Canadian Field Epidemiology Program

Epidemiology in Action Summer Course 2008

• Course overview
• Draft schedule

To apply: Complete the EIA 2008 application form.
Course overview and draft schedule.

The deadline for receipt of applications is June 25, 2008. Participants will be selected based on their suitability, interests and relevant experience. As spaces are limited, preference will be given to applicants residing in Canada. Successful applicants will be notified by July 8, 2008.

When: September 8 to 26, 2008.
Full-time (Mon to Fri) participation is required.  Some after-hours work will be assigned.

Where: Marriott Ottawa, 100 Kent Street, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
All sessions will be held at this downtown location.

Who: Course participants will include the incoming cohort of Field Epis plus a limited number of external participants.  The course will be of most interest to epidemiologists, public health professionals and clinicians who are responsible for the implementation and interpretation of epidemiologic field studies and outbreak investigations in Canada.

Cost: The course fee is $750.00.  Transportation and accommodation costs are the responsibility of each participant.  All course materials, equipment, lunch and refreshments (Mon-Fri) will be provided by CFEP.  A laptop will be assigned to each participant for the duration of the course, and will be available for sign-out after classroom hours.

Accommodation: EIA 2008 participants will be entitled to a reduced room rate at the Marriott Ottawa Hotel, 100 Kent Street.  In order to receive the negotiated rate of $129/night (one-bedroom, single occupancy), reservations must be made using our booking code (to be provided to course participants upon acceptance).

Pre-requisite: You must have completed at least one of the following:

• Basic course in epidemiology (normally given at the graduate level)
• CDC “Principles of Epidemiology” (www.train.org)
• Skills Enhancement Module 1 “Basic Epidemiological Concepts” (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/sehs-acss/index-eng.php)

Language: The language of instruction and all course material are English.

Faculty:Our faculty includes Public Health Agency of Canada staff, current and former Field Epis and other Canadian and international public health professionals with expertise in applied epidemiology training.

Overview: This three-week course is designed to provide an overview of epidemiologic principles and practices applied to public health field studies. The course combines lectures, case studies, group problem solving, workshops, a field study and scientific writing. The objective of the course is to prepare participants to engage in public health field studies and to reinforce epidemiologic practice in their work or study. This course is open to persons who have completed at least an introductory course in epidemiology, have a good understanding of epidemiology and use epidemiologic methods in their work or study.

Course Content: The EIA 2008 draft schedule is now available. Lectures, case studies and a field survey will provide course participants with a better working knowledge of:

Outbreak Investigation

• steps in outbreak investigations
• introduction to the epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory and environmental aspects of an outbreak investigation
• enteric and respiratory outbreaks, bioterrorism outbreaks
• developing and critiquing case definitions
• case-finding methods
• descriptive analysis and presentation of outbreak-related data
• generating and testing a working hypothesis
• questionnaire design
• interpretation of analytical epi data
• implementing control measures
• roles of public health authorities

Study Design and Epidemiological Analysis

• elements of study design and use of case-control versus cohort studies
• measures of association
• biases, confounding and effect modification
• criteria for causation
• principles of field study design
• collection, analysis and interpretation of survey data
• use of Epi Data and Epi Info to analyse epi data
• concise scientific writing

Other

• introduction to environmental risk assessment
• introduction to cluster investigation
• introduction to geographic information systems