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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend is Wrong by Yale University

4.9
stars
1,871 ratings

About the Course

How can you tell if the bold headlines seen on social media are truly touting the next big thing or if the article isn't worth the paper it's printed on? Understanding Medical Studies, will provide you with the tools and skills you need to critically interpret medical studies, and determine for yourself the difference between good and bad science. The course covers study-design, research methods, and statistical interpretation. It also delves into the dark side of medical research by covering fraud, biases, and common misinterpretations of data. Each lesson will highlight case-studies from real-world journal articles. By the end of this course, you'll have the tools you need to determine the trustworthiness of the scientific information you're reading and, of course, whether or not your Facebook friend is wrong. This course was made possible in part by the George M. O'Brien Kidney Center at Yale....

Top reviews

JM

Aug 1, 2020

Excellent course for physical therapists wanting to learn how to critically review the research literature. For those of us who completed physical therapy school > 15 years ago, this course is a must!

LT

Apr 29, 2020

I enjoy studying this course , the material and video example are well made ,and easy to understand too . Overall this course is great and really helpful it also help me improve on my judgement skill.

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76 - 100 of 637 Reviews for Understanding Medical Research: Your Facebook Friend is Wrong

By Jerry G

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Oct 22, 2021

This was a well organized and very well presented course. The presenter and production was first rate. I will recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in reading studies, good and bad. In an age of uncertainty, this gives me a shot at obtaining some clarity from good and bad researchers. Thank you to everyone involved in this project. I

I really wish I had access to this thirty years ago.

By Steve Q

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Dec 14, 2020

This course taught me how important it was to get out of my comfort zone. I can just imagine how this might be an upper level under graduate course or even a gradute course. I'll keep reviewing these lessons and perhaps engage in the group chats, though I do not have a science background and some of that dialogues seems out of reach. That said, I'm following Dr. Wilson on Twitter where more lessons exists.

By Carolina S C

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Aug 27, 2021

It is the perfect course to start in the reading and critical analysis of scientific publications. The information is complete and perfectly organized. It can be followed perfectly even if you have no previous knowledge. The teacher is fun and the lessons are very enjoyable. The complementary information and the tests are very adequate and help to fix the terms learned in each lesson. 100% recommended.

By Anthony B

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Jun 22, 2020

Extremely well presented Module, that will help you to better interpret statistics, and concepts used in Medical Research. I real team effort, has been put into researching, and developing this Module by both the presenter, and his unsung hero colleagues. Well done! I am applying these concepts in my own work as an NHS Medway Trust Data Analyst/Programme Manager, and Teacher of Mathematics, etc.

By FRANCESCO A F

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May 17, 2020

Amazing course!! Prof. Perry Wilson, got me interested since the very first lecture, and led me to the end of the course in no time! I recommend taking the course, especially if you are a Med-School student, because it will make your life that easier! I would also like to point out for any non-english student that nothing in the course is too complicated to understand, so it's a win-win!

By Connie D

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Jan 11, 2021

Very helpful refresher, fun class, even the dad jokes. Would have even liked it to go one a bit longer, or perhaps a few more snap shots of actual clinical trials and application in the lectures, to learn better referencing of them when reading them. Perhaps compared with the easy to fun story examples you gave to better understand how the lecture examples pair with a real trial.

By Sean C

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Nov 18, 2020

This was a great course. The instruction (and his energy and enthusiasm) were fantastic, and the material was covered well for the target audience. This course has helped me, as a layman, better understand the mass of medical studies out there.

My only suggestion would be to take a close look at the wording of some of the quiz questions. The answers often felt ambiguous to me.

By Suraya S

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Jul 4, 2023

Thank you so much for this course. Clinical research interpretation and statistics have always been a scary subject for me, but you made it easy to follow. I wish there were more courses like this. What i love the most was how each concept was explained simply and further illustrated with the use of real research context. It was easy to follow and was not daunting at all.

By Tino

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Jun 3, 2020

First of all I would like to thank Dr. Perry Wilson who has done an awesome job presenting that topic with such a great structure and passion. Secondly, I would like to thank Coursera for having free access to this module. Overall, I have learned quite a lot of things and gained a much better understanding in detail as well as in total of medical research. All the best!

By Sepideh A B

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Apr 2, 2022

Exccelent Course ! I enjoyed and learned new issues which could be applied in disgning my next studies and in writing my new mauscripts. I deeply appreciate your efforts for conducting this innovative course.

