Duration
15h Th, 15h Pr
Number of credits
| Bachelor in medicine | 2 crédits |
Lecturer
Nancy Durieux, Gilles Henrard, Anne-Laure Lenoir, Sandrina Vandenput
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The main challenge faced by all health professionals is to manage the overabundance of information, in order to keep their knowledge up to date and evolve in their everyday practice. But where can relevant information be found? What should they read? To a lesser extent, students are faced with the same challenge, as they are required to solve problems and write assignments that meet the standards of scientific publication.
The course's goal is to present the foundations of evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) structures medical analysis through three perspectives: the practician's clinical experience, the best data obtained from research, and the patients' expectations. The course focuses on the methods used to research, identify and evaluate the most reliable clinical studies (based on evidence), which may guide the diagnosis, the prognosis, or the choice of a treatment in a given context.
It is divided into several parts:
- the analysis of a situation and the formulation of a structured question that will serve as a starting point for a systematic exploration of the medical literature;
- the presentation of the principles of scientific communication, along with an inventory of the various sources of medical information and a comparison of features offered by major specialised search engines;
- the acquisition of critical reading habits.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
After receiving training on the methods of evidence-based medicine, students should be able to work more autonomously, apply critical thinking skills, master the use of various information resources, and understand and follow the rules of scientific communication. In concrete terms, they should be able to:
- converting a need for information into an answerable question;
- choose the types of documents and resources that will have to be consulted;
- communicate efficiently with specialised search engines and databases;
- adapt their research strategies to the goals pursued;
- select documents based on a critical appraisal in accord to their relevance and level of evidence.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Thorough knowledge of the scientific English features
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
As this course is intended to help students acquire know-how, it offers many practical activities that follow a predetermined sequence and call upon the cognitive and practical skills that students should master. Lecture classes provide all the explanations and demonstrations that are used to complete individual assignments, which are then reviewed and corrected with the entire class.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)
In-person classes are starting in the second quarter (February 2019). It is organized so as to encourage students' active participation. There is no automatic entitlement to exemption.
Recommended or required readings
Course notes (powerpoint slideshows used during the theoretical course) and other documents are available on eCampus. More practical information will be communicated during the first course session.
Assessment methods and criteria
More practical information will be communicated during the first course session.
Written exam assessing knowledge (theory) and know-how (on computer).
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
More practical information will be communicated during the first course session.
Contacts
Durieux Nancy (Bibliothèque des Sciences de la Vie - ULiège) : nancy.durieux@uliege.be
Henrard Gilles (Département de Médecine générale - ULiège): gilles.henrard@uliege.be
Vandenput Sandrina (Bibliothèque des Sciences de la Vie - ULiège) : s.vandenput@uliege.be