Continuing Statistical Education for Clinicians: How to Engage a Busy Bunch of Docs

• Activity Number: 481
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
• Author(s): Laila Poisson*+ and Rickey E. Carter*+ and Alexandra L. Hanlon*+ and Dale W Steele*+ and Feng Dai*+
• Companies: Henry Ford Health System and Mayo Clinic and University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Hasbro Children's Hosptial/Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Yale Center for Analytical Sciences
• Keywords: medical education ; teaching clinicians ; CME ; webinar ; medical statistics ; workshop

Abstract

Our physicians are being encouraged to use "evidence-based medicine." Our medical residents have "practice-based learning" built into the new Next Accreditation System guidelines. However you name it, our clinicians need to be comfortable reading, evaluating, and using statistical information. Beyond what to teach there is the challenge of how to teach these skills in the CME/GME setting. Sessions must be clear, engaging, accessible, and not overwhelming to the clinician or to the instructor. In this session we will explore the approaches to teaching medical education statistics courses that are currently being used at major medical centers and teaching hospitals. From webinars to workshops to journal club, we will discuss the pros and cons of each approach with lessons learned.