Members of the UKCC Training Team
Overview of UK Cochrane Centre Training Programme
The UK Cochrane Centre provides free* training workshops designed to facilitate the process of completing a Cochrane systematic review. The training team offers workshop sessions and courses for authors initiating, conducting, and updating Cochrane reviews, Cochrane Review Group Editors and Co-ordinating Editors, Review Group Co-ordinators and Cochrane Consumers.
The UK Cochrane Centre also provides a series of introductory training on systematic reviews on the island of Ireland and offers support to Cochrane Fellows from Ireland. Training is also provided to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
The workshops and courses we offer are:
Workshops for Review Authors
Open Learning Material
Workshops for Cochrane Editors and Co-ordinating Editors
Annual Meeting of UK and Irish Contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration
Consumer Training
Peer Review Skills Training
Cochrane Library Training Courses for Healthcare Librarians
Should you require more information about the UK Cochrane Centre Training Programme then please contact the UK Cochrane Centre Training team training@cochrane.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1865 516300.
*For participants who fulfil attendance criteria for each individual workshop/course.
Workshops for Review Authors
Developing a Protocol for a Review
The ‘Developing a Protocol for a Review’ workshop assists authors in the process of initiating a systematic review from the early stages of writing a protocol. The development of a protocol involves designing a review question, determining the intervention, deciding on study criteria, and choosing the outcome of interest. This workshop includes an introductory session on the software used for data management and analysis in Cochrane reviews, RevMan, with a demonstration of the program.
Introduction to Analysis
The ‘Introduction to Analysis’ workshop introduces authors to the methodological issues and concepts of statistics used in conducting systematic reviews. This is an introductory-level workshop that covers the basics of applied statistics within the context of a systematic review. The session addresses issues of bias, data extraction, critical appraisal, heterogeneity, binary and continuous data, summary statistics, and meta-analysis.
The format for both workshops includes presentations by UK Cochrane Centre training staff, facilitated discussions, and practical exercises. The workshops run approximately once a month in various locations around the UK and in Ireland.
For information about dates of' Developing a Protocol for a Review' and 'Introduction to Analysis' workshops, and how to register please see the Training Events panel.
Review Completion Course
The ‘Review Completion Course’ provides dedicated time for authors to make significant progress towards completing a review while having full access to members of the UK Cochrane Centre Training Team. A week-long workshop is provided during which assistance with search strategies, using RevMan, conducting statistical analysis, and writing sections of a review are available in both group and individual sessions. This workshop runs approximately twice a year.
Review Updating Course
The ‘Review Updating Course’ provides dedicated time for authors to make significant progress towards updating a published Cochrane review while having full access to members of the UK Cochrane Centre Training Team. A two-day workshop is provided during which assistance with all aspects of updating a review including using RevMan, statistical analysis, and writing sections of a review are available in both group and individual sessions.
Open Learning Material
The Open Learning Material continues to be freely available on CD from the UK Cochrane Centre or on the web at: www.cochrane-net.org/openlearning/.
The Open Learning Material has been revised in line with current terminology (e.g. ‘author’ replacing ‘reviewer’) to ensure compatibility with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.
Online learning resources are also available in an interactive format. Further information is available on the Online learning resources page.
Workshops for Cochrane Editors and Co-ordinating Editors
Developing your Editorial Skills
The ‘Developing your Editorial Skills’ course is designed for new or experienced UK-based editors to learn more about the role and enhance their technical and communication skills. This course will give new and experienced editors an opportunity to learn how to use their time to the greatest effect.
This course is on hiatus until mid-2008.
Co-ordinating Editors Training Meeting
This half-day meeting provides an opportunity for UK based Co-ordinating Editors to get together for a discussion-based session to discuss topics relating to their area of work.
Methodology Workshop for Cochrane Reviews
The 'Methodology Workshop for Cochrane Reviews' is primarily aimed at Editors and Co-ordinating editors. The workshop is run in a seminar style format with speakers presenting material followed by questions from the participants. Topics include : Asssesing suceptibility to bias of included studies, common statistical pitfalls in Cochrane reviews, incorporating information on adverse events, challenges of non-randomized studies and other methodological issues for Cochrane reviews. This workshop is run annually.
Annual Meeting of UK and Irish Contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration
The ‘Annual Meeting of UK and Irish Contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration’ provides an opportunity for UK and Ireland based members, actively involved in The Cochrane Collaboration, to get together to learn, debate and network.
The plenary sessions are intended to give an overview of some of the major issues of the moment, while the workshops are a forum for training, consultation, methodological reasearch and information sharing. Business meetings also take place during the event.
In 2006 the Annual Meeting did not take place as the UK Cochrane Centre hosted the XIV Cochrane Colloquium.
The 16th Annual Meeting of UK and Ireland-based Contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration will be held on 15th and 16th March 2011 at the Europa Hotel in Belfast. Further details will be available later in the year.
Consumer Training
Once a year a one-day workshop is provided for consumers who would like to become involved with a UK based Cochrane Review Group. Each Cochrane Review Group includes at least one healthcare consumer in the process of reviewing studies used in conducting systematic reviews. The workshop is designed to teach consumer members of Cochrane Review Groups critical appraisal skills for evaluating research studies. The UK Cochrane Centre provides funding for consumers to attend these annual workshops.
Peer Review Skills Training
A course on ‘Peer Review Skills Training’ is being run by the UK Cochrane Centre Training Team. The one-day workshop will cover all aspects of peer review, including a description of the Cochrane process, the needs of Editors from peer review, how to appraise a systematic review, and how to identify common problems in meta-analysis. The format of the day will incorporate informal lectures and workshop sessions to allow maximum group interaction throughout the day. The first workshop was held in Oxford on 24th January 2007.
Cochrane Library Training Courses for Healthcare Librarians
In November 2005, the UK National Library for Health agreed to fund three Cochrane Library training courses for healthcare librarians, to be conducted during the financial year April 2005 – March 2006. The courses were run by Su Golder, Information Officer from the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York and Carol Lefebvre, Information Specialist at the UK Cochrane Centre.
Should you require more information about the UK Cochrane Centre Training programme, then please contact the UK Cochrane Centre Training Team training@cochrane.ac.uk or call +44 (0)1865 516300.
