Understanding How Screening and Diagnostic Tests Work

Diag1 illustrates that the only tests in medicine that are 100% accurate are the "birth test" and the "death test." All other screening and diagnostic tests have some degree of likelihood of giving false positive and false negative results. This module explains how to understand when tests results may not be what they seem. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Explain how pretest probability can affect test accuracy (Bayes theorem)
2. Use the test characteristics of sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values to correctly interpret test results
3. Explain why simply using a test because it is highly sensitive or specific may not always be beneficial

Diag 2 explores the role of diagnostic testing, arguing that just because a screening or diagnostic test is available doesn't mean it should be ordered for a patient. This module walks through the risks of indiscriminate use of tests, including the detrimental effect of false positive tests and the consequences of early diagnosis of disease and the concept of overdiagnosis. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Describe the reasons why inappropriate screening or diagnostic testing can be harmful
2. Explain the concept of a "critical point" in disease detection and how identification that is too early or too late can be harmful
3. List the harms associated with early diagnosis, false positive test results, and overdiagnosis

Evaluating, Understanding, and Applying Results of Research Studies and Applying the Study Results to Individual Patients

The first module explains how to evaluate research of a therapy for its relevance to you and its validity, interpret the results, and make treatment decisions. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Explain the “usefulness equation”
2. List the three questions needed to determine the relevance of a research article
3. Describe threats to the validity of study evaluating a new treatment or therapy

The second module presents, without formulas (well, there's one, but it's simple), how to interpret the results of medical research to understand how it can be applied to individual patients. Objectives:

1. Explain how statistics are a representation of the truth but not the truth itself
2. Interpret the p-value and confidence intervals of a study result
3. Calculate the number needed to treat and explain its interpretation
4. Explain the risk of the relative risk

Identifying Misinformation and Evaluating Information from Pharmaceutical Companies

How should we make decisions regarding adopting a new treatment and discontinuing another? Since many treatments involve the use of pharmaceutical products or medical devices, we'll start by looking at methods used by these industries to influence our decision-making. We'll start off by looking at the profound effect advertising has on us and how our emotions can be manipulated to override our rational minds. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Explain who advertising works and how it influences clinicians
2. Describe fallacies of logic used to change clinician prescribing habits
3. Describe other tools of advertising used to influence clinicians

Evaluating Review Articles and Understanding and Interpreting Meta-Analyses

Reviews can be a great way to learn about a topic or to answer clinical questions. This module outlines how to identify distinguish systematic from summary reviews, the science behind review article writing, how the systematic review process works, and how to interpret results presented in a forest plot. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Identify and explain the difference between a narrative (summary) review and a systematic (synthesis) review
2. Evaluate a review article for both relevance and validity
3. Interpret a forest plot and apply the results to patient care

Evaluating Clinical Practice Guidelines

Clinical practice are ubiquitous in medicine. However, they are not all created equal. This module explains the guideline development process and how to identify guidelines that are trustworthy. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. List sources of clinical practice guidelines
2. Explain how conflicts of interest can affect guideline recommendations
3. Use a worksheet to evaluate the trustworthiness, relevance, and utility of clinical practice guidelines

Understanding Your Information Needs and Finding Answers to Questions at the Point of Care

How do we find useful information when we need it? How do we sort useful information from information that is not ready for clinical application or is even disinformation? This module explains how to figure out your question and how best to answer it. By completing this modules, learners will be able to: 

1. Identify information needs and create questions that can be answered
2. Identify and use information sources to support clinical decisions
3. Use decisions support tools to make care decisions
4. Describe the "Information Mastery Traffic Light" and use it to categorize current evidence in clinical practice