BMS1042 - Public health and preventive medicine - 2019

Applications of epidemiological and statistical concepts and methods to typical problems in population health and in the biomedical literature. This will include consideration of fundamental ethical issues pertaining to the conduct of biomedical research and population health interventions. Much emphasis is placed on a population view of health and disease, social determinants of health, epidemiological principles, research study design and statistical analyses of data.

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

1. Demonstrate and show application of core public health principles including epidemiology, biostatistics and ethics in health research.
2. Explain how disease is measured in populations and critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of different epidemiological study designs which are used in public health research.
3. Critically appraise the popular and biomedical literature in public health.
4. Identify fundamental ethical considerations that underpin health research.
5. Identify and apply the importance of statistical methods in the design, analysis and presentation of the results of research studies in health and biomedicine, and in reports of health-related matters in general.
6. Interpret statistical results presented and identify limitations in the biomedical literature and other media and convey the interpretation in simple language.

• 2 x Online quizzes 10%
• Public health critical review and oral presentation (20%)
• Public health data analysis (20%)
• Written examination (50%) (hurdle)
• A pass in the final exam must be obtained to pass the unit

Hurdle Requirement: A pass in the final exam must be obtained to pass the unit.

Biostatistics: 3 hours per week, Epidemiology/Ethics: 3 hours per week.

See also Unit timetable information

Biomedical science