Basic Epidemiology

Description

This course is designed to introduce participants to basic epidemiological concepts and methods and provide them with core skills in epidemiology, that is with working knowledge of the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of information about disease occurrence in populations. Learning topics will include concepts of causality, measurement of geographical and temporal distribution of diseases and their outcomes, risks, biases, and study designs (descriptive, case-control, cohort and intervention studies). Participants will gain practical experience in planning epidemiological research studies along with the appraisal of epidemiological literature.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Discuss the role of epidemiology within the broader field of public health and identify its relationship to the fields of medicine, environmental health, social and behavioural sciences and health policy
2. Demonstrate a sound knowledge of basic concepts and methods of epidemiology
3. Use descriptive epidemiological concepts such as person, time, and place to describe the distribution of disease
4. Calculate and interpret epidemiological measures taught in the course (e.g. incidence, prevalence, risks, odds ratio, etc.)
5. Plan and design public health research
6. Demonstrate the application of epidemiological research for the formulation, implementation and evaluation of health policies

Course Outline

1. Epidemiology as an essential tool in public health
2. Epidemiological measurements (i.e. rates, proportions, populations exposed to risk)
3. Descriptive epidemiology (i.e. person, time, place)
4. Direct and indirect standardization of rates
5. Cross-sectional studies, advantages, and limitations
6. Epidemiological study types: case control studies and cohort studies
7. Measures of effect (i.e. absolute and relative risk) and population attributable risk
8. Intervention studies
9. Application of epidemiological methods in the evaluation of preventive measures
10. Population screening and epidemiological analysis of its effects
11. Developing an epidemiological questionnaire along with validating and piloting it
12. Data sources on morbidity and mortality
13. Geographic information systems
14. Preparation of tables and graphs
15. Scholarly presentations of seminar/field work

Training Delivery Methods

1. In-class method
2. Online method