Evaluation of online biostatistics education for doctors during the pandemic period

Evaluation of online biostatistics education for doctors

Abstract

Background: This research evaluates the results of a distance biostatistics training for physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and Methods: Online basic-level biostatistics training consisting of six courses was conducted between 21 October-30 December 2020. At the beginning and after the training, the structured Biostatistics Basic Knowledge Questionnaire consisting of 20 questions developed by the researchers was applied to the physicians who took the training.

Results: A total of 198 medical doctors participated. At the end of the training, 21 of those who participated in the research at the beginning attended more than half of the courses, 45 of them attended less than half of the courses, and 132 physicians did not attend any of the courses. 80.8% of the participants stated that they took the training to make their statistics in their scientific research. After the training, regardless of their professional title and department, the score change was not significant for those who did not attend the classes at all, (p=0.306), while it was found that the score increased significantly for those who attended less than half and those who attended more than half of them (p<0.001 for both).

Conclusion: The high achievement of even those who attended only some of the courses after the training shows that such distance education models should be developed and widely extended.