HSOC 230 Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Offered:Spring 2008
Kanetsky MW 3:30-5
This course introduces students to the basic tenets of epidemiology and how to quantitatively study health at the population level. Students learn about measures used to describe populations with respect to health outcomes and the inherent limitations in these measures and their underlying sources of data. Analytic methods used to test scientific questions about health outcomes in populations then are covered, again paying particular attention to the strength and weaknesses of the various approaches.
One weekly session is used for didactic lessons, while the other is used either as “lab” to discuss homework or to expose students to practical applications of epidemiological methods through guest lectures. _Epidemiology for Public Health Practice_ by Friis and Sellers, in addition to other materials available on Blackboard, provide the backbone for the didactic lesions. Homework sets are due throughout the semester, and students willsit for a midterm and final examination. Two group projects (a presentation and paper) are assigned for the end of semester, both focusing on the epidemiology of a specific health outcome.
