Public Health and Epidemiology (SVUEK_096)
About Study Course
Objective
The aim of the course is to provide knowledge in the fundamentals of public health and basic principles and concepts in epidemiology and to introduce to methods of research and solutions of health problems.
Prerequisites
Learning public health and epidemiology requires basic knowledge in normal and pathological physiology and/or propaedetics. In order to understand and be able to practically apply the methods and measurements of epidemiological studies, knowledge in mathematical statistics is necessary. English language skills are required to read academic literature and epidemiological studies in public health and epidemiology.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to:
• define concept of health;
• state tasks of public health and to list the main disciplines;
• define a concept of health prevention, to describe strategies and levels of disease prevention, including fundamental principles of screening;
• define a concept of health promotion and to describe approaches to health promotion;
• list the main categories of health determinants in the context of the multi-factorial theory;
• list basic epidemiological measures; to explain differences and relations between them;
• identify sources and methods for collecting health information; to describe their advantages and limitations;
• recognise the main types of epidemiological studies.
• interpret the concepts of health and disease in the professional context;
• illustrate with examples approaches to health promotion and disease prevention;
• demonstrate examples of health determinants, including the social determinants of health;
• calculate basic epidemiological measures;
• use statistics data bases for health information search.
• debate about public health problems and potential solutions in the professional context;
• evaluate a suitability of data sources and indicators for an assessment of the given health problem;
• judge about an appropriateness of the study design in regard to the research question.
