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Unit of study_
BSTA5011: Epidemiology for Biostatisticians
2022 unit information
On completion of this unit students should be familiar with the major concepts and tools of epidemiology, the study of health in populations, and should be able to judge the quality of evidence in health-related research literature. This unit covers: historical developments in epidemiology; sources of data on mortality and morbidity; disease rates and standardisation; prevalence and incidence; life expectancy; linking exposure and disease (eg. relative risk, attributable risk); main types of study designs - case series, ecological studies, cross-sectional surveys, case-control studies, cohort or follow-up studies, randomised controlled trials; sources of error (chance, bias, confounding); association and causality; evaluating published papers; epidemics and epidemic investigation; surveillance; prevention; screening.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Public Health |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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PUBH5010 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Recognise and explain the role, strengths and challenges of the epidemiologic approach in contributing to our understanding of health and illness
- LO2. Calculate and interpret measures of disease frequency, and measures of association between an exposure and an outcome
- LO3. Identify and compare the major study designs within observational and interventional epidemiology
- LO4. Identify and differentiate between major sources of bias, confounding, effect modifiers and mediators, and predict their potential effects on measures of association
- LO5. Assess whether observed associations are likely to be causal or non-causal
- LO6. Critically appraise published epidemiological studies using a logical framework to ascertain their internal and external validity
- LO7. Apply epidemiological concepts as they relate to specialised fields of epidemiology, including infectious disease epidemiology, disease prevention and screening
Unit availability
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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Important enrolment information
Departmental permission requirements
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