Skip to main content

About Study Course

Credit points / ECTS:2.67 / 4
Course supervisor:Elita Poplavska
Study type:Full time
Course level:Master's
Target audience:Pharmacy
Language:Latvian
Branch of science:Basic Sciences of Medicine, including Pharmacy; Social Pharmacy

Objective

1. To introduce the scientific, statistical and ethical principles of medical research.
2. To learn the basic principles of clinical trial design.
3. To learn the basic principles of statistical calculations in clinical trials.
4. To develop skills in interpreting and critically evaluating the results of clinical trial publications.

Prerequisites

Informatics, mathematics

Learning outcomes

Knowledge

On completion of this course, students will:
1. describe the types and designs of different medical research studies
2. know the levels of evidence and the differences between them
3. know the basic principles of experimental research design
4. define the requirements for assessing the efficacy and safety of medicines
5. be familiar with the criteria for analysing clinical trial publications
6. know the basic principles of descriptive and inferential statistics in clinical trials
7. identify ethical principles in clinical trials and their importance
8. know the basic principles of systematic review methodology.

Skills

On completion of this course, students will:
1. be able to define key words and search for clinical trial and systematic review protocols and publications
3. be able to distinguish between levels of evidence
4. be able to assess the methodological quality of clinical trials
5. be able to evaluate statistical results of clinical trials
6. be able to assess the clinical/practical relevance of the results of clinical trials
7. be able to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews
8. be able to assess the results of systematic reviews.

Competence

On completion of this course, students will:
1. be able to critically evaluate the methodological quality of clinical research; interpret its impact on the reliability of results
2. be able to interpret the statistical results of clinical trials; their applicability to practice in the context of the methodological quality and other similar trials; justify their opinions.

Study course planning

Planning period:Year 2024, Autumn semester
Study programmeStudy semesterProgram levelStudy course categoryLecturersSchedule
Pharmacy, FF3Master’sRequiredIeva Saliete, Elita Poplavska, Marija Iļjašenko
Planning period:Year 2025, Spring semester
Study programmeStudy semesterProgram levelStudy course categoryLecturersSchedule
Pharmacy, FF4Master’sRequiredMarija Iļjašenko, Elita Poplavska, Ieva Saliete