Biostatistics & Applied Statistics Education in the USA: Practical Considerations & Implications

1. Biostatistics & Applied Statistics Education in the USA: Practical Considerations & Implications Gleb Haynatzki, PhD Biostatistics Department College of Public Health U of Nebraska Medical Ctr

2. Main Goals • Description of the structures & approaches that ultimate lead to a Master’s degree in Biostatistics & Applied Statistics in the US • Discussion of the role of mathematics education in the biostatistics master’s curriculum

3. Background • Biostats & Appl Stats in USA has long tradition • Theoretically, it starts in kindergarden (K) & goes thru high school (12), i.e. K-12, following certain standards by NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) • Some well-defined but rudimentary stat skills are sometimes developed in K-5 • In Gr. 6 some recognizable statistics appears: range, mean/median, bar graphs, pie ch, SRS

4. Background (Cont’d) • Statistics skills are further developed sometimes in science and social studies classes in middle & high school • Science fair projects (on natural phenomena) for middle & high school students are another chance for working on stat & prob ideas • The first & true statistics class available to K-12 students is the AP Statistics (AP = Advanced Placement)

5. AP Statistics • High school students obtain college credit • Doesn’t have Calculus as a prerequisite • Covers: - measures of central tendency & spread - binomial & normal distributions - simple random samples & distributions, CLT - CIs, 1- & 2-sample tests, ANOVA, nonparam - poptn proportions & contingency tables - sometimes a stat package used (eg Minitab)

6. Stats Ed after AP Statistics – Master’s • 1) Applied Linear Statistical Models (ALSM) w/ Calculus & Lin/Matrix Algebra as prerequisites • ALSM is the fundament of the Master’s P-m: • 2) Categorical data analysis • 3) Survival data analysis • 4) Correlated/Repeated measures data analysis • 5) Design of medical studies • 6) Elected classes, eg Adv Epidemiology • 7) Capstone project on real data

7. AP/Beginner’s Stat Calculus Multivar Stat (non-Calc, w/ SPSS) Lin/Matrix Algebra Appl Lin Stat Models (w/ SAS) Non-stat core courses Prob/Math Stat Categorical Data A (w/ SAS) Survival Data A (w/ SAS) Correlated/Repeated Data A (w/ SAS) Stat for Epi Advanced Epi Capstone Project Master of PH in Biostatistics

8. Stats Ed after AP Statistics (Cont’d) • No Probability/Math Stats course required for Master’s in Biostats, but it helps to get in! • On real datasets/projects, a Master’s biosta-tistician can work alone or w/ a PhD statistician • Excellent skills w/ a stat package indispensable for a Master’s (or any applied) statistician • SAS is the best stat package for the US, not necessarily for Bulgaria – very expensive; try R • The road to PhD in Biostats may or may not go thru Master’s in Biostats • Many PhD in Stats students take Biostat classes