Principles of Clinical Research

Catalog description

The emphasis is on general principles and issues in clinical research design. These are explored through the formulation of the research objective and the research hypothesis and the statistical methods used in analysis of each type. Emphasis is placed on the traditional topics of clinical epidemiology such as disease etiology, causation, natural history, diagnostic testing, and the evaluation of treatment efficacy. In addition, the course content promotes an understanding that allows the student to classify studies as experimental or observational, prospective or retrospective, case-control, cross-sectional, or cohort; this includes the relative advantages and limitations and the statistical methods used in analysis of each type. Emphasis is placed on the traditional topics of clinical epidemiology such as disease etiology, causation, natural history, diagnostic testing, and the evaluation of treatment efficacy. In addition, an introduction to ethical issues in clinical research is included. Prerequisite: None. Credits: 4.