Journal Club: Literature Review and Critical Appraisal in Public Health. 1-

Catalog description

Semester course; 1-4 lecture hours. (delivered online or face-to-face) 1-4 credits. May be repeated for a maximum of four credits toward graduation. The course offers structured training in the critical reading, evaluation and interpretation of peer-reviewed epidemiologic and public health research. Content includes an overview of different forms of review articles; strategies for conducting comprehensive literature searches and building bibliographic databases; evaluation of study rigor and validity; assessment of study populations in relation to the intended target population; identification of bias and confounding; appraisal of statistical methods and presentation of results; and interpretation of study conclusions in light of methodological limitations. Students receive step-by-step guidance on completing a focused systematic literature review using established reporting standards. The course also introduces the fundamentals of meta-analysis and provides a framework for determining when quantitative evidence synthesis is appropriate. Graded as S/U/F.