Who or what is a medical statistician?
An MSc in statistics or completion of the examinations of The (now former) Institute of Statisticians are the usual qualifications for being considered as a statistician, the first degree being in statistics, mathematics or some combination. Although MSc courses in medical statistics exist it is possible that the statistician you consult did not receive formal training in medical applications of the subject, and at the most this will have been for one year. Some, but by no means all, medical statisticians have a PhD, which may be in theoretical statistics or in a particular problem in medical statistics. Formal training does not guarantee that the statistician will have met your particular problem before; he or she will of course have a general interest in medical problems. Practice in dealing with medical problems is the greatest, but not the only, determinant of competence. Statisticians at present in Public Health Sciences range in years of experience from several to over twenty eig
