Anne Carroll
Student spotlight details
Anne is a radiologist who is keen to use the knowledge gained from studying for her MSc in Evidence-based Health Care to improve the care that she delivers to her patients and the health care systems that she works in.
'Prior to enrolling on the course I was working as a radiology specialist registrar in Dublin, Ireland. I had completed a problem-based learning (evidence-based radiology) three-day course as part of my postgraduate radiology training and had presented an evidence-based project on guideline appraisal at an international radiology conference (RSNA) under the mentorship of Prof Dermot E Malone, a consultant radiologist with a specialist interest in evidence-based radiology. The project won a prestigious trainee research award at RSNA. I had also written a few book chapters on evidence-based radiology topics with Prof Malone.
'My mentor Prof Malone recommended the course as I had a strong interest in evidence-based healthcare and he had heard how good the Oxford course was. The faculty of radiologists in Ireland recognized the need for somebody from Irish radiology to acquire these invaluable skills and they kindly awarded me a scholarship to complete the MSc.
'I found the statistics the most challenging part, but ironically that module ended up being one of the ones I scored highest in. I did the online statistics module and I think it was taught really well. It allowed you to work through the problems at your own pace and not get bamboozled with the difficult concepts, but work them out in your own time. Statistics doesn’t come naturally to me, like many doctors, but now I feel they have been demistified to a large degree and I know enough to get by and I know when to call a statistician!
'I found so much of the MSc experience to be incredibly inspirational, motivating, enjoyable and rewarding. There were many “eureka” moments, when I realized this will change the way I think about things and practice medicine forever. You come away feeling you can make a real difference for the good of your patients. I also got to meet so many interesting people both among the faculty and among my fellow students!
'I am currently working as a radiologist in Dublin, Ireland. I have recently returned to Oxford to do the Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine course, kindly sponsored by the Naji Foundation (Irish charity promoting EBM), which I thoroughly enjoyed and found to be hugely beneficial for my teaching.
'I would highly recommend this course to anyone working in healthcare. It is designed for people working full time and the mixed Oxford/online components work really well. The thesis is a big undertaking and it is great if you can have some dedicated academic time during the final year to work on your thesis. I really enjoyed the MSc. It changed the way I work and think about things and it has inspired me to work to try and improve the health system I work in, ultimately improving the care we deliver to our patients and improving healthcare efficiency and value for money for the taxpayer.
'Since completing the programme, I have used the knowledge from the Teaching Evidence-Based Practice course in my day to day practice and through my involvement with Evidence-Based Practice Ireland, (set up by a group of likeminded people who have been to CEBM in Oxford and want to further develop EBP for the benefit of patients in Ireland).
'I have also been involved with national guideline development for the diagnosis and staging of ovarian cancer with the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP). I have been part of a large group of postgraduate representatives working to develop EBM within the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in Ireland with the National Clinical Effectiveness Committee (NCEC). I also have been invited to join the National Clinical Programme for Radiology to work on radiology service planning in Ireland. I continue to teach Evidence-Based Radiology and Practice to Radiology and Radiation Oncology trainees on behalf of the Faculty of Radiologists in Ireland and deliver Evidence-Based Practice training to multidisciplinary healthcare professionals with Evidence-Based Practice Ireland.'
