Paper critique as an educational method in epidemiology

Abstract

A common method in the teaching of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is 'paper critique'. This refers to a close reading of published research articles, in which students are asked to assess their coherence and validity. The intention is to improve the students' analytic and writing skills, as well as acting as a form of summative assessment. In this paper, the author links his experience of this method to concepts such as rhetoric, myth and semiology, and uses them to try to develop paper critique as an educational method.