UnitLevel 5Postgraduate

HSC5040 Introductory epidemiology

Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences

HSC5040 Introductory epidemiology is a level 5, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, offered in 2024 in Semester 1 at Suzhou (SEU). It has no prerequisites.

Credit points
6
Offered in 2024
Semester 1
Suzhou (SEU)
Assessment
No exam
4 tasks

This is the 2024 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.

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Requisites

After HSC5040

No unit lists HSC5040 as a prerequisite in the 2024 handbook.

Enrolment rules

Must be enrolled in a postgraduate course

Overview

This unit is taken concurrently with HSC5051, as together they are prerequisites for clinical epidemiology elective units.

Upon completion of this unit students will be able to measure frequencies of disease i.e. incidence, prevalence, "population at risk"; and measure associations in epidemiological studies; different study designs i.e. observational studies, experimental study designs; bias associated with study designs, misclassification, confounding and effect modification. Students will critically appraise different epidemiological studies, apply diagnostic and screening tests, and examine outbreak investigation.

Offerings in 2024

Teaching periodCampusMode
First semesterSuzhou (SEU)Block on

Assessment

  • Development activities
    35%
  • MCQ (30 Minutes)
    10%
  • Critical appraisal (2,100 words)
    35%
  • Infographic (1 page of graphics)
    20%

Learning outcomes

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

  1. 1

    Explain and contextualise the purposes of descriptive and analytical epidemiology;

  2. 2

    Explain and contextualise the concepts of study questions, population, sampling, exposure assessment, bias and confounding;

  3. 3

    Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of different epidemiological study designs;

  4. 4

    Critically analyse epidemiological papers from the medical research and OHS literature;

  5. 5

    Evaluate the adequacy of exposure assessment in epidemiological studies;

  6. 6

    Interpret and communicate the results of epidemiological studies; and

  7. 7

    Solve complex problems relating to the use of epidemiological concepts and study designs.

Workload and teaching

  • Workshops20 hours

12 hours per week including two-hour weekly workshops for 10 weeks.

Learning resources

Required resources

See Moodle for details about required resources.

Contacts

Unit Coordinators
Dr Anna Wang
Dr Lin Zhang
Chief Examiners
Associate Professor Danijela Gasevic

Common questions

What are the prerequisites for HSC5040?

HSC5040 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.

When is HSC5040 offered?

In 2024, HSC5040 runs in Semester 1 at Suzhou (SEU).

Does HSC5040 have an exam?

No. HSC5040 has 4 assessment tasks and no exam.

More details

Credit points
6
Level
5
Study level
Postgraduate
Faculty
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational unit
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Type
Coursework
EFTSL
0.125
Student contribution
SCA Band 2
Study abroad
Not available
Handbook years
20232024202520262027