Semester 4

Course Title: (Epidemiology)

Introduction and Aim: This course is designed to enable students to understand the principles of Epidemiology.

Course Objectives (learning outcomes): By the end of the course the student should:

1.      Describe the origins and historical evolution of epidemiologic thinking and their linkage to the evolution of the scientific method.

2.      Calculate and explain the uses of rates and proportions to express numerically the amount and distribution of health-related outcomes.

3.      Explain and interpret the measures of mortality and morbidity at the level of populations.

4.      Explain how the findings of the distribution of health-related events in groups to are used to generate hypotheses about causation.

5.      Describe the basic epidemiologic study designs that are used in epidemiology.

6.      To identify the criteria for judging the evidence of causality of a causal association.

7.      Describe the concepts of assessing the performance of screening tests in different settings at the level of individuals and communities.

8.      Define and understand the uses and components of public health surveillance

9.    Describe the link between the epidemiological methods and clinical and basic science as well as public policy and  to explain the process by which epidemiology provides the evidence to guide clinical and public health practice.

Course contents:

1.      Definition and evolution of epidemiology

2.      Basic tools of measurements in epidemiology

3.      Morbidity measurements

4.      Mortality measurements-

5.      Measures of association

6.      Introduction to study designs

7.      Descriptive studies

8.      Analytic studies

9.      Experimental studies

10.  Validity, Bias and Confounding

11.  Principles of disease causation

12.  Principles and uses of screening tests

13.  Public health surveillance

Teaching methods: online synchronous and a synchronous teaching and learning