View the program planned for this 5-day program, June 5-9, 2023.

Day 1, Monday June 5th

Introduction, Research Question and Protocol Development
Time
8:30 am Welcome
Course Overview and Introductions
8:50 am Lecture: Introduction to Evidence Synthesis Research. What is It and Why Do We Do It?
9:40 am Lecture: Identifying Different Types of Evidence Synthesis
10:30 am Break
10:40 am Lecture: Criteria for Determining When a Systematic Review (SR) is Warranted, Protocol Development, and Registration
11:20 am Hands-on Activity
Quiz; Read and Reflect Published SR
12:10 pm LUNCH
1:10 pm Formulating Research (PICO) Questions, Defining Selection Criteria, and Outcome Selection
2:00 pm Study Designs – Special Focus on Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
3:00 pm Break
3:10 pm Hands-on activity
Writing a Research/PICO Question
4:10 pm Debrief with Participants
4:30 pm Adjourn

Day 2, Tuesday June 6th

Searching, Screening, Risk of Bias
Time
8:30 am Welcome
Summary of Day 1, Questions, Preview of Day 2
8:50 am Lecture: Conducting a Systematic Search
9:40 am Lecture: How to Collaborate With an Information Specialist to Conduct a Systematic Search
10:10 am Lecture: Selecting Studies for Inclusion in a Systematic Review and Using Screening Software
10:40 am Break
10:50 am Hands-on Activity
Title and Abstract Screening in Excel
11:30 am Hands-on Activity
Full Text Screening
12:10 pm LUNCH
1:10 pm Lecture: Extracting Information From Primary Studies
1:50 pm Lecture: Assessing Risk of Bias of RCTs
2:50 pm Break
3:00 pm Hands-on Activity
Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for Assessing Risk of RCTs
4:10 pm Debrief with Participants
4:30 pm Adjourn

Day 3, Wednesday June 7th

Numeric Data and Meta-Analysis
Time
8:30 am Welcome
Summary of Day 2, Questions, Preview of Day 3
8:50 am Lecture: Types of Variables, Measures of Outcome Frequency, and Association
9:50 am Lecture: Handling Study Design Issues (e.g., multi-arm trials, cluster randomized designs etc.)
10:50 am Break
11:00 am Lecture: Hypothesis Testing, P-values and Confidence Intervals
12:00 pm LUNCH
1:00 pm Hands-on Activity
Extracting Numeric Data in Excel
1:50 pm Lecture: Introduction to Meta-analysis
2:50 pm Break
3:00 pm Hands-on Activity
Conducting Meta-analysis in RevMan
4:20 pm Debrief with Participants
4:30 pm Adjourn

Day 4, Thursday June 8th

Meta-Analysis Continued and Interpreting Results
Time
8:30 am Welcome
Summary of Day 3, Questions, Preview of Day 4
8:50 am Lecture: Heterogeneity
9:30 am Lecture: Subgroup and Sensitivity Analyses
10:10 am Break
10:20 am Hands-on Activity
Quiz on Heterogeneity and Subgroup Analyses
11:00 am Lecture: Assessing the Certainty of the Evidence: The GRADE Approach and Result Interpretation
12:30 pm LUNCH
1:30 pm Lecture: Summary of Findings Tables
1:50 pm Hands-on Activity
Assessing the Certainty of the Evidence Using the GRADE Approach
2:50 pm Break
3:00 pm Hands-on Activity
Building Summary of Findings Tables in GRADEpro
4:00 pm Debrief with Participants
4:30 pm Adjourn

Day 5, Friday June 9th

Advanced Topics in Meta-Analysis, Publishing Results, and Translating Results to Practice
Time
8:30 am Welcome
Summary of Day 4, Questions, Preview of Day 5
8:50 am Lecture: Advanced topics – Network meta-analysis
9:50 am Lecture: Writing a Manuscript, Responding to Peer Reviewers, and Publishing a Systematic Review
10:50 am Break
11:00 am Hands-on Activity
Revisiting RevMan – Exploring Functions and Analysis Options
12:30 pm LUNCH
1:30 pm Lecture: Other Software Options to Conduct Meta-Analysis
1:50 pm Hands-on Activity
Read and Reflect on Systematic Review Revisited
2:50 pm Break
3:00 pm Lecture: Systematic Reviews to Inform Guidelines
4:00 pm Debrief/Course Wrap-up
4:30 pm Conclusion

Contact

Office of Continuing Dental Education
Penn Dental Medicine
PDMContinuingEd@dental.upenn.edu