Statistics for Oncology
A Course for Scottish Specialty Trainees
Statistics for Oncology
A Course for Scottish Specialty Trainees
0.1 About This Course
This handbook provides an introduction to medical statistics for oncology trainees in Scotland. It is designed for Clinical Oncology trainees preparing for the FRCR Part 1 examination and Medical Oncology trainees taking the Specialty Certificate Examination (SCE).
No prior statistics or programming knowledge is required.
0.2 What You Will Learn
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand and interpret common statistical measures
- Read and critically appraise clinical research papers
- Communicate statistical findings to patients and colleagues
- Apply appropriate statistical thinking to clinical decisions
0.3 How to Use This Handbook
The content is organised into four parts:
| Part | Topics | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations | Statistics basics, populations, data types | Core concepts |
| Describing Data | Graphs, summaries, distributions | Exploratory analysis |
| Statistical Inference | Hypothesis testing, regression | Drawing conclusions |
| Clinical Applications | Survival, trials, epidemiology | Real-world oncology |
Use the sidebar on the left to navigate between chapters. Each chapter builds on previous material, but you can jump to specific topics as needed.
0.4 Getting Started
Begin with ?sec-what-is-statistics to understand the fundamental role of statistics in evidence-based oncology practice.
0.5 Acknowledgements
This material is adapted for Scottish oncology trainees and is provided as an open educational resource under the MIT License.
0.6 Feedback
If you have questions or suggestions for improving this handbook, please contact the course organisers.