Dear Sidy, as per my experience, the best way to teach medical students the topic of research methodology is though conducting a small research. - Learning by doing or Project based learning.

They can internalize various steps in research by doing in small groups of 2 or 3 students per group under the supervision of a lecturer.

1. Identification of a research topic

2. Formulation of research question

3. Literature review

4. Critical appraisal of the available research on the selected topic

5. Framing the objective

6. Selection of study design

7. Selecting the sampling method and sample size calculation

8. Writing a plan of action

9. Preparing a timeline or Gantt chart

10. Writing a proposal and getting approval

11. Obtaining ethical clearance

12. Preparation of data collection tools (questionnaire development)

13. Data collection

14. Data cleaning and coding (keeping in mind the objectives)

15. Choosing the appropriate statistical test of significance

16. Data analysis

17. Correct interpretation of results of analysis

18. Preparation of report

19. Presentation of findings of research in front of peers

20. Steps in publication of research

Advantages are - Students enjoy learning. They can understand better. Boring didactic lectures can be minimized.

Dr Sandheep Sugathan

Thanks dear Joris,

I really like your way of teaching because I do beleive that theorical concepts of epidemiology and biostatistics are not attractive for medical students if they are not illustrated by real clinical application situations. Dividing the course in domains of the medical research areas is an interesting way to make it more clear and lisible for learners.

Do your organize group works for critical appraisal of some scientific publications or research protocols? Do you use some materials from your university hospital or any research center affiliated ?

How many teaching hours do you need for the whole course activities?

Thanks for you fruitful comment.

Dear Sidy, as per my experience, the best way to teach medical students the topic of research methodology is though conducting a small research. - Learning by doing or Project based learning.

They can internalize various steps in research by doing in small groups of 2 or 3 students per group under the supervision of a lecturer.

1. Identification of a research topic

2. Formulation of research question

3. Literature review

4. Critical appraisal of the available research on the selected topic

5. Framing the objective

6. Selection of study design

7. Selecting the sampling method and sample size calculation

8. Writing a plan of action

9. Preparing a timeline or Gantt chart

10. Writing a proposal and getting approval

11. Obtaining ethical clearance

12. Preparation of data collection tools (questionnaire development)

13. Data collection

14. Data cleaning and coding (keeping in mind the objectives)

15. Choosing the appropriate statistical test of significance

16. Data analysis

17. Correct interpretation of results of analysis

18. Preparation of report

19. Presentation of findings of research in front of peers

20. Steps in publication of research

Advantages are - Students enjoy learning. They can understand better. Boring didactic lectures can be minimized.

Dr Sandheep Sugathan

Dear Sidy, in my experience as teacher with medical students and grad in research, the best way is conducting a small research (as Sandheep says) with emphasis in the research question. Moreover you need make the course interactive and active for the students. We need teach to rediscover the curiosity and conducting with the scientific method to obtain satisfactory answers. Regards!

well being a student myself a couple of years ago, my opinion is to give the students a fair amount of practice with critical guidance. In the start it should be taken as a whole, i mean an overview of research. Give them good readings from leading journals. the students at undergraduate level need to think about what topics they like, and what topics really trigger their minds. The most important thing which should be given at undergraduate level is, How to think like a researcher ?

Thanks very much for all these ideas. We have definitely chosen to organize seminars with a problem-based learning approach.

Best,

I wrote a little book "Writing your first clinical research protocol" available through Juta's Publishing where I focused on deconstructing the process and building up a protocol in a step by step manner. Many students have found it useful.

I think fousing on both theortical and practical aspects helps students learn reaserch methodolgy.

I would have three sections of the course: basic epidemiology (rates, odds ratios, attributable risk, etc.etc.), health policy (using for example WHO information); and a project of some kind (design of the project, not doing an actual research project). This should appeal to all three learning modes (fact-based, policy/talking based, and hands-on).

I contributed to teaching on a Research methods course to undergraduates at Queen Mary University of London a few years ago. I, and others, taught 8 sessions, each of around 2-2.5 hours, which were interactive and involved practical exercises. As far as I remember the sessions were something like:

1. Introduction to research methods - an overview of the basics

2. Internal validity, external validity, measurement validity and reliability

3. Randomised controlled trials - rationale and critiquing

4. Cohort and case control studies - rationale and critiquing

5. Qualitative approaches

6. Basic inferential statistics - distributions, central limit theorem, Z test, single sample t test, paired t test, independent t test

7. Basic statistics - ANOVAs, chi square tests, type I and II errors.

8. Clinical significance

There was also a weekly journal club where students consolidated their knowledge by presenting a critique of a research article of their choice.

Formal assessment was via a critique of a paper, and a full scale 3-6 month research project. Students enjoyed the course and their progress was excellent. Most managed to publish their research projects in peer reviewed journals. The students were intercalating medics and also post-graduate physios and doctors.

Thanks dear Mark for your detailed and practical contribution. We will surely take profit from your suggestions.

I agree with the other responses, however would like to add some views to this. Baseline assessment of the students regarding research methodology is essential to plan better. Preparing them for the real world research and using emerging tools of research is more important than teaching with tools that are practically obsolete in this field. Building up a research gradually (what others have called a problem based learning) using the students' inputs and adding the theoretical constructs at specific places may be more meaningful to the student. Best wishes !

Reading the contributions, I find that a small but important emphasis is needed to NOT rely on self-directed research. The candidate will achieve a good understanding of his /her selected project, but may be seriously deficient in other areas. Hence we see heinous errors by physicians publishing for the first time: adequate sample size, confounding, case definition, elimination of numerous biases, failure to recognize post-hoc, ergo propter hoc effects, cohort effects, and so on. To say nothing of zero ability in conducting basic survey research. The formula is fundamental understanding + structured critical review + self-directed work. And an emphatic recommendation to consult an epidemiologist or biostats person BEFORE the data are collected!!!