The History and Philosophy of Evidence-Based Health Care

This module is run over an eight week cycle where the first week is spent working on introductory activities using a Virtual Learning Environment, the second week is spent in Oxford for the face to face teaching week (this takes place on the dates advertised), there are then four Post-Oxford activities (delivered through the VLE) which are designed to help you write your assignment. You then have a week of personal study and you will be required to submit your assignment electronically the following week (usually on a Tuesday at 14:00 UK Local Time).

• Howick J (2011). The Philosophy of Evidence-Based Medicine. Blackwell-Wiley. Chapters 1-3
• Chalmers I. James Lind Library: explaining and illustrating the evolution of fair tests of treatments. www.jameslindlibrary.org

The following is also recommended as part of this module.

• Wootton, D. (2006) Bad Medicine. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
• Fulford, KWM, Peile E., and Carrol, H. (2012) Essential Values-Based Medicine: linking science with people. Cambridge, CUP.

Details of funding opportunities, including grants, bursaries, loans, scholarships and benefit information are available on our financial assistance page.

Possible essay topics

1. Do evidence hierarchies have any useful purpose?
2. Why is ‘pathophysiologic rationale’ not ranked highly in EBHC hierarchies?
3. What is the role of clinical expertise in EBHC?
4. If randomised trials provide ‘best’ evidence, why don’t we need them to show that stopping massive bleeding saves lives?
5. Is it ethical to conduct systematic reviews of unethical studies?
6. What are the historical roots of various aspects of EBHC methods?
7. How do regulations facilitate the development of harms in healthcare?
8. Describe one key development in the evolution of evidence? 
9. How relevant is the year 1992 in the history of EBHC?

Academic Credit

Applicants may take this course for academic credit. The University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education offers Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) points for this course. Participants attending at least 80% of the taught course and successfully completing assessed assignments are eligible to earn credit equivalent to 20 CATS points which may be counted towards a postgraduate qualification.

Applicants can choose not to take the course for academic credit and will therefore not be eligible to undertake the academic assignment offered to students taking the course for credit. Applicants cannot receive CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) points or equivalence. Credit cannot be attributed retrospectively. CATS accreditation is required if you wish for the course to count towards a further qualification in the future.

A Certificate of Completion is issued at the end of the course.

Applicants registered to attend ‘not for credit’ who subsequently wish to register for academic credit and complete the assignment are required to submit additional information, which must be received one calendar month in advance of the course start date. Please contact us for more details.

Please contact cpdhealth@conted.ox.ac.uk if you have any questions.

The main prerequisite for the course is enthusiasm for the subject. The course is designed to introduce students to the history and philosophy of EBHC and no background or education in history or philosophy will be required. Students will also generally be expected to have an undergraduate degree.

This course can be taken with academic credit (assignment of up to 4,000 words) or without academic credit, please indicate on your form which option you are applying for.

Admissions Criteria:
To apply for the course you should:

• be a graduate or have successfully completed a professional training course
• demonstrate an interest in the history or philosophy of evidence-based healthcare, either through graduate study or professional work
• be able to combine intensive classroom learning with the application of the principles and practices of evidence-based health care within the work place
• have a good working knowledge of email, internet, word processing and Windows applications (for communications with course members, course team and administration)
• show evidence of the ability to commit time to study and an employer's commitment to make time available to study, complete course work and attend course and university events and modules.