Introduction to Epidemiology (Online) - (2024-II)

Course description

This course provides insight in the basic terminology and principles used in epidemiology. The course starts with the history and design of epidemiological research, and the different measures of frequency and association. Also, the principles of bias and confounding are addressed. In the second part of the course, epidemiological fields of research as covered at UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University are presented.

Learning objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Use and explain the basic terminology and principles used in epidemiology
• State important historical developments in health sciences in general, and epidemiology in particular

In particular, you will be able to:

• Distinguish between, and apply, the different measures of frequency, association and impact that are commonly used in epidemiological research
• Calculate these measures using simple numerical examples
• Tell apart and explain the different aspects of epidemiological research (causal and descriptive).
• Tell apart and state the (dis)advantages of the different study designs used in epidemiological research: cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies.
• Read and interpret (simple) epidemiological scientific papers, and recognize in these papers which study design was used
• Apply the correct measures of frequency and association belonging to the different epidemiological study designs
• Explain the meaning of the terms ‘bias’ and ‘confounding’ and distinguish between them

Course program

The online course is a 3 week part-time course with a study load of 14 hrs/w. Our online courses enable you to study anytime, from any location in the world, as long as you have a working Internet connection. The course materials are accessible 24/7 and our asynchronous learning approach means there are no specific times or moments at which you should be online. You choose when and where you want to watch web lectures and work on assignments. There are weekly deadlines that you should take into account. The e-moderator of the course will inform you about all the deadlines at the start of the course. Part of our learning approach is the interaction with peers. In order to experience maximum interaction, and get the most out of this course, we advise you to log on several times a week. The course ends with an exam.

Start: 2 September 2024

End: 20 September 2024

Course material

Compulsory study material: ‘Epidemiology – An Introduction’ by K.J. Rothman, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, June 2012, ISBN-13: 978-0199754557.

Group size

8 to 30 participants

Number of credits

1.5 EC

Course certificate

Participants will receive a certificate when they completed the practical exercises (self-study), attended at least 80% of the classes and passed the exam.

Course fee

We offer 15 places for free for PhD candidates registered with the Graduate School of Life Sciences via MyPhD (except for PhD candidates in the Epidemiology programme) . Be quick, these 15 places tend to be taken soon. 

Cancellation and No-show policy

This course is free for GSLS PhD candidates. However: free of charge does not mean free of responsibility. Once you have signed up for a course, we expect you to attend. For every late cancellation or no-show we have had to disappoint others who would have liked to attend. This is our policy:

• You may cancel free of charge up to 4 weeks before the start of the course. After this date you can only cancel if you have a GSLS PhD candidate to replace you in the course. Send the name and contact information of your replacement to pcc@uu.nl, at least 2 working days before the start of the course;

• We expect that you actively attend the full course. You have to complete the total E-learning.

• Not meeting the above requirements means you will be charged a no-show fee. We will send the invoice after the course has ended. We are unable to make any exceptions, unless you have a valid reason (i.e., illness or death in the family 1^st/2^nd degree or partner). Your supervisor has to send an e-mail to pcc@uu.nl indicating the reason.

More information and registration

To register for this course, please send an e-mail to msc-epidemiology@umcutrecht.nl, including the 4 points below. Your registration can only be processed when you include all this information.

• You are a PhD candidate of the GSLS;
• You are registered at the GSLS in MyPhD (this is required. Without MyPhD registration you can't participate); 
• The PhD programme of the GSLS that you are part of and your affiliation;
• The course that you would like to attend (Introduction in Epidemiology starting 02-09-2024).

Interest list

Is this course fully booked? Or would you like to follow a course at a later moment? When you subscribe to the interest list of a course, you will receive an e-mail when a new edition opens for registration. The interest list is for GSLS PhD candidates only.