Introduction
This course is intended to provide an introduction to epidemiological methods and their application. It is a required course for students in the Master of Science in Epidemiology degree programme. It is an elective course for 'special' students not enrolled in this degree programme. All special students need permission of the instructor prior to registering.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
This course will be taught using interactive lectures (i.e. we will present material to the class but will encourage interaction and discussion during the lecture process).
COURSE FORMAT
The course material will be presented in a lecture format. The lectures are designed to cover the core material for each session. Note, that the lectures will not necessarily cover all of the material listed in the summary of session objectives. It is expected that students will be familiar with the reading material for each session prior to the lecture. Part of the lecture time will be used to address areas of confusion, uncertainty, etc. which the students raise from their readings. In some cases, the lecture will be used to highlight conceptual issues or problem areas. Do not come to this course assuming that you will learn all you need to know by simply listening to the lectures!
SEMINAR DISCUSSION GROUPS (Optional)
In addition to the lectures, we are offering 3 optional seminar sessions on Wednesday morning (0930-1130). These will not cover core material but will provide students with an opportunity to discuss some topics in more depth. Each session will repeated four times, with a maximum class size of 14 students. Students who are interested in these sessions are asked to sign-up for a maximum of one session for each topic area. The there topics are:
- Journal Club (discussion of 2 or 3 current epidemiological papers).
- Research Ethics (a discussion of topics and issues in ethics as related to epidemiological research)
- Outbreak investigation (a paper exercise tracing an outbreak).
.
VIDEOS
I have copies of two NOVA videos which show epidemiology in action. They both last about 45 minutes. I will arrange to show these videos after class on the first two days. This will extend the class to 1700 in those two days. Attendance is voluntary.
DISCUSSION FORUM
The large class size will make it difficult for the course instructor to provide one-on-one out-of-class instruction to the level which I would normally like to do. In any event, there are often issues raised in private meetings which are of relevance and benefit to the whole class. Plus, there are major benefits to students to participate in resolving questions, etc. which are posed by their classmates. To this end, we have set-up a discussion forum for this course.
Most students will have had experience with some type of discussion forum, either as part of their education or through personal interests. We are using a standard forum package (SMF) which should be easy to use. Each registered student in EPI 5240 will be added to the discussion forum and given access to the EPI 5240 part of the forum. There will be a number of sections within the EPI 5240 discussion forum to cover various topics (check the forum for details). Students are asked to use this forum for all course-related questions. Faculty and the TA will check the forum at least once per day and will address questions. However, we expect that students will attempt to answer questions posed by other students, not just use the forum as a one-way conduit of information.
The forum will only be successful if students actively participate by posting questions and assisting in their resolution. Students will be awarded up to 5% of the final grade to reflect the degree of their participation in the discussion forum
OBJECTIVES AND READING MATERIAL
A full set of course objectives has been developed for each session. A copy is in the binder of reading materials with the objectives for each session at the front of that section of the binder as well. These objectives are also available on the course web site. For each session, relevant reading material has been identified, generally divided into 'core' material and 'supplemental' material. Much of the reading material will be contained in the recommended course text. However, the textbook material will be supplemented and the lectures may present material which might challenge the view put forward in the text (!!!this is a graduate course after all!!).
Most of the core readings (excluding those in the textbooks) have been assembled into a ‘course notes pack’ which students can buy from the reprography department. We have also provided a supplemental reading list for many sessions. These additional readings may present the core material from a different perspective or may provide enrichment material. You would benefit from reading all of the viewpoints but you could 'get away' with reading only one version. I will be addressing issues which may still be controversial - don't be surprised if you find more than one proposed solution. Part of your job is to understand why more than one approach might be proposed.
I strongly encourage you to read the book by Dan Gardner on Risk (see below). It is not a formal textbook, having been written for an educated lay audience. However, it is a fascinating examination of the way people mis-interpret risks (and why). Since epidemiology is largely about estimating risk and then trying to change behaviour, an understanding of these issues would be very beneficial. You should be able to find this book at Chapters or Amazon.ca for about $22.
