Introduction:

Biostatistics in scientific research is course number eight within the master’s degree program in medical genetics. The current empirical experience shows that the students do not achieve the necessary competences and skills to acquire statistical sovereignty or face the research challenges of the specialty.

Objective:

To expose the effectiveness of a didactic strategy based on active methods for teaching biostatistics in scientific research within the master’s degree program in medical genetics during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Methods:

A quasiexperimental study with a longitudinal strategy of before-after measurements was carried out. A questionnaire validated by an expert committee was applied to nineteen master’s degree students who consented to participate in the research. The teaching strategy used a project-based dynamics and applied a statistical package, whose analytical program was contextualized according to professional interests and motivations.

Results:

52.6% of the students used statistical methods, 57.9% used descriptive statistics, and a minority (21.1%) used inferential statistics. A statistical package was used in 26.3 % of the cases and an even lower percentage (15.8 %) had some statistical analysis autonomy. At the beginning of the course, the low level of knowledge predominated for all items; after the intervention, the high and moderate levels predominated.

Conclusions:

This research showed the effectiveness of the didactic strategy used for the teaching of biostatistics in scientific research as part of the master’s degree program in medical genetics for the edition developed during the 2022-2023 academic year.

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