Evidence-Based Medicine in Clinical Pharmacy Practice (FutureLearn)

You will explore the basic applications of p-values, power and statistical tests that are typically found in medical literature. You will discover how to interpret number-needed-to-treat, number-needed-to-harm and noninferiority studies through medical literature examples.
You will also understand and review the pros and cons of clinical practice guidelines and decipher the appropriate application of these guidelines in practice.

What topics will you cover?

Week 1 - Learn the most common statistical tests used in medical literature.
Week 2 - Be able to define, calculate, interpret, and describe the appropriate use of number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH) in clinical trials.
Week 3 - List the potential outcomes for a noninferiority compared to a superiority study.
Week 4 - Describe the purpose of clinical practice guidelines with regards to how it should be used in clinical practice.
Week 5 - Explore the process of PICO structure in a clinical trial.
Week 6 - Learn the principles of Evidence-Based Medicine(EBM) in clinical settings.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Apply pharmacokinetic concepts in order to determine an individualized dosage regimen for a specific patient.
• Evaluating and adjusting dosing regimens in a patient care setting.
• Explore the pros and cons of clinical practice guidelines and the appropriate application of guidelines in clinical practice.
• Calculate clinical pharmacokinetics, including factors that affect the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and binding of drugs, into the process of monitoring.
• Assess clinical findings with number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH).

Who is the course for?
This course is for professionals or students looking to build their clinical pharmacokinetic knowledge. You might be an undergraduate pharmacy student, a postgraduate pharmacy student or a pharmacist in clinical practice.