Evidence, Discovery, & Reasoning 2 & 3

Evidence, Discovery, & Reasoning 2
January 3, 2024-May 15, 2024

Evidence, Discovery, & Reasoning 3
August 4, 2024-November 21, 2025

Course Director
Peter Drain, PhD
Associate Professor of Cell Biology
drain@pitt.edu

Course Description

The skills of reading biomedical literature, interpreting data, and evaluating clinical studies are the focus of this course, integrating themes of clinical expertise and scientific reasoning.  Students learn basic statistical methods and  how clinical trials, medical databases, and translational medicine are foundations of evidence-based medicine and patient-centered care. 

USMLE Step 1 Content Area: Biostatistics, Study design & interpretation, Interpretation and use of evidence-based data and recommendations in clinical decision-making

Course Objectives

1. Design and create a hypothesis-driven biomedical research proposal or clinical question driven- qualitative research proposal.
2. Critically analyze and evaluate a biomedical research article—background, hypothesis, study design, results, statistics, key information, validity of conclusions.
3. Search the literature to find articles pertinent to a patient.
4. Critique the medical literature and relate it to a patient.
5. Engage in self-directed learning and meta-cognition in research and medicine
6. Demonstrate basic certification of understanding of human subject research regulations

Educational Methods​

• Small group workshops
• Presentations
• Listening and providing feedback to peers

Evaluation

Evaluation for this course suite is based on active participation, 2 presentations, written research proposal, and written critical appraisal of scientific article.

Requests for excused absences should be submitted via Elentra. Unexcused absences may result in grading penalties as outlined in the Policy on Absence and Attendance.