Foundational Statistics for Medical Professionals (Part 1)

**Discounts are available for this course, including fully funded places for UoE/NHS Lothian staff and students**

Foundational Statistics for Medical Professionals – “The Seven Deadly Statistical Sins” (Part 1)

This course is a practical introduction to medical statistics for healthcare professionals who routinely need to understand, interpret, and critically appraise statistical data, but do not necessarily need to perform statistical analysis beyond very basic examples. 

The emphasis throughout is on thinking statistically, not on performing complex calculations. Participants will learn how to ask the right questions of data, recognise misleading analyses or presentations, and interpret statistical results with appropriate caution and clinical judgement.

This session focuses on understanding data, choosing appropriate summaries and visualisations, and interpreting uncertainty. It is aimed at building confidence with the basic language and logic of statistics used in medical research.

If this course is fully booked, please email education@edinburghCRF.ed.ac.uk to be added to the waiting list (please include your name, course name and course date). 

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Describe different data types commonly encountered in medical research;
• Choose appropriate graphical displays to explore and understand data;
• Describe different measures of average, and explain when and why each is appropriate;
• Distinguish between absolute and relative measures of effect;
• Critically assess whether a precise and apparently strong statistical result is likely to matter in terms of clinical practice, service design, or research conclusions. 

Please note: the course content and examples relate mainly to medical data, but cover statistical concepts which will be broadly applicable to anyone.

Participants are encouraged to consider booking 'Applied Statistics for Medical Professionals' alongside this course; the two sessions are designed to complement one another and are pitched at a similar level.

The price displayed is the public sector and charity rate, for Industry rates please check ‘payment options’.    

There are no specific entry requirements for this course.