Course syllabus
Course literature MGH301 2023.pdf
Remember to register on the course via Ladok! The registration opens 1 week before the course start.
The MGH301 Epidemiology and Biostatistics with special focus on social epidemiology course is mandatory as part of the Masters in Global Health program, which is also available as a standalone course.
The course comprises of lectures, computer labs, seminars, group discussions/ workshops and oral presentations. It also invites broad-expertise spectrum of speakers from different entities and stakeholders.
Essentially, this course provides fundamental understanding and practices of the relationship between social factors, social structures and population health. Participants will learn how to translate social epidemiological theories and concepts for the planning, implementation, interpretation and evaluation of advanced epidemiological studies. The course also includes specific epidemiological tools that are important for more public health application in the context of social science, such as the development and validation of survey instruments, different types of advanced biostatistical analysis, knowledge compilation and the presentation of scientific literature including findings from epidemiological studies to potential stakeholders.
During the early phase of the course, participants will be introduced to general conceptual understanding of social epidemiology in public health research and continue to discuss through lectures, seminars and computer labs related biostatistics and epidemiology theory and practice to form the practical applications of this science.
The course will adapt an on-campus teaching design.
Outcome Measures
Class Participation: the course is campus-based. Class participation and discussion significantly contribute to the written notes that are provided. Students are encouraged to attend and participate in all classes.
Assignments: There will be one major individual written assignments towards the final assessment of the course. Each participant must hand in his/ her own assignment, but they may work in groups or take advantage of the office hours to help solve the problems. Each student is required to design a research study proposal. The development of these proposals is a central activity of this course. In the month preceding the study design oral presentation seminar (which is also the date for their submission of the written proposal), each student will submit a brief (1-2 pages) description of a research question, background, and very rough design of a study that addresses a research question of interest to that student. After discussions among the students’ peers and course lecturers through organized group’ sessions, all students will eventually submit a written 5-page proposal for grading and comments.
Computer lab: participants are required to attend all computer labs and perform statistical analyses using different exercises and data sets. All participants may be required to submit a report of their analysis outlining their analysis outputs, interpretations and motivations.
Biostatistics Exam: Participants will be assessed for their biostatistics learning objectives via an individual computer-based exam.
Oral presentation: towards the end of the course, we will have a student project oral presentation where students will have 15 minutes to present and discuss their individual research proposal and ideas with the examiners and their peers.
Critique of Literature Seminar: During this course, there will be Critique of Literature Seminars. Participants will be divided into smaller groups to review selected papers. The papers discussed on this day cover a broad range of topics. All papers will be located on the course website under canvas.
Additional information on course contents, objectives and assessments are outlined in the Course Syllabus.
Contact information
Course coordinator: Junmei Miao Jonasson: junmei.jonasson@gu.se
Course administrator: Helen Borgkvist, helen.borgkvist@gu.se