MSc in EBHC Systematic Reviews

This is a course for health professionals who want to gain an understanding of the importance of systematic reviews in health care as well as the practical skills to conduct them.

This is a joint programme between the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and the Department for Continuing Education. The Programme works in collaboration with the renowned Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford.

Students will be provided with training in the fundamental principles of evidence-based health care and research design as well as more specific training in the conduct of basic and more complex systematic reviews.

This course is designed for health care professionals and researchers seeking to consolidate their understanding and ability in contextualising, carrying out, and applying systematic reviews appropriately in health care settings. Core modules will introduce the students to the principles of evidence-based health care, as well as the core skills and methods needed for research design and conduct. Further modules will provide students with specific skills in conducting basic systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and more complex reviews, such as realist reviews, reviews of clinical study reports and diagnostic accuracy reviews. Teaching is tailored to those with a minimal prior knowledge of systematic reviews and delivered by an experienced team of tutors from the University of Oxford, who actively work to advance the practice of evidence-based health care through the conduct and dissemination of systematic reviews.

Course aims

The course aims to provide health-care professionals with a structured training in designing, conducting, and interpreting high-quality systematic reviews in health care. Students will develop sufficient skills to conduct systematic reviews independently.

• To introduce the basic concepts and skills of evidence-based health care, including how to formulate a clinical research question, search for evidence; critically appraise evidence for sources of bias, and apply evidence to health care settings.
• To describe in detail different types of research methods and identify the strengths and weaknesses of different study designs.
• To learn how to design a systematic review research protocol.
• To gain a more detailed understanding of the process involved in conducting a systematic review.
• To develop the skills to conduct, report, and update a systematic review.

To be eligible for the course you should: be a graduate or have successfully completed a professional training course; have professional work experience in the health service or a health-related field. As a minimum, applicants should hold or be predicted to achieve the equivalent of the following UK qualifications: a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours in any subject.