Introduction

Public health refers to collective actions to improve population health. It differs from clinical medicine both in its emphasis on prevention rather than treatment, and in its focus on populations rather than individual patients. Epidemiology is one of the tools for improving public health.

Epidemiology is the basic science or foundation of public health because it aids the understanding of the nature, extent and cause of public health problems and provides important information for improving the health and social conditions of people. In public health practice, epidemiology is a tool that is essential for carrying out fundamental functions, such as public health surveillance, field investigation, analytic studies (research) and program evaluation.

This course introduces basic descriptive epidemiological concepts and principles that are useful in the surveillance and investigation of diseases or other health-related events. It is intended for public health workers or students who have little or no prior training in epidemiology and would like to have an overview.

Upon completion of the module, you should be able to more confidently explain the basic definitions used in clinical epidemiology and explain the importance of disease screening, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value in relation to prevalence of the disease in a population being tested.

Who Should Enrol

  • Any healthcare professional interested in public health.
  • Public health decision makers.
  • Public health aspiring researchers.
  • Public health managers with a post graduate degree qualification.
  • Any honours degree graduate interested in public health learning.

Course Design

This is an eLearning course and materials are presented in the form of video tuition and reading materials. Participants have access to all available resources for a 3 Month period from the date of enrolment.

Course Content

This course consists of two modules namely:

  1. Basic Epidemiology and Public Health Surveillance.
  2. Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology.

Learning Outcomes

After completion of this course, you should be able to:

  • Describe how using descriptive studies can help provide an overview of the health of populations.
  • Describe the causes of measurement error in epidemiology.
  • Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of cross-sectional and prevalence studies.
  • Describe the strengths and weaknesses of prospective studies to obtain estimates of disease incidence and prevalence.
  • Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of randomised controlled trials, compared to alternative methods for the evaluation of interventions.

Assessment

Participants are required to successfully complete the two online multiple-choice assessments and a final assignment and obtain a pass mark of 50%.

Accreditation

This course is valued at 15 Credits as part of the Master of Public Health (MPH) (NQF Level 9, 180 Credits, SAQA ID: 117086). The MPH may be achieved in part through Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT) up till 50%. Should you successfully complete this course, you can apply for CAT, should you be accepted to the Master of Public Health.

Accredited according to the HPCSA’s Medical and Dental Board Guidelines for 30 Clinical CEU’s on Level 2. In order to qualify for CPD points, a student is required to obtain a final pass mark of 70%.

Certification

To obtain a certificate of completion participants are required to work through all materials and resources provided as well as successfully complete the assessment process.

Course Duration

Participants have access for a 3-month period. It will take approximately 4 weeks to work through all materials and resources provided as well as complete the assessment process.

Contact

Tel: 0878211109

Fax: 086 550 3692

E-mail: shortprog@foundation.co.za

Address: P.O. Box 75324, Lynnwood Ridge, 0040

Website: www.foundation.co.za




COURSE
R 4,150.00 (incl VAT)

30.0 General Points

30.0 Max Points

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