Contributed Paper C264
Developing the skills demanded of a statistician beyond statistics: a case study in biostatistics
Authors
Stephanie Hubbard (UK)Smith Ellesha (UK)
Presenter
Stephanie Hubbard (United Kingdom)Abstract
Most of the posts advertised for bio/medical statisticians across all sectors (industry, universities and public sector) in the UK require the following skills in addition to statistical knowledge: specialist knowledge in areas such as clinical trials or epidemiology; ability to manage and analyse large data sets; working knowledge of statistical analysis package; ability to work effectively in a team and individually; ability to work under pressure; excellent planning and organisation skills; excellent communication skills including the ability to write scientific reports and deliver presentations. Some of the methods used to develop these skills during a master’s course in biostatistics will be described including online interactive questions, peer review, group work and presentations, consultancy skills workshops and statistical programming tasks.