and
look at data; (2) understand how statistics and probability apply to real-world problems; and (3)
be able to critically evaluate the statistics in medical studies.

Additional FAQs:
1. Do I need a strong math background to be successful in this course?
No. This course focuses more heavily on conceptual understanding. Math is a necessary
part of the course, but I will explain the math as clearly and simply as possible and
minimize the use of unnecessary mathematical notation. You will have to perform basic
calculations and need to understand basic math concepts (including: summation sign,
factorial, natural log, exponential, and the equation of a line); if you need to review these
concepts, please take the math refresher tutorial available on the course website before
starting the rest of the course. No calculus is required.

2. Do I need to know computer programming to be successful in this course?


No. The assignments for this course can be done with a calculator or by hand; you do not
need to know statistical programming. The course offers optional modules in R
programming (with Deducer) if you would like this training.

3. If I like math, will this course be rigorous enough for me?


Yes. I prefer to emphasize concepts over formulas, because modern statistics has little to
do with plugging numbers into formulas. However, the course is still mathematically
rigorous. Also, if you want to build a more mathematically sophisticated course, you can
watch the optional modules that cover more advanced math topics, including proofs.

4. Will I benefit from this course if I’ve taken an introductory course in probability and
statistics before?
Yes! If you’ve had a previous course in statistics, but aren’t confident that you “get”
statistics or that you can apply statistics to real-world examples, this course is for you!
This course was designed precisely to fill in these conceptual gaps. If you are already
familiar with basic topics in statistics (p-values, Bayes’ rule, ttest, etc.), this course will
help you gain a deeper understanding of these topics, as applied to real-world examples.

5. Can I take this course to learn probability and statistics even if I’m not coming from a
medical discipline?
Yes. Though this course is targeted at medical students and medical professionals, the
basic concepts taught in the course are portable to other disciplines. Since health and
medicine affect us all, you should find the examples to be interesting and relevant even if
you are not studying medicine.

You might also like