Skip to content
Biostatistics For Credit

Biostatistics for Credit

Biostatistics for Credit reviews the procedures covered in the introductory courses Biostatistics 1 and Biostatistics 2, and covers in more detail the principal statistical concepts used in medical and health sciences.

Overview

This is an eight-week, non-mathematical course designed specifically for medical and health professionals who deal with medical data and want to acquire some statistical skills. It is a two-part course that may be taken together for college credit.

Part 1 covers basic statistical concepts of probability, confidence intervals and medical vs. statistical significance.

Part 2 covers clinical trial designs including randomized controlled trials, ROC curves, relative risk and odds ratios, and an introduction to survival analysis.

  • Intermediate
  • 8 Weeks
  • Expert Instructor
  • Tuiton-Back Guarantee
  • 100% Online
  • TA Support

Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this two-part, eight-week course will be able to explain the role of probability in health and medicine; calculate confidence intervals; describe the differences between statistical and medical significance; select the proper statistical tests for quantitative data; be familiar with designs for clinical trials; plot ROC curves; calculate relative risk (RR) and odds ratio (OR); and understand introductory survival analysis.

  • Apply Bayes Rule to diagnostic tests
  • Calculate the sensitivity, specificity, and positive/negative predictive value of a medical test
  • Calculate large-sample and exact confidence intervals for means, medians and proportions
  • Calculate and explain p-values
  • Explain the concept of statistical power
  • Perform the chi-square test
  • Apply Student’s t-test to one- and two-sample situations
  • Conduct an ANOVA test
  • Apply the Tukey and Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons
  • Test for bioequivalence
  • Specify the design for a basic clinical trial, with randomization, blinding, masking and a control group
  • Explain designs for repeated measures and cross-over trials
  • Determine and interpret ROC curves
  • Calculate relative risk and odds ratios and their confidence intervals
  • Conduct inference procedures for relative risk and odds ratios
  • Explain and apply basic survival analysis models (censoring, Kaplan-Meier)

Who Should Take This Course

This non-mathematical course is specially designed for medical and health professionals who deal with medical data and want to acquire some statistical skills. These include nursing, pharmacy, laboratory technology and nutrition professionals beside physicians, surgeons and dentists.

Our Instructors

Course Syllabus

Week 1

Probability in Health and Medicine

  • Medical uncertainties and probability
  • Elementary laws of probability
  • Bayes’ Rule
  • Sensitivity-specificity of a medical test
  • Positive and negative predictive value
  • Effect of prevalence

Week 2

Confidence Intervals

  • Sampling distributions and SEs
  • Large sample CI for one-sample mean and proportion
  • Exact CI for proportion and median
  • Large sample CI for differences between means and proportions
  • Sample size for estimation

Week 3

Statistical vs. Medical Significance

  • P-value and level of significance
  • The concept of statistical power
  • Medical vs. statistical significance
  • Sample size for significance and power analysis
  • Chi-square test for simple situations

Week 4

Some Statistical Tests for Quantitative Data

  • Student’s t-test for one-sample and two-sample situations
  • ANOVA for one-way and two-way tables
  • Tukey test and Bonferroni procedures for multiple comparisons
  • Test for medically significant gain and equivalence test

Week 5

Introduction to Designs for Clinical Trials

  • Control group
  • Randomization and matching
  • Blinding and masking
  • One-way, two-way and repeated measures designs
  • Cross-over design

Week 6

ROC Curves

  • Review of sensitivity-specificity
  • Serial and parallel tests
  • ROC curve
  • Predictivity-based ROC curve
  • Clinical gains from a test

Week 7

Relative Risk (RR) and Odds Ratio (OR)

  • Definitions and applicability of RR and OR
  • CI and test of hypothesis for RR
  • CI and test of hypothesis for attributable risk
  • CI and test of hypothesis for OR

Week 8

Introductory Survival Analysis

  • Censored durations and need of special methods
  • Life table method
  • Kaplan-Meier method

Class Dates

2024

01/05/2024 to 02/03/2024
Instructors: Dr. Abhaya Indrayan
07/19/2024 to 08/16/2024
Instructors: Dr. Abhaya Indrayan

2025

01/03/2025 to 01/31/2025
Instructors: Dr. Abhaya Indrayan
07/18/2025 to 08/15/2025
Instructors: Dr. Abhaya Indrayan

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Karolis Urbonas
Susan Kamp
Stephen McAllister
Amir Aminimanizani
Elena Rose
Leonardo Nagata
Richard Jackson

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is your satisfaction guarantee and how does it work?

  • Can I transfer or withdraw from a course?

  • Who are the instructors at Statistics.com?

Visit our knowledge base and learn more.

Register For This Course

Biostatistics For Credit

Additional Information

Organization of Course

This course is comprised of two separate courses, taken together for college credit. Note: Parts 1 and 2 can be taken separately.

  • Part 1: Biostatistics 1 (4 weeks)
  • Part 2: Biostatistics 2 (4 weeks)

Time Requirements

About 15 hours per week, at times of your choosing.

Course Text

The course text is Medical Biostatistics, fourth ed., by Abhaya Indrayan, and can be ordered directly from the publisher, CRC Press.

Software

Course participants should have access to a standard statistical software package for use in course exercises, including obtaining CI’s, performing tests of significance including two-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons tests, and producing ROC curves. Stata, SAS, MedCalc and R have these capabilities and are supported by statistics.com teaching assistants. SPSS and Systat also have these capabilities.

Options for Credit and Recognition

ACE CREDIT | College Credit
This course has been evaluated by the American Council on Education (ACE) and is recommended for the upper-division baccalaureate degree, 3 semester hours in biostatistics. Please note that the decision to accept specific credit recommendations is up to the academic institution accepting the credit.

Supplemental Information

Literacy, Accessibility, and Dyslexia

At Statistics.com, we aim to provide a learning environment suitable for everyone. To help you get the most out of your learning experience, we have researched and tested several assistance tools. For students with dyslexia, colorblindness, or reading difficulties, we recommend the following web browser add-ons and extensions:

 

Chrome

 

Firefox

 

Safari

  • Navidys (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)
  • HelperBird for Safari (for colorblindness, dyslexia, and reading difficulties)

Miscellaneous

There is no additional information for this course.

Register For This Course

Biostatistics For Credit