Competence in medical data analysis: Successful Winter School at MHB

Brandenburg an der Havel, 11 April 2025

This year’s Winter School was about “Medical Data Analysis for Young Scientists”: students of the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) were schooled in important basics of how to handle medical data.  In coding sessions they learned to develop their own analysis scripts and systematically evaluate data, based on the programming languages Python and R.  Organizers of the 5-day event in Brandenburg/Havel were Dennis Wagner (MHB, medical computer expert) and Prof. Thomas Schrader, MD, (pathologist and professor of medical information technology at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences).

Course content in five modules

The course conveyed the essential aspects of medical data analysis step by step:

Day 1: Basics of data analysis with Python and R
Introduction to programming languages, followed by live coding sessions where participants worked on their own preliminary scripts for data processing and analysis.

Day 2: Explorative data analysis (EDA)
Explorative data analysis was the topic of the second day: visualizations and statistical methods served to evaluate data sets, identify patterns and test hypotheses.

Day 3: Data quality and cleansing
How to detect outliers and missing values? Prof. Schrader illustrated techniques to analyze and cleanse medical data for subsequent application in practical exercises.

Day 4: Correlations and regression analysis
The fourth day was dedicated to correlations between variables and generation of forecast models as important elements of data-driven research.

Day 5: Setting up a complete analysis pipeline
In conclusion of the course, students set up a complete analysis pipeline using real-life medical data – from data processing and preparation to presentation of results.

Positive feedback and certificates

Every participant received a certificate. Medical student Jonas Wördemann was enthusiastic about the Winter School “as a great opportunity to learn the basics of R and Python in such a short time, and it was real fun. Highly recommendable!”

Dennis Wagner as organizer also gave a positive summary: “This year’s Winter School was a big success. Our students have not only gained theoretical knowledge but acquired hands-on experience in the analysis of medical data. Now they are perfectly equipped for databased work on their own research questions.”

The Summer School, scheduled to follow in September, is planned to build on the course content described above and focus on applications of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in medical data analysis. The date will be announced in time, places are limited.