Deciphering the Medical Literature (DML)

Aims and Objectives:  

The overall goal is to help the third-year medical students achieve the quantitative competencies deemed essential for today’s practicing physicians. Medical professionals should be able to understand study designs, clinical epidemiology and the statistical portions of journals they read. They don’t need to know how to analyze data, but they need to critically understand published analyses. 

The aims are to: 

1. Provide third-year medical students with sufficient knowledge and understanding of these  concepts to enable them to read, evaluate and interpret published research studies and systematic reviews with a discerning eye.   
2. Familiarize third-year medical students with the language and terminology of study desisng, statistics and clinical epidemiology. 

Program Contents and Elements:  

Two texts are being used: Intuitive Biostatistics by Harvey Motulsky (2nd Ed.) and Clinical Epidemiology, The Essentials by Robert H. Fletcher and Suzanne W. Fletcher (4th Ed.). Students are assigned required reading of 2-4 chapters per week. In addition, students can log into the Khan Academy Library at www.khanacademy.org to view supplemental presentations on the assigned material. As a self-assessment, students will go online to access self-assessment MCQs corresponding to each reading assignment. 

Program Processes: 

Readings in Intuitive Biostatistics are assigned during the months Sep – Dec, with the midterm exam in early January. Readings in Clinical Epidemiology, The Essentials are covered from Jan – early March with a final exam in May covering the material. Students are given most of March and the month of April to prepare for the USMLE Step 1 exam.  Six application sessions focusing on the various types of clinical studies are held in early June. A clinical and a quantitative mentor facilitate each 1 ½ - hour session, intended to reinforce and elucidate the concepts studied. As an example, the DML schedule for 2011 – 2012 is given here. Weekly MCQ self-assessment quizzes are posted online. The midterm and final exams are posted online with completion time limits of 2 hours each.

Leads:

• Allen, John Carson, Assistant Professor
• Krishnaswamy, Gita, Associate

Program Co-ordinator:

Ms Megan Pooh, Senior Executive
Email: megan.pooh@duke-nus.edu.sg
Office: +65 6601 1719

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