91828 Evidence Based Practice in Medical Science
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Subject handbook information prior to 2024 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 91400 Human Anatomy and Physiology
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 91175 Evidence-based Medical Science AND 91176 Case Studies in Medical Science AND 91194 Evidence Based Practice in Medical Science
Description
The evidence-based medicine process is central to the advancement of health and the development of solutions to medical problems. In this subject, students develop the capacity to propose recommendations after judicious comparisons of the benefits and harms of different clinical options for health problems. This subject develops skills in asking clinical questions, acquiring the best evidence, appraising the evidence for validity and usefulness to specific patient populations, and applying the best evidence by proposing health recommendations. An understanding of the processes by which scientific discoveries are translated to clinical practice is a vital component for any career in medical science. This subject explores emerging and longstanding healthcare issues and their solutions through critical analyses of published clinical trials. Students synthesise findings from clinical research through interactive workshops and student-led discussions to make informed judgements on medical science problems and solutions. Students learn about clinical trial design, methodologies, ethical considerations, and the factors that influence the validity of trials. Students also develop and practice skills in communication, with particular focus on understanding how to tailor output towards different audiences, and in formats that are relevant to a variety of careers and professional roles of medical scientists.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Explain the context of clinical trials and why they are used. |
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| 2. | Identify different elements of clinical trial design, their associated advantages and limitations, and the importance of ethical considerations throughout. |
| 3. | Evaluate evidence from clinical trials with reference to the design, reported statistics, objectives, and relevance for different patient populations. |
| 4. | Apply the evidence-based medicine process to ask clinical questions, acquire the best evidence, appraise evidence, and translate best evidence into treatments, policy and clinical guidelines for different patient populations. |
| 5. | Provide constructive feedback to peers and reflect on feedback to improve own performance. |
| 6. | Reflect on the needs of a target audience to use different media to communicate medical science research. |
| 7. | Identify and evaluate available medical science evidence and apply this to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health and wellbeing. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- Explain how diseases arise and disrupt normal physiological function and appraise the technologies used to diagnose, treat, and cure diseases. (1.1)
- Collect, accurately record, interpret, and draw conclusions from data to solve real-world medical problems, and infer how the results of medical research can be translated to improve patient outcomes. (2.1)
- Evaluate ethical, social, and cultural issues in medical science in local and global contexts and work responsibly, safely and with respect to diversity and regulatory frameworks. (3.1)
- Reflect upon, independently evaluate, and critically appraise current evidence-based literature to identify medical problems or unmet medical needs and creatively translate medical research results to improve the clinical care of patients. (4.1)
- Effectively communicate medical science knowledge and research information, and the importance thereof, to a range of audiences using a variety of modes, independently and collaboratively. (5.1)
- Acquire or Develop knowledge of Indigenous Australian contexts to inform professional cultural capability to work effectively with and for, Indigenous Australians within the medical science context. (6.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject is intended to develop the following attributes:
1 - Disciplinary knowledge
1.1 This subject will build upon the concepts and content learned during the core curriculum, including normal anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, immunology, haematology, pharmacology, and precision medicine. An understanding of these concepts as they apply to specific disease states and treatment regimes will contribute to all assessments (module quizzes, discussion forum, and health recommendation).
2 - Research, inquiry and critical thinking
2.1 You will develop the ability to ask clinical questions, acquire the best evidence, critically appraise randomised controlled trials, and communicate this synthesised information to both expert and non-expert audiences. This will be assessed by the module quizzes, discussion forum and health recommendation.
2.2 You will learn and practise skills in the interpretation and integration of findings from multiple clinical research studies to communicate a coherent recommendation for solving problems for specific patient populations. This will be assessed in the discussion forum and health recommendation.
3 - Professional, ethical, and social responsibility
3.1 Excellence in research skills will be obtained by practising the evidence-based medicine process. This will form part of the assessment for the discussion forum and health recommendation.
3.2 Teamwork will be fostered by working in groups to analyse and critique clinical trials, and through the design of clinical trials. Group discussions will promote deeper analysis of the clinical research, interpretation of findings and relevance to specific patient populations. These discussions will also develop skills in giving and actioning constructive feedback to improve performance. These skills will be assessed in the discussion forum and health recommendation.
3.3 You will learn ethical and social responsibility by answering clinical questions by considering both the individual and society more broadly. You will explore ethical frameworks and considerations for the design and execution of clinical trials. This will be assessed by the module quizzes and the health recommendation.
4 – Reflection, Innovation, Creativity
4.1 In-depth analysis of clinical trials will facilitate critical thinking and advanced scientific reasoning to assess the key features of the research, including the knowledge gap addressed, strengths and weaknesses, key findings, and relevance to a clinical medicine. The module quizzes, discussion forum and health recommendation will assess these skills.
