HAD5304H

HAD5301H – Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research
HAD5307H – Introduction to Applied Biostatistics (may be taken concurrently)

This course will provide an introduction to the principles and applications of decision sciences as they relate to clinical decision-making. The major themes will be a method of evaluating diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in order to optimize individualized patient care and inform policy decision, including those in which a fixed amount of resources are an important consideration. The basic building blocks of decision analysis (Bayes theorem, test and test-treatment thresholds, tree building, utility measurement, Markov processes and cost-effectiveness) will be reviewed and synthesised. Students will use decision analysis software to build and test their own decision analyses.

1. To learn the principles of decision analyis
2. To learn how to use decision analysis software
3. To perfom a decision analysis by developing a model, gathering the relevant data, and perfoming complete sensitivity analyses
4. To learn how to present a decision analysis orally and in writing