Introduction to Epidemiology will provide you with insights into the basic terminology and principles of epidemiology. These range from the history and design of epidemiological research to the different measures of frequency and association. We will also address the principles of bias and confounding, thereby enabling you to familiarize yourself with all key epidemiological concepts.
The course is offered through the MSc Epidemiology program of the UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University, and as such is highly relevant for anyone studying or working in healthcare. It will also provide you with a good basis for further research into specialized areas of epidemiology.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Use and explain the basic terminology and principles used in epidemiology
- State important historical developments in health sciences in general, and epidemiology in particular
In particular, you should be able to:
- Distinguish between, and apply, the different measures of frequency, association and impact that are commonly used in epidemiological research
- Calculate these measures using simple numerical examples
- Tell apart and explain the different aspects of epidemiological research (causal and descriptive).
- Tell apart and state the (dis)advantages of the different study designs used in epidemiological research: cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies.
- Read and interpret (simple) epidemiological scientific papers, and recognize in these papers which study design was used
- Apply the correct measures of frequency and association belonging to the different epidemiological study designs
- Explain the meaning of the terms ‘bias’ and ‘confounding’ and distinguish between them
Testimonials
review
My motivation to enrol was the flexibility offered to follow the course. As I am also working in a veterinary clinic, it is sometimes very hard to follow all physical lessons in normal courses. The course gives me the opportunity to follow the lessons when my agenda allows me to do this. The teacher/moderator gave quick and extensive responses to my questions and gave proper feedback on my assignments which really helped me understanding the subjects. And I successfully completed the exam, suggesting that this type of learning is an adequate way of learning new things. I really deepened my knowledge of basic epidemiologic approaches and analyses and I do use these techniques to some extent in my scientific studies.
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