Welcome EPID600 Class of Fall 2008 (Please read the welcome messages:   classroom   Internet)

University of North Carolina School of Public Health (link)
Department of Epidemiology (link)

EPID600, Principles of Epidemiology for Public Health
(formerly known as EPID160 - we’ve been promoted!)

Instructors: Victor J. Schoenbach, Lorraine K. Alexander

Photo of class in Rosenau Auditorium

What is epidemiology? Epidemiolog.net Information for students   (Make a request)
Course objectives EPID160/600 history Have I taken an equivalent course?
Course content EPID160/600 instructors – then Which introductory epidemiology course should I take?
Class schedules EPID160/600 instructors – and now Information for teaching assistants (Sign up now!)

Enrolled students - login to Blackboard:

Fall 2008 course information:       Classroom Internet
Course schedule:      

Classroom

Internet

Course materials: Lectures Textbook readings Case study instructions and questions
        * Please note that course materials may change slightly before the fall semester begins.

Library resources:   E-journal Finder Off-campus access (FAQ) UNC-CH libraries (Ask a HSL librarian)
UNC-CH resources:   UNC-CH on-line Directory Get an ONYEN, manage your email Learning Disabilities Office

“I just wanted to let you know that I have found some of the recent concepts really helpful to my work. I primarily do basic medical research; however recently we have 2 grants for clinical studies, and I have found the intervention studies and case-control lectures to pertain to exactly what I am doing. One of my studies is an intent to treat trial, and I never knew until recently what intent to treat actually meant! Another study is a case-control study for which I have interviewed the cases from our institution and now I am ready to interview matched controls (ratio 2 controls for every 1 case) from our geographic area. The controls have been selected for us by the coordinating center, but it is now interesting to note that the controls are very similar indeed to the data I supplied regarding our cases.
“So, basically, I just wanted to let you know that this course is relevant to my life. I probably would have found EPID interesting anyway, but it is even better that I can use it on the job!” (S.H., fall 2004 Internet)

Read more of what students are saying about EPID160/EPID600

About EPID160/EPID600 (more about EPID160/EPID600)

According to the Institute of Medicine monograph The Future of Public Health, epidemiology is the basic science of public health. This course has been organized to allow public health students the opportunity to learn epidemiology by applying its concepts to current public health concerns, thereby experiencing epidemiology as the basic science of public health. The course is designed to require problem-based learning of epidemiological concepts and methods, so that students can use epidemiology as a scientific tool for addressing the health needs of the community.

The current edition of EPID160/EPID600 is based on a cooperative learning model developed by Carl M. Shy, M.D., Dr.P.H. and Lorraine Alexander, Dr.P.H., assisted by epidemiology doctoral students and consultants from the UNC Center for Teaching and Learning and the UNC School of Public Health. In this model, a major resource for learning is weekly small-group (“team”) meetings and discussions, organized around case studies, with a teaching assistant serving as a consultant.

EPID160/EPID600 is taught in two versions: on-campus (Classroom - section 001 plus one 600-level section) and Internet (any 900-level section or section 01W). The on-campus course is currently offered in fall and spring; the Internet course is currently offered fall and summer. The Internet course is a regular, 3-credit course, designed to be equivalent to the on-campus course and conducted on approximately the same schedule (view recent class schedules). Internet students are welcome to attend lectures with the classroom course. Classroom students can occasionally be enrolled in the Internet course, but only if space remains after all students from the sponsoring programs have been enrolled.

“Dear Dr. Schoenbach,
“I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your dedicated teaching in EPID 160 during Spring 2005. I am an MSPH candidate in HPAA, and I am currently doing an internship and will continue to work here as an RA through the academic year.
“I must admit that, throughout your class, I couldn't imagine how I might make direct use of epidemiology in a career in health policy. This morning, though, I've been reviewing a journal manuscript that uses risk ratios, sensitivities and specificities to assess the relationship between being up-to-date on immunizations and having received non-vaccine-related preventive services (being up-to-date is "testing positive"). I am so proud to say that I understood the concepts completely, and I was able to critically review the manuscript.
“Thanks so much for your careful and dedicated teaching!”
(S.B., Spring 2005)

Read more of what students are saying about EPID160/EPID600

Class times and locations

EPID600 has a weekly lecture on Tuesdays at 3:30pm-4:45pm in the Rosenau Auditorium (RO 133) and a weekly recitation section (“lab”) on Tuesday 5:00pm-6:50pm or Wednesday 4:00pm-5:50pm (rooms TBA). The Internet version has weekly recorded audio lectures, occasional online “Live Meetings”, the same case studies, and weekly discussion forums.

Materials

The primary course materials consist of a textbook, a set of Powerpoint slides with verbatim speaker notes, and a set of case studies (articles and questions on them. The textbook is Aschengrau, Ann, and George R. Seage, III. Essentials of epidemiology in public health. Jones and Bartlett, 2nd edition, 2007 (publisher’s web site. Vic has posted some comments on the textbook, though at present all refer to the 1st edition).

