A (RELATIVELY) JUNIOR
DOCTOR’S PERSPECTIVE ON
MEDICAL STATISTICS
Carl Ilyas
CT1 Anaesthetics Leeds
CONTENTS

Medical stats teaching: Undergraduate
 Postgraduate


A small survey

What YOU can do to get the message across
6 WEEKS LATER…
You are an F1 doctor providing medical ward cover
overnight.
 You are fast bleeped to MAU as a 45 year old man has
started profusely vomiting blood. He is an IVDU, has
hepatitis C , and a previous endoscopy showed varices.
 He is tachycardic, is hypotensive, and has a reduced
GCS.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
A)
Panic
B)
Find the nearest enclosed space, throw your
bleep away, and begin to emotionally and mentally
unravel
C) Commence immediate resus efforts, contact a
senior and the anaesthetist
D) All three of the above
UNDERGRAD EXPERIENCE
•
•
•
•
•
Hull York Medical School (HYMS)
Formal critical appraisal and stats teaching
throughout the course
Theme C examination
Further access to a stats consultancy service,
mainly for students doing research
Very variable focus throughout med schools in
the region
FOUNDATION YEARS
•
First 2 years
•
Foundation syllabus – 86 page document
•
No formal teaching on stats – PDP days
•
Opportunity for research and stats experience – ‘
CV stacking’
CORE TRAINING – THE NEXT STEP…
•
First steps into speciality training
•
Formal examinations – MRCP, MRCS, FRCA etc
•
MCQ based knowledge – mandatory
•
More opportunity/encouragement re. research,
especially in certain specialities.
REGISTRAR TRAINING
•
Further examination on stats
•
Greater involvement/emphasis on research
•
•
Access to courses, closer work with statistical
departments
Honing of career path….
Research interests
Teaching interests
Consultant doctor plus…
Management
…..or ‘just a jobbing’ doctor?
SO, WHAT DO DOCTORS THINK OF STATS
TEACHING?

A survey of 42 doctors experiences and opinions
of training in medical statistics.
IN YOUR OPINION, HOW COULD POSTGRADUATE
TEACHING IN MEDICAL STATISTICS BE IMPROVED?
“Any teaching welcome/more teaching” ad nauseum…
“Teaching, not necessarily by statistics experts”
“Optional formalised teaching – some enjoy, others hate”
“ Weekly journal clubs, with critical appraisal by trainees”
“ It doesn’t need to be great, as we don’t use stats very often”
“ Teaching of stats beyond basic level is probably best
reserved for those using them on a regular basis i.e research
clinicians”
“ Include stats in regional teaching days”
“ Journal club meetings and to explore stats techniques”
“ Needs to be more clinical orientated”
“ Regular talks from statisticians in departmental meetings with
relevant examples from journals”
“Make it more understandable, enjoyable and interesting”
“Include in matrix/ PDP days”
“ Sign up sessions”
S
URVEY OUTCOME
 Generally poor view of statistics teaching throughout
all levels


Many doctors having minimal, if any, formal teaching
on stats until later stages of training
Many not comfortable doing basic appraisal
So what’s to be done?
SUGGESTIONS FROM SURVEY



Not all doctors need to be able to perform stats
calculations, but all require appraisal skills
For greater statistical literacy, widespread changes
necessary from early stages of training
Greater incorporation of statistics into formal teaching
programmes, and in the CME matrix
WHAT CAN YOU DO?




Greater levels of work with doctors from an early stage
offering teaching on basic appraisal and statistical methods
Departmental/formal teaching utilising relevant clinical
scenarios and journal articles to help make information
more accessible
For those junior doctors interested in research, access to
courses to improve ability to understand and perform
statistical analysis
Using/developing online resources for convenient access
SUMMARY




Stats teaching often neglected, especially in early
stages of training
No formal foundation teaching, variable medical school
delivery, out of context content at core level
Generally perceived poor standard of
delivery/accessibility of stats teaching
Doctors keen to learn about stats if given opportunity
Thanks for your attention.
Questions/comments?