Fundamentals of Epidemiology I
Instructor: Sukon Kanchanaraksa and Marie Diener-West
Organization: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Delivery Mode: Online – self study
When offered: Ongoing
Cost: None
Prerequisites: None
Description: This course introduces the basic concepts of epidemiology and biostatistics as applied to public health problems. Emphasis is placed on the principles and methods of epidemiologic investigation, appropriate summaries and displays of data, and the use of classical statistical approaches to describe the health of populations. Topics include the dynamic behavior of disease; usage of rates, ratios and proportions; methods of direct and indirect adjustment, and clinical life table which measures and describes the extent of disease problems. Various epidemiologic study designs for investigating associations between risk factors and disease outcomes are also introduced, culminating with criteria for causal inferences. The main objectives of this course are:
- Distinguish the roles and relationships between epidemiology and biostatistics in the prevention of disease and the improvement of health.
- Compute basic descriptive statistics and explore data analytic methods.
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of epidemiologic methods and study design.
- Combine appropriate epidemiological concepts and statistical methods.
