Postgraduate Course: Introduction to Systematic Reviews (PUHR11059)

Course Outline
School	Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences	College	College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course type	Online Distance Learning	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	10	ECTS Credits	5
Summary	This course will introduce students to basic concepts of systematic reviews, and pooling of data through meta-analysis. Areas to be considered will include the rationale for systematic reviews, how they impact on health care decision-making, and the basic steps in undertaking a systematic review. The principles of meta-analysis will be discussed, along with some basic examples.
Course description	This course will introduce students to basic concepts of systematic reviews, and pooling of data through meta-analysis. Areas to be considered will include the rationale for systematic reviews, how they impact on health care decision-making, and the basic steps in undertaking a systematic review. The principles of meta-analysis will be discussed, along with some basic examples.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	Students taking this course should have taken the course 'Research Skills for Global and Public Health' (GLHE11018) or have equivalent experience.

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Flexible
Course Start Date	07/08/2017
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 5, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 1, Online Activities 35, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 5, Formative Assessment Hours 5, Revision Session Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 46 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	100% coursework. The assessment will consist of a critical appraisal of a published systematic review.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Develop an understanding of the principles of systematic reviews and meta-analysis, including rationale, literature searching strategies, quality assessment of studies and pooling of data using techniques such as meta-analysis. The approach to systematic reviews by organisations including the Cochrane Collaboration will be described, and students will be expected to gain understanding of these approaches Develop very basic understanding of the statistical and other concepts underpinning meta-analysis and other methods of pooling data.