Department of Biostatistics Seminar/Workshop Series

Challenges of Consulting: Experiences of Real Biostatisticians

Mario Davidson, PhD

Instructor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Wednesday, January 13, 1:30-2:30pm, MRBIII Conference Room 1220

Intended Audience: Persons interested in applied statistics, statistical theory, epidemiology, health services research, clinical trials methodology, statistical computing, statistical graphics, R users or potential users

A major function of biostatisticians is consulting with clients. Consultations sometime present challenges such as personality conflicts, knowledge deficiencies, poor communication, misalignment of goals, and differences in expectations. We will discuss Boen and Fryds' six Ego States where they classify the consultant and client in a parent or child role. Finally, we will review existing literature and brainstorm practical ways of managing challenging experiences using cases from biostatisticians.