Course unit details:
Evidence Based Practice
| Unit code | PHAR63002 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This unit will provide students with a baseline skillset to analyse and utilise healthcare literature. Students will use systematic frameworks (eg, the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklists) to analyse, appraise, and evaluate various types of original studies in the clinical and health services areas during this unit. Besides, students will take the person-centred approach and critical reasoning to apply the literature evidence to clinical practice case scenarios, thus enhancing their problem-solving skills. Furthermore, this unit promotes broader policy decision-making skills to inform prescribing analysis, formulary decisions and medicines access, such as introducing new drugs within the local practice.
This unit consists of nine lectures on core methodology and three special topics over the twelve weeks. The core lectures include concepts of evidence-based medicine and an overview of different types of clinical research, ie, randomised controlled trials, systematic review and meta-analysis, epidemiological (case-control, cohort, cross-sectional) and health economics studies. The lectures on special topics cover the application of evidence to pharmacovigilance for evaluating medication safety, drug utilisation research for influencing policy and the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of clinical guideline-making. Each lecture includes video clips, quizzes and recommended reading to facilitate students’ learning.
There are also five webinars, including three journal clubs, to guide students through critiquing different types of articles. Moreover, two webinars will be arranged as the interim review (synopsis and critical appraisal report writing) and final assessment review (examination briefing) to help students prepare for the assessment. Besides, the weekly discussion forum (a selected question) and discussion board (for questions and answers) will be open until the examination period starts.
By the end of this unit, students should be able to:
- Understand the critical principles of epidemiology and health economic study designs, key outcome measures, analytical principles, result presentations and interpretation.
- Critically appraise literature to identify critiquing points or conflicts relating to the quality of study design and results.
- Validate calculation for various measures of risk (eg, OR, RR, NNT, AR) for clinical effectiveness and economic outcomes (eg, QALY and ICER) for the cost-effectiveness of interventions and interpret the implications of these outcomes to clinical or policy decision-making.
- Apply evidence to patient care, such as selecting medicines based on evidence and how formulary decisions are made.
- Analyse and present the critical evaluation in a synopsis to inform clinical decision-making.
The unit will be assessed through an online written examination (multiple choice questions) and a critical evaluation report. Sample examination papers and past sample reports are provided to help students prepare for the assessments.
Pre/co-requisites
| Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicines Optimisation & Therapeutics 1 | PHAR60411 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Foundations of Clinical Pharmacy | PHAR63001 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
| Medicines Optimisation and Therapeutics 2 | PHAR63012 | Co-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
The unit aims to:
- Enable students to evaluate the healthcare literature and understand the types of studies used to assess prescribing, medication utilisation, clinical outcomes and adverse drug events.
- Support students in analysing evidence and using evidence-based information to effectively manage medicines in prescribing, formulary decisions and patient access to new medicines.
Teaching and learning methods
This course unit is delivered online using Blackboard. All learning material is presented in week-by-week folders to help students manage their time. Each week will contain four main elements:
- reflective background tasks
- learning in the form of an e-lecture, embedded video or webinar
- further reading
- a task to consolidate learning, eg, completion of coursework, formative quiz or participation in a group discussion).
Throughout this course unit, short answer questions are embedded in the e-lectures for students to test their understanding of the material.
The unit will demonstrate the importance of literature, outcomes research and analysis in medication decision-making on managing medicines and formularies. The online workshops included in the course allow students to broaden their knowledge and allow group discussion of more complex practice-related issues regarding medicines optimisation.
During the unit, the student will be taught critical evaluation of the literature and how to identify quality studies for the necessary evidence that will be helpful in the decision-making process in prescribing practice. Critical appraisal and evaluation principles will be applied to relevant peer-reviewed therapeutic literature, practice research, medicines management, health economics, and health policy. Observational studies and measures used in medication evaluation will be evaluated. The risk (incidence, prevalence, probability) of clinical outcomes will be discussed and then applied to the medicines management process.
The theory will be applied by discussing the literature and considering the decision-making process involved. This will teach learners how decisions are made in practice, such as selecting medicines for a patient, considering the viability of new drugs to market, introducing medicines to formularies, and how drugs are critiqued based on data.
Students will take a person-centred approach to apply critical reasoning, analysis and evaluation of primary and secondary data sources from clinical and health services areas, promoting problem-solving and broader policy decision-making skills.
Students will also prepare a summary report comparing two studies to demonstrate critical evaluation skills, critical thinking, and data synthesis to identify the risks of a medication. This will be translated to interpret risk to the patient and effectively manage medicines in practice.
Knowledge and understanding
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of clinical and health services research design and statistical and ethical issues.
- Demonstrate a conceptual and critical understanding of medicines management methods in use in healthcare and pharmaceutical care that inform formulary decisions and introduction of new medicines.
Intellectual skills
- Critically analyse and evaluate the relevant scientific literature in therapeutics, practice research, medicines management, health economics, health-related social sciences and health policy to inform decisions in practice such as prescribing, medicine selection and formulary management.
- Use critical reasoning to synthesise, analyse and evaluate primary and secondary sources of data from clinical and health services areas and apply these to individual patient problem-solving and wider policy decision-making prescribing, medicine selection and formulary management.
Practical skills
- Analyse quantitative data to determine their strength and validity.
- Interpret results from primary and secondary clinical and health services data.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Prioritise multiple tasks, effectively and efficiently manage own time and workload.
- Manage change effectively and respond to changing demands.
- Evaluate their own academic and personal progression
- Learn effectively to continue professional development and in a broader context throughout their career, including identifying competency against a professional competency framework.
Assessment methods
| Assessment task | Length | How and when feedback is provided | Weighting within the unit (if relevant) |
| Report of critical evaluation of two studies | 1500 words | Via Blackboard following the exam board. | 50% |
| MCQ examination | 90 minutes | Via Blackboard following the exam board. | 50% |
Feedback methods
Via Blackboard following the exam board.
Recommended reading
An up-to-date reading list for the unit is available on Blackboard.
Study hours
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 150 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| LI-CHIA CHEN | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Other scheduled teaching and learning activities:
The 28 hours of online activities include:
- 15 hours e-lectures
- 6 hours of participation in the online discussion forum
- 5 hours of participation in online journal clubs
- 2 hours online self-assessment tests
All other hours are self-directed, private study to work through the directed reading and application exercises, complete the coursework and revise for the exam.