Module 2: Epidemiology for Public Health

Principal module aims

This Public Health Masters module will provide students with a systematic understanding of epidemiological methods, their applications, strengths and weaknesses and current methodological issues.  It will provide an understanding of the application of medical statistics to present quantitative information and assess the role of chance.

By the end of the module students  should understand the principal concepts and features that are encountered in epidemiological studies.

You should also be able to understand the key statistical principles and be able to use them to analyse epidemiology studies.

Learning outcomes

Successful completion of the module leads to the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes identify the knowledge, skills and attributes developed by the module, which in turn are mapped to the knowledge, cognitive and practical academic principles of the overall programme.

Through critical appraisal of literature, verbal and written discussion and debate with lecturers and peers, and submission of assessments; students should, upon successful completion of the module, be able to:

1. Explain the key concepts and features that are encountered in epidemiological studies.

2. Apply statistical principles to analyse epidemiology studies.

3. Demonstrate how epidemiological and statistical principles can be applied to health promotion.

4. Apply statistics to the design of an epidemiological study.

Teaching Topics

Week 1  Disease frequency and impact

Week 2  Use of routine statistics

Week 3  Study design and sample sizes

Week 4  Analysing epidemiological data

Week 5  Using epidemiological and statistical software

Week 6  Interpreting your findings

Assessment

Part A:  Short Answer Questions about a published epidemiological study (50%)

Part B: Problem Set of Statistical Questions (50%)