University of Oxford Short Courses in Health Sciences

RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS 
This course aims to help participants with the practicalities of conducting
randomised trials. Taught by Mike Clarke, Director of the UK Cochrane
Centre, the course uses a problem based learning approach. The days are
non-consecutive to enable participants to use course work to address the
potential challenges that will be encountered, in terms of resourcing the
trial, recruiting and randomising participants, maintaining the trial's
momentum, and analysing and reporting it.
 
29 September, 3, 5, 10, 12 October 2006
	
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS
The course is structured to help students to design and carry out a
qualitative project. Students must identify a work-based issue that can be
investigated using a qualitative approach. Students conduct fieldwork to
collect data, and practical assistance is given with data analysis and
writing up. Small group sessions are used to critically appraise the quality
of qualitative research. The course helps students learn how to design
research projects to explore a wide range of social factors.

2, 4, 9, 10, 12 October 2006

QUALITATIVE SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS IN HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE WORKSHOP
Qualitative research in the context of systematic reviews is a new and
growing area of research. There are many learners who are developing
methodology - we are all in the position of being learners. This workshop
will be participatory with speakers and participants sharing experiences and
learning from each other. Contributors include leading institutions in the
development of QSR and members of the Cochrane Qualitative Methods Review
Group. Experiences will be fed back to the Cochrane Qualitative Methods
Review Group, to help in the development of training.

20-21 October 2006

STATISTICS FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
This online statistics course is designed for busy health and social care
professionals who need to understand the basics of health statistics without
becoming statisticians. Students can study at the time of day and week that
is best for them. Online tutorial support is provided and concepts are
applied to real-life scenarios. The course is designed around
student-student and student-tutor communication to ensure that students are
able to develop a sense of an online learning community to support and
motivate them during the 10-week duration. This course is built upon
material developed in face to face teaching on the University of Oxford MSc
in Evidence Based Health Care and was supported financially by the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The BBSRC
support was essential in getting this project off the ground and made it
possible to develop the high standard of online materials.

22 January 2007 (10 weeks online)

PATIENT BASED EVIDENCE
This course aims to develop informed users of a range of different types of
measures including health related quality of life. It covers conceptual
ideas, properties of measurement, cross-cultural issues and economic
aspects. The aim of the course is to help students become informed users of
health-related quality of life measures, while understanding the broader
research and policy context in which such measurement is placed. Patient
Based Evidence is a blended learning course that involves online learning
and four days. The four-day course is organised into 8 half day sessions.
Each half day will be divided into a plenary lecture and group work where
students will be encouraged to discuss issues raised in the plenary
lectures. On some occasions guest speakers will be presenting their work to
illustrate points covered in the plenaries.

22 January 2007 (online)
29 January - 1 February 2007 (face-to-face)

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS
In recent years, the bringing together of evidence from randomised trials
into systematic reviews has become increasingly common, not least because of
the formation of the Cochrane Collaboration with its aim to prepare,
maintain and promote the accessibility of reviews in all areas of health
care. Systematic reviews are also of increasing importance when considering
other study designs. In fact, they are becoming a vital part of not only the
process of summarising existing research but also of the process of planning
future research. Ethics committees, research founders and health care policy
makers such as the Department of Health are now requiring that systematic
reviews be done in advance of new research.

19, 21, 23, 26, 28 February 2007
10, 11, 14, 15, 16 May 2007
11, 13, 14, 18, 20 June 2007

Short courses can be taken for academic credit, which can be put towards the
Oxford Masters in Evidence Based Health Care or transferred to other degree
programmes. Please contact [log in to unmask] and visit our web site
www.conted.ox.ac.uk/health for further information.
 

Health Sciences
Continuing Professional Development Centre
University of Oxford
Suite 1, Littlegate House
16/17 St. Ebbes Street
Oxford OX1 1PT
Tel: (+44) 01865 286941
Fax: (+44) 01865 286934
www.conted.ox.ac.uk/health