Critical Thinking Skills in Epidemiology and Public Health
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| MEDS3091 | Medical Education Centre | 3 | 10 | Autumn UK |
- Code
- MEDS3091
- School
- Medical Education Centre
- Level
- 3
- Credits
- 10
- Semesters
- Autumn UK
Summary
This module is intended to prepare students for interpreting the literature they will read as practicing physicians. This involves teaching them critical thinking skills and includes examination of three medical topics covered by the assigned papers. These will include the following study designs:
• case control studies;
• randomized controlled trials;
• cross-sectional population surveys;
• cohort studies;
Important issues in epidemiologic research such as ethics and clinical constraints, case definition, research methods, power, bias and confounding and strength of evidence will be discussed, as relevant, for each paper. Systematic reviews and national clinical guidelines will also be studied to understand the process of how these contribute to evidence based medicine. This will provide understanding of how individual research studies are brought together, evaluated for their quality. and combined to provide the recommendations and guidance that is used by healthcare professionals in practice.
Target Students
Students registered on the A100 BMedSci, A10S BMedSci and A104 BSc Medical Sciences There is a limited number of places on this module. Students are reminded that enrolments which are not agreed by the Offering School in advance may be cancelled without notice.
Classes
- One 3-hour seminar
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 5 weeks
Activities take place over 8 sessions (each student must attend 7 sessions covering a total of 16 contact hours) in specified weeks during the semester. Sessions 1-5 consist of learning activities; they are 2 hours each and involve short lectures and critical discussion of papers in small groups; students must read papers prior to sessions in preparation. Sessions 6-8 are assessment presentations lasting 3 hours each; students must attend 1 assessment session to present and another assessment session to listen and provide questions to other student presentations.
Assessment
- 80% Presentation 1: Individual presentation.
- 15% Coursework 1: Individually marked contribution to group work.
- 5% Participation 1: Individual class participation.
Assessed by end of autumn semester
Educational Aims
The module is designed so that students can attain some of the outcomes specified by the GMC in Outcomes for Graduates (2018) in the areas of Professional values and behaviours; Professional skills; and Professional knowledge. These are detailed in the Module Learning Outcomes.This module prepares students for interpreting and critically appraising the literature they will read as practicing physicians. Students build on previous learning acquired principally through year 1 and year 3 module material relating to public health, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.Learning is facilitated through small group teaching sessions examining assigned medical literature papers. In addition, there is a significant component of self-directed learning to prepare for these sessions, accessing appropriate literature and other external sources of information.Learning Outcomes
The student will be able to meet areas within the GMC outcomes as follows. The full wording is ground in Outcomes for Graduates (2018) and in module study guides using the OfG paragraph numbers.
25b, 25c, 26a, 26b, 26d, 26e