PGCert Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care Update

The current pandemic has highlighted many things, none less the importance of health science and research that is efficiently produced, evaluated and acted upon. Hand-in-hand with this comes the ability to ask, find, appraise, and apply evidence to support effective decisions. These abilities are essential skills – skills that need to be taught. And where there is a need to be taught, there is a need for people to teach.

It’s been just over 18 months since the launch of our new programme in teaching evidence-based health care (EBHC). The programme aims to foster and develop future leaders in teaching the skills and application of evidence-based health care. Much has happened, not least pandemic-driven changes to the way in which we all are working. The impact on teaching and education (at all levels) has been profound, bringing forward 5-year strategies in a matter of months. Transforming from face-to-face and blended learning to a fully online delivery is no easy feat. A steep learning curve to say the least. I’m lucky to work with a fantastic group of folk dedicated to the teaching of others. I can only thank them for the ridiculously amazing effort they have put in not only to be ready to deliver a completely new learning experience but doing so to the same incredible standard that our students have become accustomed to. And not forgetting the team behind the team – administrators and support staff working overtime to make all this happen.

Our first cohort of learners on the Teaching EBHC programme have just started their final module. We are making the most of the online platform and virtual learning environment to take a deep dive in to the theory and practice of course design, assessment and evaluation – exploring the roles and relationships between integrated learning, interprofessional education, hidden curriculum, ‘fusion’ science, simulation, and their influence and integration to the teaching of EBHC.

We are excitedly planning for the next academic year and I’m delighted to see the next group of learners joining the course. I thought now might be a nice moment to reflect on some of the developments we have been involved with as well as highlight the experiences of current and past students and faculty on the teaching EBHC programme. Enjoy.

PGCert in TEBHC: thoughts from a current student
Veerle Langenhorst: Paediatrician, Isala Hospital, Zwolle, The Netherlands, discusses her experience as a student on the Teaching EBHC course.

MSc EBHC: the Teaching EBM course was a life-changing experience
Enderson Miranda, CEO of OnSomble, discusses his journey on the DPhil in Evidence-Based Healthcare and teaching EBM.

Learning in the time of Coronavirus
Red Thaddeus D. Miguel is undertaking the Meta-analysis module as part of the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care and shares his experience of our module, studied online.

How to deliver teaching that gets to the P in Evidence Based Practice
Dr Edmund Jack is a GP in Devon, UK and Clinical Champion for Making Sense of Evidence, PenCLAHRC. Here, he discusses his own experience of teaching on the Teaching Evidence Based Practice course.

Challenging our teaching in evidence-based medicine. A risk worth taking
David Nunan, Director of Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care, discusses risk taking as an educator in EBHC.

Oxford’s Teaching EBM course: a landmark in my EBM education
Luis Eduardo Fontes, Teacher of EBM discusses his experience of the teaching evidence-based practice module (part of the PGCert in Teaching EBHC) and the valuable skills he has learned.

What next for education in evidence-based healthcare? A call for submissions
A call for submissions for a special edition of the BMJ EBM journal on education in evidence-based medicine led by members of the teaching EBHC faculty in Oxford.

David Nunan is a Senior Researcher and Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care. He is based at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.

Applications for the Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching EBHC are still open: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate
For more information about the programme or individual modules please contact:
Tel: +44 (0)1865 270453 – Email: cpdhealth@conted.ox.ac.uk