Monday June 24 at 12:00-15:00
In recent years many countries have amassed experience in the development, appraisal and implementation of clinical practice guidelines based on evidence-based-medicine. Clinical guidelines are key tools in improving the quality and suitability of health services. Evidence-based-medicine is a good collaborator for Health Journalists as well.
In the workshop we shall deepen our understanding of how to interpret medical research reports critically. What are the basic principles, and what questions can and which ones cannot be answered? What questions does the health journalist need to ask in order to stay on the safe path? What is the evidence the journalist is seeking when interpreting research results?
- Research results, opinions or passions? Health journalists need to be aware of possible bias in medical research and publishing.
- What can be studied in medicine?
- Where can we go wrong?
- What needs to be cleared?
- Where can we find help?
- 1-2 acute research cases will be studied and useful sources, “critical questions” and links are provided for the interpretation of medical studies
The workshop is organized with funding from the Current Care, Finnish Medical Association, Duodecim and Finohta-organizations.
Speakers
Marjukka Mäkelä, MD, PhD, M.Sc (ClinEpi) works as a research professor in FINOHTA (Finnish Office for Health Technology Assessment) at THL (National Institute for Health and Welfare) and as part-time professor at the Department of General Practice, University of Copenhagen. She is Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, former Chair of INAHTA (International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment) and Director of the Finnish Branch of the Nordic Cochrane Centre. Her research targets, in addition to health technology assessment and its methods, include knowledge transfer, screening, upper respiratory tract infections, and diagnosis in primary care.
Jorma Komulainen, MD, PhD, adjunct professor, editor-in-chief in Current Care guidelines, Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Helsinki, Finland.
“My background is in paediatric endocrinology, in which I have around 25 years experience from working as a clinical practitioner. Although during the last decade, I have been active outside the clinical fields, I still see myself as a clinical physician, and continue part-time practice with my patients. My scientific work mainly consists of original publications in the fields of diabetes, paediatric endocrinology, and health informatics. In addition, I have been one of the writers of altogether 15 Finnish national evidence-based Current Care clinical practise guidelines.
In 2003, I became involved in the world of evidence-based medicine (EBM) guidelines as a part-time editor in the Current Care. A few years later I was nominated as the development manager. This was an interesting task, which included management of EBMeDS (Evidence Based Medicine electronic Decision Support) development project from 2006 to 2008. After working as a senior medical officer in the National Institute for Health and Welfare from 2008 to 2011, I took my current post as the editor-in-chief of Current Care guidelines in the spring of 2011.
I have been teaching EBM methods for several years. Since 2012 I have been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Guidelines International Network (G-I-N).”
