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Synopsis

TopEpidemiology is the study of the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in defined human populations. It is the cornerstone of public health, and provides evidence that impact on both personal decisions about our lives and public policy for preventing and controlling diseases in the population. In this module, we will cover key concepts in epidemiology, including how we measure disease burden, how we study risk factors for disease, how we evaluate interventions like new vaccines and therapies, and how to critically appraise research evidence to inform public health policy.

Recorded lectures will be in LumiNUS (https://luminus.nus.edu.sg)

Learning Outcomes

TopThis module provides an overview of major public health issues and introduces the basic principles of epidemiology as the science underpinning evidence-based public health and medicine. With reference to real-life examples and practical applications, the module covers fundamental concepts in epidemiology, and illustrates how epidemiology can be used to study a wide range of public health issues. Students will also take part in hands-on practicals to demonstrate the principles of outbreak investigation and randomised controlled trials of public health interventions.

After taking this module, students will be able to:

Contrast public health as a discipline concerned with the health of populations from the patient-oriented focus of clinical medicine
Explain the role of epidemiology as a basic science underpinning public health, and as a quantitative discipline to provide evidence for public health action and clinical practice;
Understand how different types of population-based studies can be used to measure disease occurrence in the population and identify risk factors for disease
Recognize the major sources of random and systematic error in epidemiologic studies and how these influence the interpretation of research findings
Use epidemiologic principles to critically appraise evidence from the public health and medical literature
Understand the role of experimental study designs in evaluating public health interventions

Prerequisites

TopThere are no specific prerequisites for this module. However, epidemiology is primarily a quantitative discipline and students should note that the module involves a fair amount of simple calculations and statistics.

Teaching Modes

Top

Weekly lectures, with the exception of some weeks, where students will do their groupwork in the computer lab (refer to the syllabus).

Tutorials in odd week, will start in Week 5.
Tutorials in even week, will start in Week 6.

Schedule

TopLectures will take place every Monday, 3PM to 5PM.

Lecture venue: Tahir Foundation Building, MD1-08-01E-Seminar Room 1 at level 8

The tutorial groups are:
1 - Tuesdays (odd week), 11AM to 1PM, start from week 5
2 - Tuesdays (even week), 11AM to 1PM, start from week 6
3 - Wednesdays (odd week), 11AM to 1PM, start from week 5
4 - Wednesdays (even week), 11AM to 1PM, start from week 6
5 - Thursdays (odd week), 2PM to 4PM, start from week 5
6 - Thursdays (odd week), 2PM to 4PM, start from week 6

Tutorial venue: Tahir Foundation Building MD1-09-01B-Tutorial Room 2 at level 9

Syllabus

TopWeek 1: Introduction to Public Health and Epidemiology
Objective: What is public health? What is epidemiology? This lecture will give a historical overview of public health and epidemiology; by the end of the lecture, students should be able to understand how public health differs from clinical medicine, identify some of the major public health challenges affecting the world today, and appreciate how epidemiology has developed as the science underpinning public health.

Week 2: Smoking and lung cancer
Objective: Lung cancer is the most common cancer affecting populations worldwide, as smoking is the most important risk factor for lung cancer. But what is the evidence for this, and what steps are being taken to control lung cancer? In this lecture, we will give an overview of the global epidemiology of lung cancer and look at how epidemiology has been used to provide evidence of the harmful effects of tobacco. We will also introduce some basic concepts in epidemiology, including measures of disease frequency, and different types of epidemiological study design.

Week 3: HIV/AIDS and Group Assignment: Outbreak Investigation I (announcement)
Objective: This lecture will provide an overview of the epidemiology of the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS, and how epidemiology has been used to understand the transmission of HIV and to evaluate HIV control strategies. We will also highlight some ethical issues related to the conduct of epidemiological studies. We will also give an introduction to the outbreak investigation group assignment.

Week 4: Vaccines (No class due to CNY eve, please watch the lecture from last semester via LumiNUS at https://luminus.nus.edu.sg)
Objective: Vaccines are one of the most important interventions against infectious diseases. But how do vaccines work? And why is it that some diseases can be eliminated with vaccines, but others not? How do we choose which vaccines to introduce into immunisation programmes? In this lecture, we will give an overview of how vaccines have contributed to the control of infectious diseases, and look at how epidemiology is used to evaluate how useful different vaccines are. We will also give an introduction to the outbreak investigation group assignment.

Week 5: Group assignment: Outbreak investigation II
Fieldwork
In this session, you will be collecting data for a simulated outbreak exercise. We will give you detailed instructions beforehand.

Week 6: Online learning 1 (no lecture)

Week 7: Heart disease
Objective: This lecture will provide an overview of the epidemiology and control of cardiovascular disease, and how epidemiology is used to identify risk factors.

Week 8: Breast Cancer and Screening
Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In this lecture, we will give an overview of the epidemiology and control of breast cancer, with particular reference to public health screening programmes.

Week 9: Road traffic injuries

Week 10: Class Activity – Randomised Controlled Trial
Objective: In this session, we will go through the results of our randomised controlled trial, and discuss epidemiological issues in the conduct and interpretation of trials such as this one

Week 11: Group assignment: Outbreak investigation III
You will be working in small groups in the computer lab (MD1-08-01A/B computer lab at Tahir Foundation Building MD1, level 8), analysing data from the outbreak investigation that you collected.

Week 12: Group assignment: Outbreak investigation IV
You will be working in small groups in the computer lab (MD1-08-01A/B computer lab at Tahir Foundation Building MD1, level 8), writing up a report of your outbreak investigation.

Week 13: Exam Training

Assessment

Top20% randomised controlled trial exercise & quizzes
20% group assignment (outbreak investigation)
60% exam (3 May 2019, 2.30pm)

Final exam (60%)
There will be a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. Questions may require simple calculations (calculator is allowed, but not hand phones, tablets or other mobile devices).

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

Essential Epidemiology: An Introduction for Students and Health Professionals (2^nd Edition). Penny Webb and Chris Bain. Cambridge Medicine (2011).

You do not need to purchase this book. It is available as an e-book from the NUS library, please refer to http://libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/login?url=http://dx.doi.org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1017/CBO9780511997303.

Preclusions

TopNIL