I wish to have your certificate if it is possible.As you know from the samcation rules I can not transfer money from Iran to US.

Best regards and heartfelt thanks

By Robert N

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Nov 23, 2022

A timely course that is needed by everyone who has ever said, "A recent study said..." or "There are many studies that prove..." The fact is that almost no one outside of the science fields will read an entire study yet they readily believe the headlines about them. The country needs this course more than ever. It's one of the best courses I've taken on Coursera.

By Seleem B

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Oct 29, 2020

I loved this course! The professor was engaging and easy to follow, the graphics were entertaining and the overall structure strongly enhanced my learning experience. I especially liked the quiz-like questions throughout the lectures as well as the goals and take-home points, facilitating understanding and ensuring that I understood the lecture and main points.

By Elaine G

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Apr 16, 2021

Professor Wilson was exceptional in describing and defining the vast amount of information in quite an entertaining and interesting way! This course has stimulated my curiosity about Medical Research. I will see things quite differently and more intelligently than before I took this wonderful course! I hope to take another course with Professor Wilson.

By Gerry B

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Oct 21, 2020

This was an interesting and challenging course that provided a detailed way to evaluate a medical research paper and to intelligently critique a study, whether observational or experimental. I'm grateful for the instructor's expertise; I'll never be able to read a study I encounter in the same way again and I certainly won't take anything for granted.

By Luis C B L

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Feb 28, 2021

An excellent course, in a very pleasant and professional way, it teaches that "not all that glitters is gold", you have to know how to read and interpret medical literature. It explains the whole process, from the question to the interpretation of the results, but especially what to look for in the studies for the results to be valid.Thanks a lot.

By Claudia

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Oct 30, 2020

Fun way to highlight the important takeaways when reading preprints and peer reviewed studies. Makes statistics easy to digest. Reminds participants about conflicts of interest and retractions. Puts headlines in perspective. Wish this class had been available decades ago in nursing school. Statistics was required then but never put in context.

By Janna O

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Oct 2, 2020

This was one of the best lectures I ever experienced during my whole life as a student in university. I've learned more about statistics and studies then I have learned in my entire time at my "normal" university. I also improved my English reading skills. Now I'm going to write my master thesis without any doubts about studies and research!

By Antonio S

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Oct 29, 2023

Prof. Wilson is so charismatic and fun to watch. The course is diversified in scope and represents a terrific opportunity for learning, as there's plenty to read, not just from what is exemplified during modules or required for quizzes, but also from the Lesson Guide, which will surely be of great help whenever I need to review something.

By Yuka K

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Sep 9, 2020

The course is above my expectation and far different from the other statistics courses I have taken or books I have read. The lecturer taught me the importance of examining every research article critically, even published in renowned journals. There are lots of helpful contents, which I am going to review again for further understanding.

By Joel M N

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Feb 6, 2024

Great course! From the breath of material to the depth of instruction, this course is designed to not only refresh your understanding (for those with a science background - though not required) but expand your ability to apply it. With relevant and timely examples, the instruction is a good balance of critical analysis and entertainment.

By Penny L C

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Sep 29, 2020

This is a long course, and it requires lots of attention but it is packed full of goodies. You do get another crack at the questions so that actually helps to cement the information in your head.

As people will sell you lots of things. make sure you do this course so you can understand what it is meant by "Backed by scientific studies."

By Yolany L B

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Jun 8, 2020

This professor makes fun jokes that keeps me entertained, while providing valuable information in regards to research. This course is not only understanding medical research, but in other areas that I can incorporate what I learned in this class to other fields such as psychology and political science. Thanks for this course professor.

By Sabrina I

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Aug 11, 2020

This course was wonderful; I feel more prepared to read medical manuscripts and research journals. I also brushed up on my statistical skills, which was a good review. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to expand their research knowledge while enjoying Dr. Perry's sense of humor. Thank you for the great course, Dr. Perry!

By DrMohamed M A

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Sep 4, 2020

This was really a great course, I actually learned a lot about medical research. Now I can personally read and criticize published papers, I know where to read the peer reviewed articles and I can prove that my Facebook friend is wrong. And most importantly I can do my own studies. Many thanks to Dr F.Perry Wilson and the team.

By Maria T S

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Dec 12, 2020

This professor is very engaging, his "data gathering" on the Yale campus was entertaining. His energy and examples made the course enjoyable and helped me to understand the concepts being taught. I'm still not a statistical expert but I now know that in some cases I may need to more closely review medical research results.