Intended Audience

All public health workers in state, local or tribal health agencies, hospitals, community health clinics, and community-based organizations seeking a basic understanding of epidemiology principles and applications.

Course Description

Introduction to Epidemiology for Public Health Workers is an introductory level course designed for practicing state and local health department professionals and other public health personnel.  The course focuses on epidemiological principles and concepts for non-epidemiologists who need to understand or use data on health and disease in public health settings.  Topics to be covered include: basic principles and uses of epidemiology in public health, epidemiologic terms used to describe rates of disease, assessment of disease occurrence in communities, concepts important in understanding screening programs, establishing and monitoring an effective disease surveillance system, and presenting public health data.  Course examples will focus on chronic or noninfectious diseases of significance to public health in Oregon.  An interactive problem-solving approach using case studies and facilitated small group discussion will be used where applicable.

Objectives

After completing this course you should be able to:

• Identify basic concepts and principles of epidemiology.
• List common uses of epidemiology in public health practice.
• List and define disease rate terms used in epidemiology.
• Define and interpret basic epidemiological measures of association.
• Identify epidemiologic study design types and appropriate usage.
• Describe the role of screening in secondary prevention of disease.
• Define and interpret measures of validity of a screening test.
• Define and describe common public health surveillance systems.
• Present and interpret public health data.

Public Health Competencies Addressed

This is an awareness level course, i.e. it provides a basic level of mastery of the content. Individuals may be able to identify the concept or skill but have limited ability to perform the skill.

The following competencies are addressed in this course:

Bioterrorism and Emergency Readiness Competencies for All Public Health Workers
Developed by Columbia University School of Nursing Center for Health Policy
Source: http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/nursing/chphsr/pdf/btcomps.pdf

7. IDENTIFY limits to his/her own knowledge, skills and authority and IDENTIFY key system resources for referring matters that exceed these limits.
8. RECOGNIZE unusual events that might indicate an emergency and DESCRIBE appropriate action.

Council on Linkages Core Public Health Competencies (domains):
Developed by The Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice
Source: www.trainingfinder.org/competencies/

DOMAIN #1: Analytic Assessment Skills
DOMAIN #6: Basic Public Health Sciences Skills

Prerequisite Knowledge

None

Format

Course is lecture format and uses case studies to provide exposure to situations typically encountered in practice. Participants are encouraged to submit issues from their own work experience that could be used in conjunction with the case studies.

Estimated Time to Complete

This course is designed as a residential training over two and a half days. However, the scope of the course can be modified to fit into a shorter time frame if desired.

Course Instructors

• Victoria Holt, PhD, RN, MPH
  Professor, Department of Epidemiology
  University of Washington
• Janet Baseman, PhD
  Senior Fellow, Department of Epidemiology
  University of Washington

Dr. Holt frequently recruits a local epidemiology specialist to be co-instructor of this course. This has been a successful format for integrating current local issues with key course concepts. Most recently, Don Austin, MD, MPH, a Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, has assisted Dr. Holt in teaching this course.

Previous Offerings

February, 2005. Oregon Public Health Institute, Portland, OR
February, 2006. Annual Oregon Public Health Conference, Portland, OR

Scheduling and Additional Information

For more information, or to schedule this course at your organization in the Northwest region (AK, ID, OR, MT, WA, WY), please e-mail NWCPHP or call (206) 685-1130.