Building Physician-Scientist Skills in R Programming:A Short Workshop Report

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Biostatistics
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Medical training often lacks essential statistical analysis and programming skills.
• Physician-scientists require these skills for research but may not acquire them during formal education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and impact of a training course on statistical tests and R programming for early-career Nigerian physician-scientists.
• To improve participants' confidence in applying statistical methods in their research.

Main Methods:

• A five-day workshop was conducted, featuring didactic sessions, group activities, and discussions.
• Baseline and post-workshop assessments, including questionnaires, evaluated participants' demographics, prior training, software experience, and confidence levels.
• Feedback on the educational format and content was collected via REDCap questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Twenty-three early-career Nigerian physician-scientists participated, with most having limited prior experience in R and SAS.
• A statistically significant improvement in confidence was observed for understanding and performing common statistical tests post-workshop.
• Participants reported high comfort levels (82.2 ± 17.1) in applying learned knowledge.

Conclusions:

• Introductory R programming and statistical training can be effectively delivered to junior physician-scientists in resource-limited environments.
• The findings support the development and implementation of similar educational initiatives in comparable settings.