Type of course

Admission requirements

The course can be taken as a singular course by applicants who meet the academic admission criteria for the Master's program in Public Health.

Application code: 9371

Course content

This course provides students with comprehensive knowledge on the fundamental principles of epidemiology and biostatistics, and how this relates to the field of public health. Students will develop scientific competence necessary to conduct a research project in epidemiology. They will learn to design studies to address specific research questions, perform statistical analyses, critically interpret results, and present their findings clearly and rigorously in a scientific context. Focus will also be on interpreting and translating findings from epidemiological studies and statistical tests into public health relevant contexts.

HEL-3049 Epidemiology and applied biostatistics 1 is a mandatory course for all students being enrolled on the MPH program.

Recommended prerequisites

Objectives of the course

After completing the course, the student should be able to:

Knowledge

• explain and discuss data sources and data collection procedures commonly used in epidemiology
• evaluate the principles, applications, and challenges of various types of observational and interventional studies
• discuss and evaluate random and systematic errors that can impact measures of disease frequency, association, and causal inference, and outline strategies to minimize these errors
• assess the validity and reliability of diagnostic and screening tests
• describe the key factors influencing infectious disease dynamics and explain the role of population-level interventions in managing outbreaks
• describe the principles and applications of regression analyses, including linear and logistic regression, and survival analysis
• justify the selection of statistical methods for analyzing datasets
• explain and discuss the relationship between effect size, significance level, sample size, and statistical power

Skills

• select and justify the most appropriate research methods to address specific research questions in epidemiology
• compute and interpret descriptive and analytical measures in epidemiology
• apply basic mathematical models to analyze the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks
• use the statistical software Jamovi with R efficiently to conduct statistical analyses
• apply appropriate statistical analyses to different study designs and evaluate the results in the context of causality
• design a basic epidemiological study, including selecting and performing appropriate statistical analyses
• critically evaluate and interpret epidemiological data to inform public health decision-making
• perform literature search in a scientific database to identify relevant epidemiological articles

General competence

• develop and deliver effective presentations to communicate public health information and present research findings in a clear and scientifically rigorous manner
• critically appraise scientific work published in journals, reports, and media to assess its validity and relevance
• reflect critically on how artificial intelligence can enhance or hinder learning in epidemiology and biostatistics

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

Information to incoming exchange students

Master's students studying public health from EUGLOH partner institutions, as well as those from institutions with an Erasmus or North2North agreement, are encouraged to attend this course.

Please see "Admission requirements" section.

Do you have questions about this exchange? Please check the following website to contact the course coordinator for exchange students at the faculty: https://en.uit.no/education/art?p_document_id=510412