Medical Statistics Made Easy

Reviews / Votes

When one mentions the word "statistics" most of us medical students will give a groan. Medical statistics is known to be challenging and not to mention dull. This book was designed to provide the knowledge of statistics for a wide range of healthcare professionals from medical students to doctors sitting their postgraduate exams. This book helps medical students understand the basic concepts of medical statistics starting in a "step-by-step approach". The authors have designed the book assuming that the reader has no prior knowledge. It focuses on the most common statistical concepts that are likely to be faced in medical literature. All chapters are concise and simple to understand. Each chapter starts with an introduction which consists of "how important" that particular statistical concept is, using a "star" system. A "thumbs-up" system shows how easy the statistical concept is to understand. Both these systems indicate time-efficient learning allowing yourself to focus on areas you find most difficult. Following this, there are worked out examples with exam-tips at the end of some chapters. The last chapter "Statistics at Work" shows how medical statistics is put into practice using worked out examples from renowned journals. This helps in assessing the reader's own knowledge and gives them confidence in analysis of statistics of a journal. In conclusion, we would recommend this book as an introduction into medical statistics before plunging into the deep "statistical" waters! It gives confidence to the reader in taking up the challenge of understanding statistics and [being] able to apply knowledge in analysing medical literature. To be honest, medical statistics is not a common book that a medical student will pick up, but if one has keen interest he/she will find it interesting and engaging as it is a simple read -- Stefanie Zhao Lin Lip & Louise Murchison Scottish Medical Journal I don't own a copy of the original edition of this book; in fact I've not even seen a copy so I am unable to comment on how much better or worse this edition is in comparison. What I can comment on, however, is how utterly grief stricken I am having realised half way through life that such a book exists! It verges on being the Holy Grail for Idiots! If ever there was a book that completely lived up to its title, this is it. The first three pages are devoted to explaining how to even use the book (not many things are made that easy), and the next couple explain the design of the book. I almost feel that I should merely compile a list of excellent features this book exhibits but space would clearly not allow so I'll concentrate on a select, but by no means exhaustive few. There are eight sections divided into a total of 24 chapters (unfortunately none of these are numbered - a minor drawback), each of which tackles a particular aspect of statistics or statistical test. The first chapter, for example, looks at percentages and this is then followed by chapters on Mean, Mode and Median and so the book goes on, passing through p values, t tests, regression, odds ratio, survival analysis, etc, etc. Everything is covered. Perhaps above everything, it is the chapter layout and design that makes this book stand out head and shoulders above the crowd. At the beginning of each chapter two questions are posed - how important is the subject in question and how difficult is it to understand. The first is answered on the basis of how often the subject is mentioned / used in papers published in mainstream medical journals. A star rating is then given from one to five with five stars implying use in the majority of papers published. The second question is answered by means of a 'thumbs up' grading system. The more thumbs, the easier the concept is to understand (maximum of five). This, of course, provides a route into statistics for even the most idle of uneducated individuals! Five stars and five thumbs must surely indicate time-efficient learning! Chapters then continue to follow a uniform format with short paragraphs explaining what each particular aspect means and when it is used. Common pitfalls are also explained and highlighted boxed examples are given in each case. At the end of each chapter exam tips (light bulb icon!) are given - I doubt anyone could ask for more! The whole way in which the authors have written this book is commendable; the chapters are succinct,easy to follow and a pleasure to read. Even the total lack of colour doesn't seem to detract from the excellence of this book, it really is brilliant and the glossary at the back of the book must surely be capable of ensuring a couple of extra marks in the FRCS (Urol) written paper. Is it value for money - a definite yes even at twice the price. Of course I never exaggerate but if you breathe, you should own this book! -- Ian Pearce Urology News