VCU Courses

Course detail

EPID 531/BIOS 531 Clinical Epidemiology: Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Must have completed statistics course before being given permission to take epidemiology course with permission of instructor. A survey course which focuses on the concepts of epidemiology and its role in risk assignment. This course will distill the underlying theory and the principles used by epidemiologist. The course will introduce the sources and uses of vital data, their conversion into morbidity and mortality rates and indices. Procedures such as age standardization and abridged life table will be introduced, as will concepts of disease transmission, epidemiology and various summary statistics. The Surgeon General's criteria for causation will be examined, designs in epidemiological research reviewed, and the use and limitations for epidemiological data in risk assessment described. Students should have a current VAX account and some background in mathematics and elementary statistics.