All courses

This course will help you understand how to critically evaluate medical research articles, with a particular emphasis on evaluating the reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability of an article in informing evidence-based practice and decision-making in a healthcare context.

We will send you the article in advance, and it is a prerequisite that you read it before attending the session, and bring a copy with you to class.

UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

Critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, and its value and relevance in a particular context.' Amanda Burls, What is Critical Appraisal?, Feb 2009

'An Introduction to Critical Appraisal' will help you understand how to critically appraise a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). Using the CASP Checklist the course covers samples and sample size, randomisation, bias, statistics, significance (P Values and Confidence Intervals) and relevance.

We ask that you read a paper that will be provided before you attend the session, in order for us to make the best use of the time together.

This course will help you understand how to critically appraise a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). Using the CASP Checklist, the course covers samples and sample size, randomisation, bias, statistics, significance (P Values and Confidence Intervals) and relevance.

We ask that you read a paper that will be provided before you attend the session, in order for us to make the best use of the time together.

This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of Embase and Medline via the Ovid interface. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff.

An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using EndNote desktop and EndNote online.

UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

A course specifically for NHS staff. Attendees will learn how to search databases accessed with an Athens login (such as Medline, Embase and Cinahl) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography.

All attendees are required to have an NHS Athens login. University of Cambridge staff and students wanting to learn similar material should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching (for University) course instead.

UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

Health literacy is the ability to interpret and apply health information. Poor health literacy can result in exacerbated inequalities, inappropriate use of medication, and poor health outcomes.

This course will provide details and context of health literacy, raise awareness of its importance for healthcare practitioners, and discuss tools, resources, and techniques that will aid healthcare practitioners in communicating with patients and improving their health literacy.

A course specifically for University of Cambridge staff and students. Attendees will learn how to search medical/healthcare databases accessed with a Raven login (such as Medline and Embase) effectively and efficiently, to learn how to save searches and references, and to create and maintain a bibliography. This course is delivered at an introductory/refresher level, and assumes you have had no prior training in how to search databases.

All attendees are required to have a Raven login. NHS staff wanting to learn similar material should book onto our 'Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching' course instead.

UPDATE: This session is taking place in the Medical Library's training room, not online.

There is a vast array of healthcare and medical apps for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Come along for a half-hour hands-on session to learn how to get the best out of them, and how they will support your studies as a clinical student and work as a medical professional.

Please bring your own mobile device to use during the session.

One session covering the Cinahl database, targeted at allied health professionals. Learn how to get the best out of your literature searches.

One session covering the Medline database, targeted at doctors. Learn how to get the best out of your literature searches.

One session covering the Cinahl database, targeted at nurses. Learn how to get the best out of your literature searches.

How to take the bile out of your bibliography, and ensure that it's not the most time-consuming part of your work. A variety of tools will be showcased: EndNote, EndNoteWeb, Zotero, Mendeley.

UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

An introductory session showcasing how to manage your references using Mendeley.

UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students, who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of PsycINFO or ASSIA via the Proquest interface. Those who want an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff.

This session is aimed at NHS and University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of PubMed. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff.

Being a reflective practitioner is an important skill to have, but it doesn't always come naturally. It's an essential requirement for people in a variety of professions, particularly healthcare, where it plays an important role in decision making and patient care. For nurses undertaking revalidation, reflective writing is a key component of the process, but reflective writing is likely to be of relevance to those in other professions as well.

This interactive workshop will help you to understand the theory of reflective practice and how to translate this into your everyday role. It will provide tips for overcoming barriers to carrying out reflection and how to deal with feedback as well as offering a brief introduction to reflective writing.

There is an increasing emphasis in research on the management and sharing of data. Many funding bodies that support research undertaken at Cambridge require not only open access to any publications based on that research, but also to the data underlying it. This course will help you understand funders’ requirements for management and sharing of research data, and will provide opportunities to create your own data management plan and test out resources that will make the data management process easier.

UPDATE: Please note that this session is taking place remotely, not in the Medical Library as previously advertised. Please do not go to the Medical Library training room. You will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

This course will help you understand how to undertake a risk of bias assessment of a systematic review, assessing its reliability, trustworthiness, and applicability. The session uses the ROBIS tool to assess a preselected published systematic review.

We ask that you read a paper that will be provided before you attend the session, in order for us to make the best use of the time together.

UPDATE: Please note that some Medical Library sessions are taught in person, and some are taught online. Please ensure you check the venue details before booking a place. If it is an online session you will be contacted by the training team with information about how to join the session remotely.

Please note: this session may be recorded. By signing up for the session, you register your consent for recording to take place. Please email librarytraining@medschl.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions about this.

This session is aimed at University of Cambridge staff or students who have already had prior training in database searching and want to learn more about the features of the Scopus database. Those who want to attend an introductory session should book onto the Introduction to Literature Searching course, or the Getting the Best Results - Improving Your Database Searching if they are NHS staff.

Finding grey literature can be a challenging element of research and assessed work. This course explains what grey literature is and why it should be included in systematic or literature reviews, sites and sources of grey literature, alternative search engines to Google and how to search Google more effectively.

This course is aimed at those who are including grey literature in their systematic or literature reviews, but may also be of interest to those who want to search the web more efficiently.

This optional online drop-in session is a chance for students undertaking their SSC project to ask questions about, and gain further support in literature searching, critical appraisal and evaluation of medical research, and referencing. Those who have booked a place will be sent a link to join the online session several days before their scheduled session takes place.

Please only book a place if you are currently undertaking your SSC block. Students in later blocks will have the chance to participate then.

This session is aimed at students who have had no prior literature searching training before. Those who have some experience in literature searching should book instead on the SSC 2 drop in session.

Your SSC will require that you find scientific literature in order to read around a topic, even if you're are not doing a systematic review as the eventual outcome. It is a great opportunity to gain Key Skills which will be valuable for your SSC, your Year 5 Paeds CAT, and the rest of your professional life.

This session will teach you how to search medical/healthcare databases effectively and efficiently, save and record literature search terms, and keep track of the results that you find.

This optional online drop-in session is a chance for students undertaking their SSC project to ask questions about, and gain further support in literature searching, critical appraisal and evaluation of medical research, and referencing. Those who have booked a place will be sent a link to join the online session several days before their scheduled session takes place.

Please only book a place if you are currently undertaking your SSC block. Students in later blocks will have the chance to participate then.

This session is aimed at students who have had previous training in literature searching, perhaps during Part II of their undergraduate studies. Students with no prior experience should book instead on the SSC 1 optional drop in session.

Your SSC will require that you find scientific literature in order to read around a topic, even if you're are not doing a systematic review as the eventual outcome. It is a great opportunity to gain Key Skills which will be valuable for the SSC, your Year 5 Paeds CAT, and the rest of your professional life.

This session will be a refresher in how to search medical/healthcare databases effectively and efficiently, save and record literature search terms, and keep track of the results that you find.