The AVG function in SQL calculates averages, something we often use in clinical audits. For example, if I wanted to find the average duration of vancomycin therapy: Practical idea: AVG is another small building block for more complex analytics down the line.
Category: Learning Journal
Exploring SQL MIN and MAX for Clinical Metrics
In clinical work, I often need to know “the first” or “the highest.” SQL’s MIN and MAX functions handle that without sifting through endless rows. Example: Find the highest potassium level recorded for a patient: Practical idea: These functions turn large datasets into quick, targeted insights.
Mastering SQL COUNT for Quick Clinical Insights
SQL’s COUNT function might be one of the simplest tools I’ve learned, but in a clinical setting, it’s powerful. Need to know how many patients were admitted last week? COUNT can do that. Want to see how many times a particular antibiotic was ordered? COUNT can do that too. Example: Practical idea: It’s a simple…
Using SQL GROUP BY to Summarize Patient Data
As a clinician, I’m used to looking at patient data in aggregated reports: counts, averages, and trends. SQL’s GROUP BY feels like the database version of those summaries. For example, I could group patient visits by department to see how many visits occurred in each. In a pharmacy context, I could group by drug name…
SQL Functions
SQL functions like COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), and MAX() allow you to summarize and calculate data directly in your queries. Example: This counts patients on warfarin. 💡 Future clinical idea: Use AVG() to calculate the average length of stay for patients on a specific antibiotic regimen to track stewardship outcomes.
Set Operators
Set operators: UNION, INTERSECT, and EXCEPT, help combine or compare query results. Example: This merges patients from both lists. 💡 Future clinical idea: Use INTERSECT to identify patients who are both in a high-risk med list and have a recent adverse event record.
SQL Joins Advanced
Beyond INNER JOIN, SQL also has LEFT, RIGHT, and FULL joins. These can bring in unmatched rows, letting you see what’s missing. LEFT JOIN retrieves all records from the left table and the matched records from the right table, while RIGHT JOIN does the opposite, fetching all records from the right table along with matched…
SQL Joins Basics
The INNER JOIN lets you combine related data from multiple tables. It’s a core SQL concept for connecting information. By using INNER JOIN, you ensure that only the records with matching values in both tables are retrieved, which helps maintain data integrity and relevance. For those looking to deepen their understanding of database interactions, sql…
Filtering Data in SQL
One of the first essential skills in SQL is filtering data with the WHERE clause. It’s how you narrow your results to exactly what you need. Example: This query shows only patients older than 65. In the future, I could use this approach to quickly find all geriatric patients on a high-risk medication to support…
SQL Functions for Data Transformation
Today I explored SQL functions small, built-in commands that transform or summarize data. They’re grouped into: 💡 Practical Example Idea: Use DATEPART() to extract the month from an admission date, then group admissions by month for seasonal trend analysis in respiratory illnesses. I’m still experimenting with these on sample data, but the potential for transforming…