Introduction to Epidemiology

FaculteitFaculty of Medical Sciences

NiveauMaster

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL BE PLACED ON THE WAITING LIST UNTIL TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE COURSE

GRADUATE STUDENTS:
Please be aware that you can only select a course option that shows the academic year and is offered Face-to-Face (F2F)

POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS:
Please be aware that you can only select a course option that shows the academic year and is offered Face-to-Face (F2F) or online (depending on your registration)

(FYI: the other options are options for Continuing Education (onderwijs voor professionals))

At the end of this course, the student:

Use and explain the basic terminology and principles used in epidemiology;
State important historical and current developments in Epidemiology and the role of Health Data Science and have an understanding of what is expected of the epidemiologist of the future;
Have insight in the different fields of epidemiological research as covered at UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University;
Have insight in the core competences of an Epidemiologist defined by the MSc Epidemiology program;
Distinguish between common measures of frequency (e.g., incidence, prevalence), association (e.g., risk difference, risk ratio, odds radio) and impact (e.g. population attributable fraction) that are commonly used in epidemiological research;
Calculate these measures using simple numerical examples;
Tell apart and explain the difference between epidemiological research with a causal, predictive or descriptive aim;
Tell apart and state the (dis)advantages of the different study designs used in epidemiological research: cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies;
Read and interpret (simple) epidemiological scientific abstracts, and recognize in these abstracts which study design was used;
Apply the correct measures of frequency and association belonging to the different epidemiological study designs;
Demonstrate basic knowledge of the three main categories of bias (selection bias, information/measurementbias, and confounding) in relation to a research aim, and recognise how they may arise in epidemiological studies.

Content

Contact details: Educational Office Epidemiology
E-mail: msc-epidemiology@umcutrecht.nl

Registration:
Students are automatically enrolled for this course upon entering the Epidemiology Masters programme.
Other students can register for this course via Osiris Student. More information about the registration procedure can be found here on the Students' site.
NOTE Students of the MSc Epidemiology (Post Graduate) that register in time (i.e. at least two weeks before the start of a course) will always be admitted to the course unless it is completely full. Other students will receive information about their application two weeks before the start of the course.

Course coordinator:
Dr. M. S. (Maud) Verhoef-Jurgens, UMC Utrecht, Educational Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Course description:
This course provides insight in the basic terminology and principles used in epidemiology. The course starts with the history and design of epidemiological research, and the different measures of frequency and association. Also, the principles of bias and confounding are addressed. In the second part of the course, epidemiological fields of research as covered at UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University are presented.

Literature/study material used:
‘Epidemiology – An Introduction’ by K.J. Rothman, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, June 2012, ISBN-13: 978-0199754557.

Mandatory for students in own Master’s programme:
Epidemiology & Epidemiology Postgraduate

Optional for students in other GSLS Master’s programme:
Yes

Prerequisite knowledge:
-

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