Course description
Overview
Epidemiological research has become an important tool in the study of the aetiology and natural history of infectious and non-infectious diseases, and in assessing health effects in populations. This is a three week concentrated course on the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and medical statistics. The emphasis will be on the design and interpretation of epidemiological studies. Appropriate statistical methods will be integrated with the main epidemiological content, and practical sessions will make use of relevant computer software.
The School houses the largest academic group of epidemiologists, statisticians and demographers in Europe, and promotes an inter-disciplinary approach to teaching and research. The course will be taught by staff who have teaching and research experience extending across the major diseases of developed and developing countries.
Course Content
The topics to be covered will include:
Design and analysis of epidemiological studies, including case-control, cohort, cross-sectional, intervention studies and clinical trials.
Statistical methods in epidemiology, including t-test, chi-square test, Mantel-Haenszel analysis, age standardization, simple linear regression and survival analysis.
Data analysis using Stata software.
Epidemiological strategies of disease control, including screening and epidemiological methods for infectious diseases.
Teaching will be through lectures, seminars and practical sessions. Seminar discussions will focus on current issues and controversies in epidemiology. The practical sessions will involve the analysis, interpretation and discussion in small groups of a variety of epidemiological studies, and participants will make use of the computer facilities available in the School. Statawill be the statistical software package used to gain an understanding of concepts.
Comprehensive information is given to participants but the following books are recommended for those interested in further reading:
Epidemiology in Medicine; CH Hennekens & JE Buring
(Little Brown, 1987)
Essentials of Medical Statistics (2nd Edition); B Kirkwood
(Blackwell Publishing, 2003)
Methods of Assessment
There will be no formal examination, but a Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to those completing the course.
Who should apply for the course?
The course is relevant to clinicians and other graduates who work in medical research units, academic departments or health services. No previous formal training in epidemiology or statistics is required. Those who are confident in these methods may prefer to consider the