Essentials of Clinical and Translational Science (ECaTS)

Are you ready to take a deeper dive into the world of clinical and translational science?

Essentials of Clinical and Translational Science (ECaTS) provides medical professionals with foundational knowledge of research terminology, research methods and processes, clinical epidemiology, and biomedical statistics.

Upon completion, learners understand basic terminology and methodological concepts in epidemiology from a clinical perspective. They also learn basic statistical methods used in a variety of clinical study designs. The program prepares learners to critically review medical literature such as scholarly publications.

Program highlights

  • Thirty hours of educational content available anytime and anywhere
  • Self-directed and self-paced (asynchronous)
  • Aligns with IV.A.5.b and IV.A.5.c Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) practice-based learning and improvement competency (ACGME Common Program Requirements)
  • Includes content assessed on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 exam under the competency of Practice-Based Learning and Improvement, which requires understanding and application of the principles of biostatistics and epidemiology (USMLE Step 1 Content Outline and Specifications)

Cost

Mayo Clinic CCaTS charges a nonrefundable program fee upon successful registration.

Eligibility

ECaTS is available to all Mayo Clinic employees and the general public.

Registration

Due to system updates and changes, registration for this program will be paused until January 2023. Please check back!

Disclaimer: The content and program do not fulfill prerequisite requirements for Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences graduate credit courses or transfer to the CCaTS Postdoctoral Master's Degree Program or Postdoctoral Certificate Program.

Curriculum

  • ECaTS includes approximately 30 hours of content.
  • Participants have up to six months to complete the program.
  • The content is accessible for one year after admission.
  • A score of 80% or higher is required on each knowledge check to move to the next module.
  • A certificate of completion is granted upon successful completion of the program.

The ECaTS curriculum provides foundational concepts of research methods that inform students how to critically review the medical literature.

Introduction to Principles of Clinical Epidemiology

Walter A. Rocca, M.D., M.P.H., delivers 32 lectures on the principles of clinical epidemiology.

Objectives:

  • Describe the differences between observational and experimental study designs
  • Discuss the differences between reliability and validity, and their implications in epidemiologic studies
  • Compare and contrast epidemiologic study designs and their relative strengths and weaknesses
  • Discuss the concepts of confounding, bias, variable interactions and mediation and how they might influence inference in epidemiologic studies
  • Interpret the standard measurements used for evaluating diagnostic tests; discuss how these measurements are applied in the population context and how screening programs are evaluated

Biostatistics in Clinical Research

Felicity T. Enders, Ph.D., chair for CCaTS Education Resources, leads a team of highly qualified experts in delivering 30 lectures and learning activities on biostatistics in clinical and translational research.

Objectives are to develop:

  • The ability to interpret the results of a variety of basic statistical techniques, including both exploratory and inferential methods
  • The means to recognize, define and differentiate fundamental concepts of statistics, such as variability, distribution, association, causation, sampling, experimentation, confidence and significance
  • Tools to determine appropriate statistical methods for different types of data and study designs
  • A critical perspective with which to assess and defend statistical arguments, such as those in scholarly publications

Supplemental curriculum

Fundamentals of Clinical and Translational Science (FunCaTS) provides a solid description of clinical and translational science processes and the impact of clinical and translation science to clinical practice, including social and ethical contexts. FunCaTS is an important introduction to ECaTS and is highly recommended.

Looking for additional online professional development modules? Visit the CCaTS Workforce Development webpage.

Contact

The CCaTS Education Contacts page contains a listing of team members who can assist you with questions.