Epidemiology

This subject is not offered in 2013.

120 hours

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.
The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website.

This subject is a core subject within the Master of Public Health, the Master of Epidemiology and the Master of Science (Epidemiology). Students should enrol in this subject early in their program of study.

Epidemiology is the discipline of studying the distribution and determinants of disease in populations and is a fundamental science of public health. It plays major roles in the development and evaluation of the policy and practice of public health and health care.

The subject covers measures of disease frequency, measures of association between disease and potential risk factors and measures of the impact of specific risk factors. The common experimental and observational study designs and their relative strengths and weaknesses are discussed. The implications of common types of bias (selection bias, information bias, and confounding) are discussed as are methods to minimise them. Causal inference is considered within a framework of critical appraisal of epidemiological evidence. The validity and performance of screening and diagnostic tests are considered.

At the completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:
• Locate, analyse, present and interpret data on population health
• Calculate and interpret measures of disease frequency, association and impact
• Identify confounding and effect modification and assess their public health implications
• Recognise the roles, strengths and weaknesses of randomised controlled trials, and the common observational designs
• Recognise the common forms of bias in epidemiological studies and discuss means to minimise their effects
• Perform a basic critical appraisal of an epidemiological study
• Calculate and interpret measures of screening and diagnostic test
• Assess whether associations are likely to be causal or non-causal

• Two short-answer assignments of 750 words each, due in weeks 3 and 6 (15% each)
• One long answer assignment of 1200 words due in week 12 (23%)
• One group (3 students) assignment of 2500 words due in week 9 (17%)
• A 1.5 hour open-book examination to be held during the examination period (30%)

Webb P, Bain C Essential Epidemiology, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press 2010

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Upon completion of this subject, students will have developed skills in:

• Critical thinking and analysis
• Finding, evaluating and using relevant information
• Problem-solving
• Written communication
• Using computers