A recent press release informed that under the recent collaboration between Harvard University and MIT called EdX, a new introductory course on clinical research has been introduced at the Harvard School of Public Health. The course is called Quantitative Methods in Clinical and Public Health Research. Dr Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson of Piramal Group , who was recently elected on the Harvard Board of Overseers was instrumental in bringing this course. The course will be offered online by Harvard School of Public Health to students in India and around the world beginning in October 2012.
The Quantitative Methods in Clinical and Public Health Research course is an online adaptation of material from the Harvard School of Public Health’s classes in epidemiology and biostatistics and will be taught by two well-known two well respected Harvard School of Public Health professors – Earl Francis Cook and Marcello Pagano. This course will be available to anyone in the world with an internet connection, without any rigorous admissions process. The methodology plans to move beyond the standard model of online education that relies on watching video content and will offer an interactive experience for students.
According to Dr Swati Piramal , an alumna of Harvard School of Public Health, a course like this is a great opportunity for physicians in India. “One of the big shortages we have in Indian science is the lack of research curriculum in our medical training ,” she says. “ India has over 900,000 doctors but few are trained to be physician scientists. This is a glaring gap in our country .”
“Providing medical doctors an introduction to the science of quantitative methods can be the first step toward interesting more of our physicians to become top professionals in clinical research and become investigators for clinical trials ,” says Piramal, who is also a member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard School of Public Health.
“I really hope as many physicians as possible in India sign up for this course to learn more about biostatistics and epidemiology, and that it will inspire them to want to learn more ,” says Dr Piramal. “ While clearly more than a single course is needed to create highly qualified clinical investigators, an online course like this can be an initial step toward raising the standards of medical research, which will help to reduce the burden of disease .”
EH News Bureau
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