Clinical Epidemiology Course 2025

Clinical Epidemiology Course 2025 is organized by Sports Health Care Training Foundation / Stichting Opleidingen in de Sportgezondheidszorg (SOS) and will be held on Apr 08, 2025 at Sports Medicine Netherlands, Bilthoven, Utrecht, Netherlands.

What can you expect?
The aim of this course is to train you in the conscious and critical reading of scientific research, and in particular quantitative (epidemiological) research. Qualitative research, another branch of (scientific) sport, is not discussed in this course.

Why this course:
An important part of your career as a physician is  'scientific research'. After completing this course, you should be able to optimally use scientific literature in your own practice or policy. Such use of scientific literature starts with the awareness of the reason why the literature is read: "What do I want to know and what would I like to do with this knowledge?" After an apparently relevant scientific publication has been found, the next step is to verify to what extent the evidence in the article is of good quality . This with the aim of only including conclusions from relevant and valid scientific literature in clinical decision-making . The course itself can be completed with a scientific study or by writing a review article on a sports medicine topic.

Content and preparatory assignment:
The course consists of three parts:

• critically reading an intervention study (RCT);
• critically reading a diagnostic study (diagnostic test accuracy – DTA);
• critically reading a systematic review.

For each component, three relevant scientific publications will be sent one week before the start of the course, each accompanied by a questionnaire on the basis of which the methodological validity of the research can be assessed (Risk of Bias (RoB) assessment tool).

When reading critically, you may notice that you do not sufficiently master or understand all epidemiological (basic) concepts. No worries. There are no stupid questions and this course is mainly intended to refresh the concepts and learn to apply them.  It can therefore do no harm to take a look (again) at the epidemiological course material from your own basic medical training and/or one of the books.