4.2 Reflection on the key characteristics of effective scientific communication using different mediums will be fostered through critical analysis of peer work and engaging with the feedback provide by peers and academic staff. This will be assessed during the discussion forum and health recommendation.
4.3 The design processes for the health recommendation will foster creativity in choosing a target audience and will develop critical thinking in assessing the needs of the chosen stakeholder and patient population. Innovation and creativity will be used to design a clinical trial to answer a clinical question and progress a body of clinical research.
5 – Communication
5.1 Excellence in written scientific communication will be developed through the discussion forum. Skills include being able to clearly define a scientific gap in knowledge, concisely summarise key scientific findings and translate scientific concepts into audience-specific language.
5.2 Advanced oral skills will be assessed through a video presentation of a health recommendation. This will require the communication of medical science information, including a proposed clinical trial, to non-expert audiences.
6 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge and Connection with Country.
6.1 This subject will consider why specific health policies to address disparities are required in the national context of Australian health. It also challenges you to thoughtfully consider what best practice means across cultural contexts and to communicate and engage positively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. These skills will be assessed through the health recommendation task.
Teaching and learning strategies
The learning outcomes will be achieved through completion of online modules and participation in face-to-face workshops.
Online modules: The online resources will provide the necessary knowledge foundation to allow fruitful and interactive discussions, both online and during face-to-face workshops. As such, completing the online learning material is crucial to developing a full understanding of the subject content and to maximising learning during virtual and face-to-face activities. Specifically, the first four online modules, which are designed to introduce you to evidence-based medicine and clinical trials are each assessed by an online quiz, so it is essential that you finish each module and complete the associated quiz within specified time frames. The material in the online modules will form the basis of all discussions and face-to-face workshops, and will underpin all assessment tasks.
Face-to-face workshops: These workshops will be delivered by internal and external experts and will be highly interactive. Your participation will be integral to your success in each of the assessment tasks. If you cannot attend a scheduled workshop, please contact your subject coordinator as soon as possible to discuss your situation. Your learning and achievement in this subject will be maximised by your active participation at the face-to-face workshops because they will involve interactive discussions crucial to learning the key skills and providing the necessary support to complete your assessment tasks.Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to attend all workshops.
Content (topics)
The overall aims of this subject are to develop the necessary skills to:
(i) practice evidence-based medicine,
(ii) provide and action constructive feedback, and
(iii) effectively communicate medical research to expert and non-expert audiences.
Initially, you will be introduced to the process of evidence-based medicine. This includes identifying gaps in clinical practices, asking clinical questions, acquiring the best evidence, appraising this evidence, and applying this evidence to health practice and future research in the context of specific patient populations.
You will be introduced to clinical trials with a particular focus on randomised controlled trials. You will learn about trial design, execution, and interpretation. You will also gain an appreciation of the importance of ethic frameworks and considerations in the design and completion of clinical trials.
You will then put these skills into practice to analyse, interpret, and discuss clinical trials in terms of validity and statistical and clinical significance. Individual, organisational, and cultural issues surrounding the implementation of evidence-based practice into clinical practice and health policies and guidelines will also be identified and discussed. You will have the opportunity to design a clinical trial based on your execution of the evidence-based medicine process.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Module Quizzes
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge 2. Research, inquiry and critical thinking 3. Professional, ethical and social responsibility 5. Communication 6. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledge and Connection with Country |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 5.1 and 6.1 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Variable |
| Criteria: | Marks will be assigned based on the selection of the correct alternative answer for each multiple choice question. There is one online quiz for each of modules 1 - 4 to assess disciplinary knowledge and critical thinking and reasoning for the design and interpretation of clinical trials, and understanding of the professional and ethical contexts of clinical trials. You are able to consult the online learning materials to answer the questions, but there is a time limit and each module quiz can only be attempted once. |
Assessment task 2: Discussion Forum
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1 |
| Type: | Reflection |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Three posts of variable length. Primary post: 300 words Comment post: 200 words Response post: 100 words |
| Criteria: | The marking rubric used for this task will be available on Canvas. You will be assessed on your ability to:
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Assessment task 3: Health Recommendation
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Group, group and individually assessed |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Variable. |
| Criteria: | You will be awarded 10% for the completion of two critical appraisal templates for the two randomised controlled trial studies that you were assigned as part of your team project for this assessment task. This component is not graded in that you will receive 10% if both templates have been 'fully' completed. This is an individually completed component of this task. The group component (presentation of health recommendation) is weighted at 20% and includes the submission of a video and the EBM template. The marking rubric used for this assignment will be available on Canvas. Marks will be assigned based on:
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