MPH6040 - Introductory epidemiology - 2018

0 points, SCA Band 2, 0.000 EFTSL

Postgraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

Organisational Unit

Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine

Chief examiner(s)

Prof Flavia Cicuttini

Coordinator(s)

DAY mode: Associate Professor Dianna Magliano
DE mode: Dr Monira Hussein

Unit guides

Offered

Alfred Hospital

Co-requisites

MPH6041

Prohibitions

MPH5040

Synopsis

To be taken concurrently with MPH6041 together they are prerequisites for clinical epidemiology elective units. Contents: rates, sources of data, descriptive & analytical epidemiology, epidemiological study designs, critical appraisal of literature, screening, prevention, exposure assessment, outbreak investigation, confounding & bias.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. explain and contextualise the purposes of descriptive and analytical epidemiology;
  2. explain and contextualise the concepts of study questions, population, sampling, exposure assessment, bias and confounding;
  3. analyse the strengths and weaknesses of different epidemiological study designs;
  4. critically analyse epidemiological papers from the medical research and OHS literature;
  5. evaluate the adequacy of exposure assessment in epidemiological studies;
  6. interpret and communicate the results of epidemiological studies; and
  7. solve complex problems relating to the use of epidemiological concepts and study designs.

Assessment

  • Short answer questions (30 minutes) (10%)
  • Open-book test (1 hour) (20%)
  • Critical appraisal (2,000 words) (30%)
  • Open-book examination (2 hours) (40%) (hurdle)

Workload requirements

2 contact hours per week for on-campus students.

See also Unit timetable information

Off-campus attendance requirements

12 hours per week, plus 2 compulsory on-campus block days

Note Semester 2 is only available in off-campus mode and no attendance is required during this Semester

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study