Introduction to Advanced Systematic Searching

This course provides students with an introduction to knowledge synthesis as a methodological approach to integrating and evaluating research findings. It provides a brief overview of why these projects are undertaken and the different levels of evidence that exist (systematic reviews, scoping reviews, randomized controlled trials, etc.). This course offers students an opportunity to learn how to construct a research question using the PICO/PIO/PCC frameworks on a particular clinical/health scenario. Using the PICO/PIO/PCC model, students learn how to build a comprehensive search strategy for 1 to 2 subject databases (e.g. Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO) using a combination of subject headings, keywords, and limiters. In doing so, students will learn how the type of question and the search strategy are connected to determine the kind of evidence that needs to be retrieved.