Rev Epidemiol Sante
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Rev Epidemiol Sante · Jun 2013
[Statistical and epidemiological methods used in biomedical research: implications for initial medical education].
The main source of key medical information consists in original articles published in peer-reviewed biomedical journals. Reported studies use increasingly sophisticated statistical and epidemiological approaches that first require a solid understanding of core methods. However, such understanding is not widely shared among physicians. Our aim was to assess whether the basic statistical and epidemiological methods used in original articles published in general biomedical journals are taught during the first years of the medical curriculum in France. ⋯ More teaching of the core methods underlying the understanding of sophisticated methods and illustrations should be included in the early medical curriculum so that physicians can read the scientific literature critically for their medical education.