Course curriculum

This course teaches delegates to build microsimulation models in base R. It shows how to use vectorization, parallelization and C++ integration (through Rcpp) to considerably improve the run-time of microsimulation models. Follow at your own pace, with 12 months access to extensive course materials, code demos and exercises.

    1. Welcome

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Lesson Preview - Code Optimisation

      FREE PREVIEW
    3. Code download

    4. Coursebook

    5. Live code clinics

    1. Lesson Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Content Overview

    3. Objects Presentation

    4. Objects Quiz

    5. Objects Code Walkthrough

    6. Objects Exercise

    7. Functions Presentation

    8. Functions Quiz

    9. Functions Code Walkthrough

    10. Functions Brainteaser

    11. Functions Exercise

    12. Loops & Iterations Presentation

    13. Loops Code

    14. Loops Quiz

    15. Loops Exercise

    16. Lapply Code

    17. Iteration Quiz

    18. Iterations Exercise

    19. Code Optimisation

      FREE PREVIEW
    20. Code Optimisation Quiz

      FREE PREVIEW
    21. Code Clinic

    22. Additional Resources

    1. Lesson Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Content Overview

    3. Background - Presentation

    4. *Optional: NICE DSU Technical Support Document 15 - summary

    5. Background Quiz

    6. Matrix Multiplication - Presentation

    7. Matrix Multiplication Quiz

    8. Model Overview and Notation - Presentation

    9. Probabilities - Presentation

    10. Probabilities - Exercises & Solutions

    11. Probabilities Quiz

    12. Sample - Presentation

    13. Sample - Quiz

    14. Costs - Presentation

    15. Costs - Quiz

    16. Costs - Exercises & Solutions

    17. Effects - Presentation

    18. Effects - Quiz

    19. Effects - Exercises & Solutions

    20. Run Microsim - Presentation

    21. Run Microsim Quiz

    22. Run Microsim - Exercises & Solutions

    23. Code Clinic

    1. Lesson Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Content Overview

    3. Overview and Notation - Presentation

    4. Probabilities 2 - Presentation

    5. Probabilities 2 - Quiz

    6. Probabilities 2 - Exercises & Solutions

    7. Costs 2 - Presentation

    8. Costs 2 - Quiz

    9. Costs 2 - Exercises & Solutions

    10. Effects 2 - Presentation

    11. Effects 2 - Quiz

    12. Effects 2 - Exercises & Solutions

    13. Run Microsim 2 - Presentation

    14. Microsim 2 - Quiz

    15. Run Microsim 2 - Exercises & Solutions

    16. * Optional - adding covariates to calc_costs2

    17. Code Clinic

    1. Lesson Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Content Overview

    3. Performance Optimisation Strategies

    4. Performance Optimisation Quiz

    5. Overview of Vectorised Microsimulation

    6. Probabilities - Presentation

    7. Probabilities - Quiz

    8. Probabilities - Exercises & Solutions

    9. Sampling - Presentation

    10. Sampling - Quiz

    11. Sampling - Exercises and Solutions

    12. Costs - Presentation

    13. Costs - Quiz

    14. Costs - Solutions and Exercises

    15. Effects - Presentation

    16. Effects - Quiz

    17. Effects - Solutions and Exercises

    18. Discounting - Presentation

    19. Discounting - Quiz

    20. Discounting - Solutions and Exercises

    21. Microsim - Presentation

    22. Microsim - Quiz

    23. Microsim - Solutions and Exercises

    24. Additional: Triangular Matrices - Presentation

    25. Additional: Triangular Matrices - Quiz

    26. Code Clinic

    1. Lesson Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW
    2. Content Overview

    3. Introduction to PSA - Presentation

    4. Introduction to PSA - Quiz

    5. PSA Function Code - Presentation

    6. PSA Function Code - Quiz

    7. PSA Function Code - Exercises & Solutions

    8. Introduction to Parallel Computing - Presentation

    9. Introduction to Parallel Computing - Quiz

    10. Parallel Computing Code - Presentation

    11. Parallel Computing Code - Quiz

    12. Parallel Computing Code - Exercises & Solutions

    13. * Optional - High Performance Computing Clusters - Presentation

    14. * Optional - High Performance Computing Clusters - Quiz

    15. * Optional - High Performance Computing Demo - Presentation

    16. *Optional: Simpler PSA Code Walkthrough

    17. Code Clinic

What's included

  • 9 hours of video content
  • Online Coursebook
  • Extensive code repository
  • 6 x 1 hour live code clinics


Live code clinics

Our live code clinics for this session of the course will be run at the following times. If these times are not convenient drop us an email to schedule a one hour private session instead.

