OBJECTIVE
To assess clinician attitudes toward biostatistics at an academic medical center.
PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of medical students, internal medicine resident
physicians, and internal medicine teaching faculty at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
in Rochester, MN, in April 2005.
RESULTS
Of 468 eligible participants, 301 (64.3%) responded to the survey. A total of 87.3%
of respondents (262/300) believed it would benefit their career to better understand
biostatistics, but only 17.6% (53/301) believed their training in biostatistics was
adequate for their needs. A total of 23.3% of respondents (70/ 300) agreed they could
identify when correct statistical methods had been applied in a study, 28.0% (84/300)
agreed they could design their own research projects with confidence, and 14.6% (44/301)
agreed they could conduct their own statistical analyses with confidence. Respondents
with the highest self-reported level of statistical education and research experience
were more likely to report these skills (all, P<.001). A total of 92.7% of respondents (279/301) believed biostatistics is an important
part of evidence-based medicine (EBM), and 88.0% (265/301) believed EBM is important
for clinical practice. However, biostatistics was not evaluated as being as important
as many other areas of study within medicine.
CONCLUSION
Clinicians across levels of training have low perceived knowledge of biostatistical
concepts despite a clear recognition of the importance of these issues. An integrated
approach to teaching biostatistics that merges biostatistics with clinically relevant
medical discussions, such as those that occur in many EBM curricula for epidemiological
principles, may promote learning of biostatistics.
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© 2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
