Cochrane Early Career Professionals lecture series: randomized controlled trials

Dr. Ana explains the design, structure, and core purpose of randomized controlled trials and why randomization is essential for achieving prognostic balance.

In this session of the Cochrane Early Career Professionals lecture series, Dr. Ana, Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at the University of São Paulo Clinical Hospital, provides an introduction to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) explaining why they serve as the gold standard for evaluating interventions and establishing causal inference, how to systematically appraise them, and how to balance statistical results with clinical judgment. This series is a pilot project led by the Cochrane Early Career Professionals (ECP) Network, designed to build core skills in evidence-based healthcare for medical students, early-career researchers, and healthcare professionals worldwide. 📌In this session you will learn • The design, structure, and core purpose of randomized controlled trials • Why randomization is essential for achieving prognostic balance across known and unknown confounders • Using the PICO framework both to structure search strategies and to critically appraise trial applicability • A real-world clinical example: Extended anticoagulation with apixaban in provoked venous thromboembolism (the AMPLIFY-EXT / "Hyper" trial) • Key elements in assessing risk of bias • Interpreting trial results • Integrating trial evidence with clinical expertise and patient preferences in shared decision-making.