1. Fundamentals of Evidence based Medicine: Class structure
Rahul Mhaskar
April 10, 2013

2. Location Location and time: Room:GL1, Wednesday 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Apr 10, June 12, 2013
Teleconference to TGH…..work in progress

3. Class structure Interactive Discussions are encouraged
No stupid questions…
No homework..
We believe in: problem based learning using hands on approach

4. Week 1
Introduction to Evidence based Medicine (EBM)
Week 2
Fundamentals of study design
diagnostic accuracy and screening studies
prognosis studies
treatment efficacy studies
treatment related harms studies
Week 3
Formulating the research question
Population/intervention/control/outcomes/setting /study design/timeframe framework
Matching study design to research question
Hands-on in class exercise
Week 4
Search for evidence (how it is different than a literature search)
Sources, how to search
Management of search results
Specialized search engines / databases / meeting abstracts
Snowball search / hand search / grey literature search strategies
Week 5
Risk of bias in clinical studies
Risk of bias assessment tools
Critical appraisal of:
Diagnosis studies
Prognosis studies

5. Week 6
Critical appraisal of:
Intervention efficacy assessment studies
Treatment related harms assessment studies
Systematic reviews and meta analysis
Hands-on in class exercise
Week 7
Principles of research synthesis and comparative effectiveness research
Principles of systematic review
Rationale of systematic review
Steps of systematic review
Week 8
Principles of meta analysis
Rationale and types of meta analysis
Indirect comparisons
Network meta analysis
Week 9
Guidelines: appraisal and grading of strength of evidence
Types of guidelines
Where and how to search
Critical appraisal of guidelines
Week 10 
Student presentations

6. House keeping issues Attendance and active participation is required
Please remember to bring a laptop to this class and all future sessions of the course.
A certificate of course completion will be provided for those who attend 70% of the classes.
Last but not least, perhaps most important:
Nice to have: an abstract or paper published..

7. For any questions or suggestions
Call or send an
Course instructor: Rahul Mhaskar:
Phone: (813)
Course coordinator: Amy Fioramonte:
Phone: (813)