Course Conducting a systematic review – meta-analysis and a meta-synthesis

The course P284 Conducting a systematic review – meta-analysis, meta-synthesis and integrative review is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, 2025.

Criteria for participation: University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students).

Requirements for participation: non.

Aim: The course aims to enable the participants to formulate specific review questions; critically appraise, extract and pool quantitative evidence; to critically appraise, extract and pool data generated from qualitative evidence and to pool data generated from both quantitative and qualitative evidence. The course also aims to enable the participants to develop a protocol for a systematic review for submission in e.g., Prospero.

Learning outcomes: Having completed this course, the participants will have the methodological tools to conduct a meta-analysis, a meta-synthesis and an integrative review. This includes:

• Specify research topic using PICO and PICo
• Search strategy
• Assessing quantitative and qualitative studies using relevant tools
• Extract and pool extracted data
• Synthesize extracted data
• Assess summarized data
• Present a protocol for meta-analysis, meta-synthesis, and integrative review.

Workload: The full workload of the course is expected to be 75 hours

Content: This hands-on course introduces the participants through the analytical process of synthesizing quantitative-, qualitative- and quantitative and qualitative evidence, and how to develop a protocol for a meta-analysis, a meta-synthesis and an integrative review focusing on validity, reliability, and transparency.

The course consists of five consecutive days and includes lectures, individual project reflection and planning, as well as group discussions. Each day follows the same structure: morning lectures, lunch, individual project work, and group discussions in the afternoon. Each day ends with individual consultation, where participants are invited to assign for a 20 min. consultation with one of the course instructors, to discuss their opportunities and challenges related to their study design.

Instructors: 

Merete Bjerrum, associate professor, PhD

Vivi Schlünssen, professor, PhD

Cecilie Nørby Lyhne, associate professor, PhD

Karen Sigaard, Bibliotekar / cand.scient.bibl., Librarian / MLIS

Venue: Aarhus University, Aarhus.

Participation in the course is without cost for:

• PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

Course dates:

• 24 November 2025 09:00 - 16:00
• 25 November 2025 09:00 - 16:00
• 26 November 2025 09:00 - 16:00
• 27 November 2025 09:00 - 16:00
• 28 November 2025 09:00 - 16:00