Epidemiology module (GM51011)

Epidemiology is the study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why. It explores health and disease conditions, their distribution, patterns, and determinants.

Epidemiological information helps create strategies to prevent and control illness. It also helps with understanding the drivers of health.

This module introduces you to the basic principles of epidemiology. You’ll learn how data is collected, analysed, and interpreted.

What you will learn

In this module, you will learn about:

• the basic principles of epidemiology
• the major research designs used to collect data in epidemiology
• the approaches used to analyse and interpret epidemiology research.

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

• summarise the basic principles of epidemiology
• explain concepts such as mortality and morbidity, association and causation
• discuss standardisation of data, measures of risk, bias, and confounding
• assess how factors like birth, death, and migration affect population growth
• assess the main types of studies used to help explain how diseases spread in populations

Assignments / assessment

• written assignment (40%)
• exam (60%)

Teaching methods / timetable

• lectures (online and in person)
• tutorials with worked examples
• talks by invited speakers