All materials other than the textbook are provided on-line. There is no coursepack.The case studies questions may be revised slightly before August 19, but the readings will not change.

Important: If you purchase or borrow the course materials from a student who has already taken EPID160/600, be sure to check for differences from the current version, since lectures and case studies are substituted, refined, or corrected each semester. Also, you must not receive or retain instructor answers to case studies or past examinations (except for those given to you by an instructor). If you have obtained or been given answers to EPID600 case studies or examinations you must inform Dr. Schoenbach and turn the material in to him.

Grading

Course grades are based on three take-home, open-book examinations, case study answers, and contributions to small learning groups. The first two examinations consist of multiple choice, calculation, and short-answer questions. (Several of the case studies are taken from recent examinations.) The third exam, often referred to as the “final paper” [see about the final paper], consists of a set of essay questions providing a critique of an assigned article. Grading of contributions to learning groups is based on evaluation of group answers to selected case studies and peer evaluations of contributions by group members [see peer evaluation criteria]. The grading algorithm and other information for fall 2008 can be found at http://www.unc.edu/epid600/classes/2008cd/.

“I wanted to thank you for the email regarding the low scores on Exam 2. I was quite discouraged when I checked my answers against the exam answers. I am not accustomed to working so hard and then seeing that I still am falling short of understanding course material.
“Despite my discouragement at my results, I had been wanting to post a comment about the exam. I thought it was an excellent exam. Though at times I was close to tearing my hair out while working on it, the questions made me think analytically about the material we had learned. The exam also helped me to integrate the material. So, even though I did not perform as well as I had hoped, I still think that doing the exam helped me consolidate my learning. I don't think I ever had had the experience before of completing an exam and wanting to thank a professor for writing such a challenging exam!
(Summer 2006)

Honor System

We expect all students to be familiar with the Honor System and to abide by the Honor Code of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (see honor.unc.edu). Your observance of the Honor Code makes this course possible. The EPID600 faculty take seriously our responsibility to report violations. Cheating on examinations is a widespread problem, and we employ measures to detect it. We have had to report a number of undergraduate and postgraduate students, in both classroom and Internet courses, for knowingly violating the Honor Code. If for any reason you find yourself tempted to do so, from a feeling of desperation or disenchantment, please call or write to me in confidence, so that I can suggest a better alternative. [Important: During the semester you will receive instructor answers to case study and examination questions. Please do not give these to people who will be taking EPID600. Having the answers while working on the questions compromises the learning process and could lead to a violation of the Honor Code. The instructor answers are for your use only. If you have received instructor answers from a student who has previously taken EPID160/EPID600 please turn these over to the instructor now.]

Other (optional) resources

Dr. Schoenbach’s web-published “evolving” textbook is available in English (Understanding the fundamentals of epidemiology – an evolving text) and Spanish (Comprendiendo los fundamentos de la epidemiología – un texto en desarrollo), along with a list of published textbooks, past examinations from Dr. Schoenbach's previous introductory course, and numerous web site links for epidemiology, statistics, and related fields (see www.epidemiolog.net). Check out the page with data sources, such as the Census Bureau’s International Database with historical and projected demographic information on every country in the world. Several UNC-CH resources include Epidemiology On-line (an on-line source for epidemologic-related educational materials including: a bi-monthly epidemiology newsletter and on-line short courses), the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness Training web site (with numerous audio tutorials including most of the lectures from EPID160/EPID600). Web searches for specific topics frequently turn up many other on-line epidemiology resources. More lectures? We recommend Department of Epidemiology seminars.

For handy references or to brush up your math or writing skills, check out:

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Habla español? Parlez-vous français? Lei parla l'italiano? Spreekt u Nederlands? Fala português? Translate epidemiologic terms among Catalan, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish (at the IEA web site – scroll down to Epilex). [Above translations courtesy of FreeTranslation.com; multilingual lecture greetings courtesy of TravLang Travel and Language Services.]

Instructors

Victor J. Schoenbach, since fall 2001

Lorraine K. Alexander, since spring 1994

Teaching assistants:

Summer 2008 (Internet): Catherine Vladutiu, Jenn Griffin, Joe Braun, Leah Schinasi, Nicholas Taylor

Fall 2008 (Classroom): Ginger Guidry, Leah Sirkus; (Internet): Atupele Kapito-Tembo, Mary Woessner, Melinda Eaton, Sharon Myers, Yvonne Golightly

Past instructors and teaching assistants

For more information, please write to:

Victor_Schoenbach@unc.edu

Lorraine_Alexander@unc.edu

 

Last updated 5/1,2/2008, 7/3,18/2008, 8/11,14/2008