Surgical and Interventional Sciences (Thesis): Surgical Outcomes Research (M.Sc.) (45 credits)
Offered by: Surgery (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences)
Degree: Master of Science
Program credit weight: 45
Program Description
The M.Sc. in Surgical and Interventional Sciences; Surgical Outcomes Research program focuses on the science of measuring and improving the outcomes of surgical patients. The program addresses research methods, biostatistics, and strategies to measure and improve postoperative outcomes. The thesis component of the program must focus on a topic in the field of surgical outcomes research.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (33 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EXSU 610 | Surgical Outcomes Research Foundations. | 3 |
Surgical Outcomes Research Foundations. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Comprehensive overview of strategies to measure and improve outcomes after surgery. Traditional and modern approaches to measure surgical outcomes, including clinician-reported, patient-reported and performance-based outcome measures. Contemporary strategies to improve postoperative recovery; topics include minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic, robotic), enhanced recovery pathways and prehabilitation. | ||
| EXSU 690 | M.Sc. Research 1. | 4 |
M.Sc. Research 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Independent research work under the direction of the Thesis Supervisor and the Supervisory Committee. | ||
| EXSU 691 | M.Sc. Research 2. | 4 |
M.Sc. Research 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Independent research work under the direction of the Thesis Supervisor and the Supervisory Committee. | ||
| EXSU 692 | M.Sc. Research 3. | 4 |
M.Sc. Research 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Independent research work under the direction of the Thesis Supervisor and the Supervisory Committee. | ||
| EXSU 693 | M.Sc. Thesis. | 18 |
M.Sc. Thesis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Written and oral presentation of thesis proposal to the research Supervisory Committee. | ||
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
3 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPIB 600 | Clinical Epidemiology. | 3 |
Clinical Epidemiology. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Principles and methods of epidemiology, as applied to clinical practice and clinical research. Key principles of testing and measurement in the clinical context, as well as study design, analysis, and inference in the clinical research setting. | ||
| EXMD 600 | Principles of Clinical Research. | 3 |
Principles of Clinical Research. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Foundations for conducting clinical research including the principles underlying clinical studies, an overview of key methods in clinical research and the critical interpretation of peer-reviewed literature. | ||
3 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPIB 507 | Biostats for Health Sciences. | 3 |
Biostats for Health Sciences. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Basic principles of statistical inference applicable to clinical, epidemiologic, and other health research. Topics include: methods of describing data, statistical inference for means, statistical inference for proportions, non-parametric statistics, correlation and introduction to linear regression. | ||
| EXMD 634 | Quantitative Research Methods. | 3 |
Quantitative Research Methods. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics covered include: 1) An overview of common research designs based on examples from research currently undertaken in the Division of Experimental Medicine; 2) Types of data arising from these designs; 3) Basic methods for data analysis; and 4) Application of these methods to student research projects. | ||
6 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPIB 521 | Regression Analysis for Health Sciences. | 3 |
Regression Analysis for Health Sciences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The aim of this course is to provide students with basic principles of regression analyses applicable to the health sciences so that they can understand and use appropriate statistical regression techniques for continuous and discrete data. The course will cover: Linear regression: Regression for two or more explanatory variables, Polynomial regression, Dummy variables, Inference for regression parameters, Confounding and collinearity, Effect modification, Model-checking, Model selection, Prediction. Logistic and Poisson regression: Logistic regression for one or more variables, Interpreting odds ratios, Inference for logistic and Poisson regression parameters, Confounding and interactions in logistic regression, Model selection, Prediction. A very brief overview of survival analysis. | ||
| EPIB 629 | Knowledge Synthesis. | 3 |
Knowledge Synthesis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course will provide a detailed description of the systematic review process, discuss the strengths and limitations of the method, and provide step-by-step guidance on how to perform a systematic review, and how to critically appraise systematic reviews. Specific topics to be covered include: formulation of the review question, searching of literature, quality assessment of studies, data extraction, meta-analytic methods, and report writing. The course will also cover statistical issues of meta-analysis. | ||
| EXSU 500 | Artificial Intelligence in Medicine . | 3 |
Artificial Intelligence in Medicine . Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) applied to issues in medical diagnosis, therapy selection and learning from health data. Various AI methods, electronic medical records, and ethical/security concerns. Machine learning approaches including deep learning and reinforcement learning without delving too deeply into the technical details. | ||
| FMED 625 | Introduction to Qualitative Research in Health. | 3 |
Introduction to Qualitative Research in Health. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction, discussion, and practice of qualitative methodologies and methods for conducting rigorous and reflective qualitative research projects in health, with particular focus on family medicine education and health professions education. | ||
| PPHS 527 | Economics for Health Services Research and Policy. | 3 |
Economics for Health Services Research and Policy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Key health policy topics in developed economies using analytic frameworks and tools from economics. Major topics include health insurance, health care financing, and the roles of individuals and public and private institutions in the health care system. | ||
Or other relevant 500-, 600-, or 700-level courses upon approval of the student’s Research Advisory Committee.