Development of Curriculum for Elective Course “Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”

Abstract

Introduction.Systematic review permits to summarize the findings of various studies. Meta-analysis permits to combine findings from different independent studies and provide a precise estimate of the clinical effect or diagnostic power. Aim.To develop curriculum for the elective course on systematic review and meta-analysis at the Tbilisi State Medical University. Materials and Methods.The literature review was done. There were also used the materials received during the Summer School in Epidemiology and fellowship funded by DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) to Ulm University, Germany. The opinion of the experts regarding curriculum development was taken into account. Results.The course will be run at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics during 8 days with one day at the computer lab in the library. The course will be equal to 2 ECTS with 26 contact hours. Course admission requirement is some knowledge of English language. Students will be assessed according to the corresponding regulatory rules of Georgia and administrative-legislative acts of the Tbilisi State Medical University with 100-score system. The course will cover fundamentals of systematic review and meta-analysis. Conclusion. Basic knowledge of systematic review and meta-analysis is very important for practical physician, healthcare worker, scientist and academic staff. For successful implementation of the elective course its piloting is advisable.