Designing and Conducting Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trials

Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the ‘gold standard’ test for evaluating whether a new intervention is better than an existing one and are routinely used in both real-world healthcare and public health settings. Academics working in the Bristol Trials Centre (BTC) and the University of Bristol (including those who are tutors on this course) have all been at the forefront of designing and implementing high quality pragmatic RCTs for this purpose. This course aims to provide an understanding of the essentials of designing, conducting and analysing pragmatic randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The course examines RCTs evaluating health and public health interventions in primary, secondary and community settings with individual and cluster randomised designs.

“The course was packed full of information and delivered by a range of presenters with varying experiences and expertise. The course provided insight on pragmatic RCTs as a whole and was insightful for providing a broad view of all considerations for RCTs” – Course feedback, May 2025

Our online courses are delivered by topic specialists within the Bristol Medical School and provide continued access to online learning materials and recordings for a further 5 months after the course.

Visit our website for more information and to find out about available discounts: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/medical-school-short-courses/