John Hopkins University is running a free online course (via Coursera) on the design and interpretation of clinical trials. Randomised clinical trials are usually considered to provide the highest level of evidence for determining whether a treatment is effective.

The 6-week course (beginning 18th July) will explain the basic principles of randomised clinical trial design and reporting. Initially students will be introduced to the terminology used in clinical trials as well as the several common trial designs. The course will then go on to explain the mechanics of clinical trials, such as randomisation and blinding of treatment, before covering outcomes and the gold standard for analysis. The second half of the course will review the essential ethical considerations involved in conducting experiments on people. Finally, guidance will be provided on how to report the results of clinical trials, including details of the CONSORT statement.

Enrolment for the course will close on 23rd July.