Microcourse: Introduction to Real-World Evidence and Real-World Data

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Real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) play an increasingly important role in understanding patient health, treatment patterns, and healthcare outcomes outside traditional clinical trials. This introductory course provides an overview of RWD and RWE, including their definitions, key characteristics, and applications in healthcare research and decision-making. Learners will explore common sources of RWD, how RWD is analyzed to generate RWE, and the benefits and limitations of using real-world evidence to inform healthcare decisions. Through practical examples and interactive scenarios, learners will gain foundational knowledge of how RWD and RWE can be used to support clinical research, health technology assessment, and healthcare decision-making.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, learners will be able to:

Define real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) and explain the relationship between them.

Identify common sources of RWD and describe their key characteristics.

Describe how RWD can be used to generate RWE and support healthcare research and decision-making.

Recognize the benefits and limitations of using RWD and RWE, including considerations related to data quality, bias, and reliability.

Identify common applications of RWE in clinical research, health technology assessment, and healthcare decision-making.