Applications for the 2nd edition of BLICS – Blended Learning Introduction to Clinical Studies are open from October 12 to November 24.
The BLICS is a b-learning course on clinical research under the responsibility of the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), sponsored by CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research.
Accredited with 6 ECTS by the University of Porto, BLICS is addressed to health professionals from different areas, namely interns and specialists, Medicine students, nurses, pharmacists, senior health technicians and professional from other relevant areas.
The objective is to provide the students with key skills in three main fields: 1) Research Methodology: from bibliography to study design; 2) Biostatistics: from theory to practice of data analysis: and 3) Writing a Scientific Article: from analyses to publication.
Module 1 – Research Methodology: from bibliography to study design – course contents include the research and management of bibliographic references; the definition and classification of study designs; observational, experimental and synthesis studies; sampling and bias, frequency measures, association and impact, assessment of the accuracy and reproducibility of screening and diagnostic tests.
Module II – Biostatistics: from theory to practice of data analysis – course contents include databases, descriptive statistics, normality evaluation, parametric and non-parametric tests, chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test, correlation and linear regression, survival analysis and logistic regression.
Module III – Writing a Scientific Article: from analyses to publication, integrates critical analysis and the process of writing an article, presenting the results, and publishing and communicating science.
Classes are scheduled for Fridays at the end of the day (17-20h) and Saturdays morning (9-13h). These will theoretical-practical classes and students will be able to attend on-line (live streaming) or onsite classes. Teaching materials and federated access to bibliography management and data analysis software will be provided.
The members of the BLICS team are Altamiro da Costa Pereira, full professor at FMUP and director of MEDCIDS and CINTESIS; João Fonseca, assistant professor with tenure at FMUP; Alfredo Mendes Castro, Ana Lídia Rouxinol Dias, Bernardo Sousa Pinto, Cristina Jácome, Hernâni Gonçalves, José Pedro Barbosa, Luís Nogueira da Silva, Manuel Magalhães, Mariana Couto and Matilde Soares.
Those interested can apply to the whole course or to just some modules. Enrolments must be completed online until next September 2. More information at http://blics.pt/.