Course Repertoire
The program has four basic requirements: two courses, a Journal club or a discussion forum and the final report that will be a transdiciplinary analysis of the research project.
Mandatory courses
1 - Responsible Conduct of Research
Goal
Provide students with the appropriate tools to be able to carry out responsible research in their domain.
At the end of this course, each student should be able to:
- Carry out an experiment involving human subjects within the established ethics guidelines, conduct codes and laws
- Act with integrity; respect intellectual property
- Question the potential benefits of certain research and medical practices
2 - Transdisciplinary Aspects of Reproductive Health Research
Goal
Expose students to the concept of transdisciplinarity in reproductive health research and to allow them to initiate a transdisciplinary analysis of their own research project.
In the context of this course, students will be:
- Exposed to illustrations of the transdisciplinary dimensions of seemingly unidimensional biological or behaviour research questions in reproductive health.
- Involved in roundtable discussion with biological, behavioural, and social scientists who work in reproductive health and who will share information on their disciplinary approaches and research tools.
- Assigned to undertake a transdisciplinary analysis of their own research problem and to identify its trandsiciplinary aspects.
3 - Journal Club or Discussion Forum
Students will be required to participate in one or the other activity depending of the nature of their research project.
Goal
Implement in a practical way the transdisciplinary approach.
Journal Club
For each question, a range of scientific perspectives (biomedical, population health, health policy, ethics and law, social, environmental, nutrition, other) will be considered, starting from the material provided in a selected article or document and expanding consideration of the focal research question with a transdisciplinary analysis of its multiple relevant dimensions.
This will be achieved by the judicious choice of articles for discussion and by the input of mentors from diverse disciplines.
Students will be required to participate in at least one Journal Club in the course of their training.
Discussion forum on preeclampsia
Students who have a project on preeclampsia will be required to participate in this discussion forum.
4 - Transdisciplinary analysis of the research project
After students have successfully passed steps 1, 2 and 3, they must conduct a transdisciplinary analysis of their research project. This analysis leads to the writing of their final report.
Upon fulfillment of these requirements, STIRRHS will award a certificate confirming the successful completion of the transdisciplinary program.
Optional Courses
1 - Critical Appraisal of the Medical Literature in Reproduction Health Sciences
This course serves as an introductory module of clinical epidemiology.
2 - Course on institutional animal user training
This course is required by all students whose project requires research on animals.
This course developed by the Canadian Council of Animal Care has the purpose to foster a philosophy of compassion and respect for the animals used in research, teaching and testing. Secondly, it should provide participants with the necessary knowledge base and technical skills to carry out required procedures, and to promote quality science based on appropriate use of animals by skilled individuals.
3 - Health Technology Assessment
This course developed by the Agency of Health Services and Technology Assessment (AETMIS) will provide an overview of the field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), an introduction to methods used in assessing health technologies, and material on implementing HTA in health decision-making.
