Postgraduate - UnitMPH5020 - Introduction to epidemiology and biostatistics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
Offered	Alfred Hospital First semester 2014 (Off-campus) Alfred Hospital Second semester 2014 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr M Davies / Prof F Cicuttini

Synopsis

Differences between descriptive & analytical epidemiology, strengths & weaknesses of different epidemiological study design & basic concepts & methods of biostatistics including confidence intervals, p-values & sample size, statistical tests for comparing groups, regression models & survival analysis. Design & evaluation of clinical trials

Outcomes

On completion of the unit students will be able to:

appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of different epidemiological study designs;
demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts and methods of biostatistics;
interpret confidence intervals, p-values and sample size;
use epidemiological and biostatistical principles to critically evaluate epidemiological research.

Assessment

Two assignments (1500 words each): (50%)
Examination (3 hours): (50%)

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Flavia Cicuttini

Additional information on this unit is available from the faculty at:

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/epidemiology/pgrad