metaSurv

The workshops available via this site are suitable for those interested in evidence-based medicine and applied statistics at all levels, from consumer activist to student to healthcare professional and researcher. The information for each workshop indicates the prior knowledge needed, and all workshop delivery is flexible, tailored to the needs of their specific participants.

The workshops are delivered by Josie Sandercock and organised by Darren Humphrey, in association with CASP Oxford and ThinkWell, a collaboration promoting consumer education and initiation of, conduct of, and participation in, high quality healthcare research.

We are also available for contract research and statistical advice, especially if approached early in the planning and funding cycle. Standard day rates are listed with the workshop prices.

Josie has nearly twenty year’s experience in medical research and evidence-based medicine. She has primarily worked with the Cancer Division of the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Trials Unit, London (previously the Cancer Trials Office, Cambridge) the West Midlands Health Technology Assessment Group at Birmingham University producing Technology Assessment Reports for NICE and now does research and training for a variety of nationally and internationally recognised units,on both contract and self-employed basis.

She is a tutor for the Oxford International Programme in Evidence-Based Healthcare, trainer for the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP), researcher, adviser and participant in ThinkWell, and online course writer and tutor for the Centre for Continuing Education and the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, all based at Oxford University.

She is a technical advisor to the United Kingdom Accreditation Service for the Department of Health’s Information Scheme, and has been since it entered the pilot stage. She runs workshops for the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, a number of universities, the Department of Health and NHS Choices, for post-graduates, medical professionals, researchers and consumer groups. She is involved in a project with Iain Chalmers to improve EBM education and practice in Gaza.

Her DPhil thesis looks at barriers to dissemination of statistical methods for healthcare research, with three examples of statistical methods used in EBM which may be under- or over-used, examining the reasons for this and investigating whether practice should be changed, and if so, how this can be achieved in a system which is already overstretched and short on statistical expertise. Her supervisors are: Amanda Burls, Director of the Oxford International Programme for Evidence-Based Healthcare, Oxford University; Mike Clarke, formerly of the Cochrane Collaboration and now Professor/Director of Medical Research Council’s Methodology Hub, Queen’s University, Belfast, and Max Parmar, Head of the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Trials Unit, London.

Her special interests include randomised controlled trials, survival analysis, meta-analysis, subgroup analysis, meta-regression, design and interpretation of experiments, consumer involvement, truly informed consent, the critical impact of research (and researcher) quality on research ethics, and teaching at all levels.

Darren keeps the chaos in check, designs and runs the website, takes care of all our IT needs, looks after the finances and is responsible for making sure everything happens.

Please contact us via this site or at metasurv@gmail.com