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OBJECTIVES

Knowledge

• Basic design, conduct, presentation and reporting of clinical research, as illustrated by presentations of projects by seminar participants.
• Content knowledge and methods related to the research interests of the seminar participants.
• In-depth knowledge of selected classical or controversial studies or issues in clinical medicine.
• Familiarity with selected ethical, social and political issues pertaining to medicine, particularly academic medicine, in the 21st century.

Attitudes

• Intellectual curiosity, independent thinking, and willingness to question conventional wisdom and the status quo.
• Acceptance of responsibility for independent learning and for the success of the seminar, including arriving regularly, on time, having read materials beforehand, and providing helpful and supportive suggestions for your colleagues.
• Respect for other participants in the class, including those with whom you disagree or those less gifted than you.

Skills

• Critical appraisal of journal articles.
• Leading a discussion of a journal article or topic.
• Presenting your own work in progress.
• Making gentle, constructive suggestions to others presenting their research.
• Making gentle, constructive suggestions to me and any other participants about how to do a better job at any of the above objectives.
  

PREREQUISITES

Designing Clinical Research (Epi 202).

FACULTY

EVALUATION/EXPECTATIONS

"80% of success is just showing up" -- Woody Allen

This course is graded S/U (satisfactory/unsatisfactory), but I don't want that to stop each of you from doing an outstanding job. You'll get a lot more out of the course and it will be more fun for all of us if you:

• Show up to each class on time (or a little early), having read the material in advance.
• Participate in discussions, making constructive and gentle suggestions to your colleagues.
• Provide readings to others before the deadline (see below) when it is your turn to present.
• Spend about 2-3 hours every two weeks to prepare for the seminar, and more than that for the weeks when you are presenting.

The importance of attendance cannot be overemphasized. If you do not attend, you deprive yourself of the learning opportunity, but you also deprive your colleagues of your valuable feedback. We do understand that professional travel and health issues occasionally mean you will miss a session, and we expect that this may happen up to 2-3 times during the year for some scholars. For each absence, please:
- Inform your seminar leader ahead of time; and
- Submit written comments on the presenter’s work to the presenter (and copy the seminar leader(s)).

If you anticipate missing more than three sessions during the year or more than one per quarter, please discuss this with your seminar leader.

FORMAT

All of this is negotiable. Last year we mostly did work-in-progress, with the option of presenting on a non-research topic of interest. In previous years we have covered some "classics and controversies" in clinical research. One firm rule: readings should always be distributed to participants at least 5 days in advance (i.e., by Thursday evening the week before).

ENROLLMENT

This course is restricted to those enrolled in the Master's in Clinical Research degree program.