Gardner, A. Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear. McClelland & Stewart, 2008. ISBN-13: 978-0771032998
RESEARCH ETHICS
All epidemiological research is subject to high ethical standards. These are enforced by reviews conducted by Research Ethics Boards. In order to attain a high ethical standard, most REBs are expecting that applicants will have completed recognized study in research ethics. While this isn’t a formal requirement for EPI 5240, the course provides you with a good opportunity to complete your first certification. The Ottawa Hospital REB is recommending an on-line course. This takes about two hours to complete and provides you with a certificate which the OHREB accepts for all applications. I encourage you to complete this course sometime this fall.
TIMING
The course has one three lecture per week: Mondays, 13:00-16:00.
The optional seminars will take place on Wednesday, 1300-1500
LOCATION
All lectures will be in room 3248 at the Health Sciences Building (Roger Guindon Hall) at the University of Ottawa (451 Smyth Rd).
The seminars will take place in room 3233 at the Health Sciences Building (Roger Guindon Hall) at the University of Ottawa (451 Smyth Rd).
INSTRUCTOR
This class has one primary instructor: Dr. Birkett. Contact information can found here. While I will offer formal office hours to meet with students (see below), I am available to meet with students through-out the week. If I am free, you can 'drop in'. Alternatively, call ahead and make an appointment to be sure I will be there. I strongly encourage students to use the Discussion Forum to address course content questions since the discussion will benefit all students. Please note that I spend about half of my time at the Institute of Population Health (1 Stewart St). I would be willing to meet students there is that were suitable to your schedule.
There will be a course TA (TBD) who will be avaialble to assist students with course issues, etc.
OFFICE HOURS
Dr. BIrkett:. Tuesdays, 0900-1200
TA (TBD): TBA
CORE TEXTBOOKS
We recommend that all students buy two textbooks (see below), one introductory and one more advanced. The course will roughly follow the outline of the Aschengrau and Seage book, especially for the first two months. The second book (Szklo and Nieto) will be particularly useful for the last half of the course. Some topics which are not well covered in either book will be addressed using a course notes pack (e.g. communicable diseases). We will also provide you with a series of supplemental readings for most sessions in case you want to explore topics in more depth. Finally, a list of recommended intermediate and advanced level books is available on the web site.
The main (introductory) textbook for the course is:
Aschengrau A, Seage GR III. Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health, 2nd Edition. Jones and Bartlett Publishers Inc, Sudbury, MA, 2007 ISBN: 076374025X
Copies of this book have been ordered and should be available in the Health Sciences bookstore at the Ottawa General Hospital. I strongly encourage everyone to get a copy of this book.
The second level textbook I am recommending is:
Szklo M, Nieto FJ. Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics, 2nd Edition. Jones and Bartlett Publishers Inc, Sudbury, MA, 2008 ISBN: 978-0763729271
Copies of this book have been ordered and should be available in the Health Sciences bookstore at the Ottawa General Hospital. If you prefer, you can copy the key chapters from the binder. However, buying the book will save you photocopy charges and give a good resource for your future studies and work.
PREREQUISTES
EPI 5240 is an introductory level course. As such, students are not expected to have had any prior exposure to epidemiology. However, in order to master the course material at a graduate student level, it is important that students have appropriate prior backgrounds in biostatistics and have some understanding of human biology. In particular, we expect that students will meet the following prerequisites:
- An introductory university-level biostatistics course covering topics such as descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals. This is required as a prerequisite! The course will be assuming that people are comfortable with these topic areas. Students are strongly encouraged to register concurrently in Biostatistics 1 (EPI 5242). More details about expectations can be found at this link (scroll down about half-way)
- Familiarity with some aspects of the health field, through either prior education or experience. This is needed to be able to understand the many real-world teaching examples which will be used in the course.
