Which course/s should I do to learn how to conduct clinical research and learn biostatistics?

[Meerkat_Initiate]

Basically the title. I don't know anything about clinical research or research in general. My medical school starts in 2 months so I was hoping to use this free time to learn something useful. Also has anyone done Malke Asaad's courses? Also, should I learn how to statistical analysis in SPSS or R? I'm asking in this forum because the student research forum is very inactive.

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[Med Ed]

Learning SPSS prior to medical school is swatting a fly with a piano. There's a reason why biostatisticians exist. What you will need to know about research is quite basic and can wait. You're better off trying to get your hands on a PS5.

 

[SweetBurger]

ngl if you know how to run stats you can get on about 100 projects. At least at my program we got a ton of projects and not enough stats people to do them so if you learn the skill youre gonna be popular. Just my 2 cents from someone actually currently in med school

 

[mrbreakfast]

If you are capable of doing statistics/data management for research projects, you will get tons of publications. The analysis you need to do for most papers is actually pretty simple. Setting up all the data and doing some chi squared and Kaplan-Meier tests takes an afternoon after class; people can email you their spreadsheet in the morning and you can send back a full results section, with tables and graphs, that evening.

The problem is learning SPSS is like learning how to use a stove; it won't teach you how to actually cook a good meal. You gotta at least know basic fundamentals of statistics, and for that we're talking a textbook or a college course. It's not hard, but it's a lot of studying you shouldn't be doing now. I could teach you enough SPSS to publish some papers in an afternoon, but without basic knowledge, the analysis you'd produce would be garbage.

My advice: relax and enjoy yourself for now. The risk of burnout in medical school is high, and keep in mind that 2 months off may be the longest time off you'll have for the next 10 years. Go on a trip.

 

[Lawpy]

If you are capable of doing statistics/data management for research projects, you will get tons of publications. The analysis you need to do for most papers is actually pretty simple. Setting up all the data and doing some chi squared and Kaplan-Meier tests takes an afternoon after class; people can email you their spreadsheet in the morning and you can send back a full results section, with tables and graphs, that evening.

The problem is learning SPSS is like learning how to use a stove; it won't teach you how to actually cook a good meal. You gotta at least know basic fundamentals of statistics, and for that we're talking a textbook or a college course. It's not hard, but it's a lot of studying you shouldn't be doing now. I could teach you enough SPSS to publish some papers in an afternoon, but without basic knowledge, the analysis you'd produce would be garbage.

My advice: relax and enjoy yourself for now. The risk of burnout in medical school is high, and keep in mind that 2 months off may be the longest time off you'll have for the next 10 years. Go on a trip.

Agreed. Taking a stats course would be much more helpful. The value of knowing statistics and data management in research is absolutely massive

 

[mvenus929]

The problem is learning SPSS is like learning how to use a stove; it won't teach you how to actually cook a good meal. You gotta at least know basic fundamentals of statistics, and for that we're talking a textbook or a college course. It's not hard, but it's a lot of studying you shouldn't be doing now. I could teach you enough SPSS to publish some papers in an afternoon, but without basic knowledge, the analysis you'd produce would be garbage.

Third this. One of the biggest aspects of biostats is knowing what tests to run when. I know enough to run my own basic analyses, but get more complicated than comparing groups on one variable and I'm out of my depth. My biostatisticians do fancy analysis that goes way beyond what I would even learn with two semester of master's level classes in biostats (which is why they earn themselves an authorship on my papers). The biostats course that is run by our GME division isn't even enough for most people to understand what they're doing.

That said, learning the fundamentals of basic stats (t-tests, ANOVA, McNemar's, Chi-square) will serve you well for all your future board exams and help you do simple projects without a statistician.

 

[Hzreio]

Learning SPSS prior to medical school is swatting a fly with a piano. There's a reason why biostatisticians exist. What you will need to know about research is quite basic and can wait. You're better off trying to get your hands on a PS5.

I love this metaphor lmao

 

[Dral]

Agree that learning stats would help. I did an MPH and had 2 semesters of stats courses and while I know it, can't do it or apply it (I don't have a mathematical brain at all unless you count geometry). However, my chief resident also did an MPH and he is proficient at statistics. He pumps out research papers left and right.

If nothing else, you can get your feet wet and you'll be a bit ahead of the game since they ask basic stats questions on exams.

 

[Doctor-S]

The problem is learning SPSS is like learning how to use a stove; it won't teach you how to actually cook a good meal. You gotta at least know basic fundamentals of statistics, and for that we're talking a textbook or a college course. It's not hard, but it's a lot of studying you shouldn't be doing now. I could teach you enough SPSS to publish some papers in an afternoon, but without basic knowledge, the analysis you'd produce would be garbage.

If you are confident in your ability to use, apply, and interpret statistics, you won't be the person who always skips over the "results" section of journal articles because you won't be perpetually confused by the meaning of various terms (e.g., t-test, linear regression, Mann-Whitney).

 

[Dr G Oogle]

I think if you have time I would definitely learn coding in R. You’d be invaluable. The other important thing about clinical research is understanding what it is you are studying. Which you can really only achieve by learning about it in med school/residency but I don’t think you can learning anything meaningful like that in 2 months. Stats on the other hand I think you can get a hang of, there are practice data sets in R you can play with and really get a handle of it. I have students sent to me on the regular by various people and truth be told it’s more of a chore because I to have them work with me since I don’t do chart reviews, the typical realm of med students, I have to teach them not only what I’m working on but also various stats and AI things (which I typically do myself) to the point that it does actually increase my own effort rather than decreasing it. If a student came to me with an ability to code I’d trip over my own feet to get them not only on my research but heavily mentor them through whatever project they want even if they it’s completely out of my expertise.

Here is the class I recommend

https://online.stanford.edu/courses/sohs-ystatslearning-statistical-learning