Educational Epidemiology
Applying Population-Based Design and Analytic Approaches to Study Medical Education
- Patricia A. Carney, PhD;
- David W. Nierenberg, MD;
- Catherine F. Pipas, MD;
- W. Blair Brooks, MD;
- Therese A. Stukel, PhD;
- Adam M. Keller, MPH
- Author Affiliations: Departments of Community & Family Medicine (Drs Carney, Pipas, and Stukel), Medicine (Drs Nierenberg and Brooks), and Pharmacology & Toxicology (Dr Nierenberg), Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover and Lebanon, NH; Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (Dr Stukel); Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto (Dr Stukel); Office of the Vice President and Treasurer, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (Mr Keller).
Abstract
Conducting educational research in medical schools is challenging partly because interventional controlled research designs are difficult to apply. In addition, strict accreditation requirements and student/faculty concerns about educational inequality reduce the flexibility needed to plan and execute educational experiments. Consequently, there is a paucity of rigorous and generalizable educational research to provide an evidence-guided foundation to support educational effectiveness. "Educational epidemiology," ie, the application across the physician education continuum of observational designs (eg, cross-sectional, longitudinal, cohort, and case-control studies) and randomized experimental designs (eg, randomized controlled trials, randomized crossover designs), could revolutionize the conduct of research in medical education. Furthermore, the creation of a comprehensive national network of educational epidemiologists could enhance collaboration and the development of a strong educational research foundation.
- KEYWORDS:
- education, medical
- epidemiology