  • 5th March 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)

  • 12th March 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)

  • 19th March 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)

  • 26th March 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)

  • 2nd April 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)

  • 9th April 2025: 2-3pm London (9-10am New York; 6-7pm Dubai)



Instructors

Robert Smith, PhD

Dark Peak Analytics | University of Sheffield

Rob is an expert in the use of R for health economic modelling. He has previously worked at the UK Joint Biosecurity Centre, the UK Health Security Agency, the World Health Organization and The University of Sheffield. He has consulted for a wide range of organisations including top 10 pharmaceutical companies, national health ministries and HTA bodies. He is a keen proponent of the use of R for HTA; serving as co-director of the international R-HTA consortium and the World Health Organisation’s Health Economic Assessment Tool Expert Advisory Group.

Wael Mohammed, MSc

Dark Peak Analytics | University of Sheffield

Wael has a background in pharmacy and public health. He is an expert in decision-analytic modelling, econometrics, and data science (especially in R). His PhD is in calibration methods for health economic evaluation. He has previously held positions at, NICE, the Department for Health and Social Care and the University of Sheffield.


Testimonials

Feedback from previous courses

“This course was the best training I’ve attended. It covered many areas essential to understanding the content, including how to structure your model, vectorization, a variety of needed commands and their efficiency, creating custom functions, combining functions to create a model, plotting data, and so much more.”

Aaron Winn, Associate Professor, University of Illinois

“This course was excellent. The content is clear and well-structured, and the pace of teaching is just right, making even complex microsimulation concepts easy to grasp. I especially appreciated the practical exercises, they really helped me connect the dots and feel confident applying what I learned. Overall, it’s a fantastic course that's helped me learn so much, and I'd happily recommend it to anyone.”

Harry Hill, PhD, Senior Research Fellow University of Sheffield

“The Dark Peak Analytics team is second to none. Very helpful, insightful, and friendly. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting to advance their HEOR skillsets in R. ”

Michael Kim, Takeda/UIC

“This microsimulation in R is really well structured and informative course. Especially, they provide you a bunch of codes that you can run on your own program. I definitely recommend this course to those who are interested in applying this knowledge to their study. ”

Sodam Kim, University of Illinois

“The course was great! The slides and explanations were clear. The exercises with solutions were really helpful, and loads of example code were made available. Having access to the recordings and the online book made the whole learning experience easier. ”

Rami Cosulich, Post-doc at University of Sheffield

“Really accessible, loved the content with practice questions. This made it far less daunting for a complete beginner like myself.”

Delegate from NHS Scotland

“The course delivery has been great! I particularly appreciate the live and updated content and the accompanying coursebook.”

Delegate from GSK

“Thank you! I really enjoyed the course. I found having the textbook super helpful to read ahead of sessions, and the code clinics were useful to be able to more freely ask questions. The facilitators were so really good and appreciated their responsiveness to questions and comments in the chat. Impressed about live coding skills!”

Delegate from Dept. for Health and Social Care, UK

“The format worked well (mix of taught sessions and code clinics), tutors were all great and very knowledgeable and engaging. Really appreciated being able to get feedback on my code. I've come away feeling a lot more confident, and also of how much left I have to learn.”

Delegate from FTSE100 Pharma

“The main tutor Rob was an excellent teacher, very knowledgeable and explains things very clearly at a good pace. The course material and resources were also excellent. As a beginner, I found the approach of teaching base R before learning package functions much easier to grasp. I have been on previous R courses for beginners and left in a state of confusion. ”

Delegate from HEOR conusultancy


Book your place now

Choose between the **Live** course, with live sessions and the **Content Only** course without live sessions.

  • £1,495.00

    Commercial (Live)

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  • £895.00

    Non-commercial (Live)

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  • £1,195.00

    Commercial (Content Only)

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  • £695.00

    Non-commercial (Content Only)

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FAQ

  • How long will I have access to course materials for?

    For 12 months. Some of our materials are also downloadable, so you can still refer to them after that period.

  • When are the course materials made available?

    Course materials are available immediately.

  • What software do I need on my computer?

    To run the code provided, we recommend delegates have R Version 4.0.2 (2020-06-22) or newer, and RStudio (https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/)

  • I want something more bespoke, do you teach other courses?

    Yes, we teach bespoke courses on a range of other topics in addition to teaching these topics in live sessions within Industry, Universities and Government.

  • Will I get an invoice?

    Yes, you'll receive an invoice by email after booking.

  • Do you provide discounts for LMIC?

    Those from LMIC should book using the 'Public Sector' price. If this is not possible please feel free to contact us directly.

  • What kinds of questions can I ask in the code clinic?

    Anything you like. We will prioritise questions about the course materials, but feel free to bring any other challenges you are facing (related to R or Health Economics).

  • Can I book for a large group? Do you offer discounts for large groups?

    It is possible to book for others using a 'gift' purchase. We do offer discounts for large group bookings, please contact us to get a booking link.