Medical statistics: content and objectives of a core course for medical students.

British medical school teachers of medical statistics aspire to teach statistical concepts without requiring medical students to undertake every statistical technique in the book. In the typical course of 20 to 30 hours, about 50 topics are taught, usually requiring the student to perform a technique. In a survey of current practice in 20 courses it is shown that a core syllabus of 36 topics, including 14 techniques to be performed, is feasible for almost all existing courses. Clear student learning objectives now need to be agreed to encapsulate this syllabus.