The programme Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, coordinated by the professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Unicamp, Taís Freire Galvão, is among those selected on the list Learn Without Limits from Inspiring Women (Learn without limits with inspiring women), from the Coursera platform. The only Brazilian in the ranking, the course has already been accessed by more than 38 thousand people and is offered free of charge. For production and development, professor Taís Galvão received funding from the Dean of Extension and Culture (Proec), via notice EAD-PROEC 01/2019.
The objective of the course is to understand the steps necessary for a systematic review, a type of research that aims to gather evidence on a specific issue. The target audience is health professionals and researchers, an area in which systematic reviews are widely used. With this method, clinical protocols and therapeutic guidelines of the Unified Health System are defined, for example. Furthermore, the systematic review can highlight knowledge gaps, indicating priority areas for research.
“Throughout our career, we had already organized several in-person events and courses. During this period, we saw people's main limitations. The review may seem simple, but it is a false sense of simplicity. If care is not taken in planning and execution, the result may not be valid”, says the course coordinator, Taís Galvão.
Keeping in mind the main gaps in the research method, the responsible professors worked two years to formulate the material, which is offered by the Unicamp Extension School (Extecamp) and made available free of charge on Coursera since 2020. The Coursera platform, with which the Unicamp has a partnership, it was founded in 2012 by professors from Stanford University. It offers open and free online courses from excellent universities and institutions around the world.
In addition to Professor Taís, the Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis course instructors are Julicristie Machado de Oliveira (Unicamp), Marcus Tolentino Silva (University of Sorocaba), Ivan Zimmermann (University of Brasília) and Everton Nunes da Silva (University of Brasília) .
For the course coordinator, the good evaluation of students and the high number of accesses reflect the demand for knowledge in the area and led to recognition on the list Learn Without Limits from Inspiring Women. “We dedicated ourselves to the course for two years. The selection is recognition for the effort and the fact that it is helping people, enabling professional growth and human development,” she says.
