課程概述

The aim of this course is to introduce basic concepts of epidemiology in study design, data collection, and preliminary analyses of health-related research with discussions involved. In the first part, the instructor will give a brief introduction of the potential roles played by epidemiology in public health and global health. In the second part, lectures about ways of quantifying health events in population and the usage for estimating relative risks will be given. The third part will be the considerations of causal inferences, identification and management of potential biases as the basis of fair comparisons in health-related studies. At last, the fourth part will cover the details of basic observational and intervention study designs in epidemiology. The discussions will be closely attached to the content of lectures previously given. Real-life examples from each aspect of global health research topics and related literature will also be illustrated in the course.

課程目標

At the end of the course, students should have the following core knowledge and competencies:

1. To understand the principles of epidemiology and causal inference
2. To explain how random variation and bias affect public health research findings
3. To understand the principles of epidemiologic study design in experimental and observational studies
4. To critically appraise public health literature in terms of validity and applicability