Journal des méthodes de diagnostic médical
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Effect of a Course of Biostatistics in an Integrated Curriculum

Sayed IA, Abdul SK

Aim: Lack of knowledge for biostatistics adversely affect the skills required for a competent physician. However, literature is deficient to show whether medical students learn it and course of biostatistics is effective. Hence, this study designed to assess the effect of a biostatistics course in an integrated PBL curriculum.
Materials and methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted for first year male (92) and female (88) medical students in public medical school in Eastern province. This 10-item scale has applied as pre and post-test at the beginning and end of the course. A student t-test applied to compare the mean difference in between male and female students for the mean scores.
Results: With this questionnaire, the maximum possible score was 10. The range of scores obtained by the study subjects was 7 and the median was 5. Appropriate use of biostatistics was independent of sex (P>0.05). T-test showed a significance difference in the mean score before and after teaching the course of biostatistics.
Conclusion: In new evidence based medicine practices epoch an introductory course of biostatistics is not sufficient and need more courses integrated in the curriculum for the better understanding and application of the biostatistics knowledge.