Teaching statistics to non-specialists

Abstract

Teaching statistics to non-specialists is a challenge for which most statisticians are unprepared by their own training within an academic mathematics department. Most statistics courses for medical undergraduates still focus on research statistics, whereas it would be more appropriate to concentrate on statistics relevant to clinical decision-making about an individual patient. Teaching statistics to Master of Public Health students presents further challenges because of the wide variety of their backgrounds and the greater demands from mature postgraduates. Whatever the audience, however, the same principles apply: medical statistics should be taught as non-mathematically as possible, only introducing formulae when absolutely necessary and explaining their components; plenty of practical applications should be given; there should be ample opportunity for practice to gain hands-on experience using both calculators and computers (preferably with MINITAB); and tutorials should be streamed according to perceived mathematical ability, with remedial mathematics teaching available to those who need it.