The goal of this Program is to promote application of the principles of epidemiology and population medicine to clinical practice. Our activities include teaching epidemiology and evidence-based medicine for all levels of practitioners at the medical school. We also provide training in the teaching of evidence-based medicine and in the advanced skills required for clinical and administrative leadership positions.
Pre-Clinical Years
In the first year of medical school, students receive didactic training in the principles of epidemiology in the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course. In the second year, these principles are reinforced and applied to patient scenarios in the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) course. The skills of critical appraisal of the medical literature are introduced through lecture and applications integrated into the PBL curriculum.
Clinical Years
This training and more explicit skills in evidence-based medicine are reinforced in clinical rotations in the third year. A Fourth Year Evidence-Based Medicine Course is directed by Dr. Joshua Samuels and provides an opportunity to reinforce the principles of epidemiology as they apply to clinical practice. The course is integrated with the outpatient rotation in general internal medicine directed by Drs. Laura Colletti and Fabrizia Faustinella. After a didactic session on the process of asking questions, finding information, and critically appraising information, the students present learning issues for small group discussions; each student presents at least one learning issue as a completed critically appraised topic. An additional didactic hands-on session to reinforce the skills of searching for the evidence is included as part of the focused “preparing for residency” month for all fourth year students. A fourth-year EBM elective, centered on topics that arise from Internal Medicine morning report and ward rounds, is also offered.
This course is offered every two years to faculty and fellows throughout the medical center as part of the Clinical Research Curriculum. In this course, participants have an opportunity to learn rules of evidence, demonstrate critical evaluation of the medical literature, and practice communicating these concepts to others. See course overview and schedule from previous cycle. The goal of this course is to advance the skills of Evidence-Based Medicine at the post-graduate level to foster a culture that promotes the practice and teaching of Evidence-Based Medicine.
This is a master's level course offered every two years as part of the MS in Clinical Research Degree Program. In this course, the students apply rules of evidence and health services research to clinical practice, practice guidelines, and health care policy. Decision analysis, economic evaluations, and methods for quantifying benefit/risk are used to evaluate health care interventions at the individual patient and population levels. These methods are then applied in case-based discussions. Each student also prepares an evidence-based set of clinical practice guidelines related to his/her clinical practice.
For more information regarding any of the above programs, please email Claudette Ocampo, Sr. Staff Asst. or call our office at (713) 500-6708.
American College of Epidemiology
Bandolier (resource for evidence-based medical information)
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine
Clinical Evidence (including request for free copy)
National Guidelines Clearinghouse
StatSoft Electronic Statistics Textbook
Tool Kit for doing CATs (Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group)
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Page maintained by Kathleen A. Kennedy, MD, MPH
Last update: 02/06/08