Environmental Science 440/540

Environmental Epidemiology/Spring 2004

This document is available on line:www.faculty.mcneese.edu/wyman/es440.htm

Watch this space for announcements and posted grades. See further below for assignments, background readings, etc.
 






Lecture notes outlines/reviews
I will try to write a short outline of the material discussed during each lecture and post in the files below. At times, lectures may be combined in the outline, especially if I fall behind.

Start

Stop












Instructor web page: Dr. Bruce Wyman
Office: Frasch 236
Campus e-mail: wyman@mail.mcneese.edu
Campus mailbox: Frasch 117
Office telephone: 475-5669; fax: 475-5677


Lecture schedule and office hours:

Ensc 102W

M

1:00-1:50

Frasch 107

Ensc 350

MWF

8:00-8:50

Frasch 106

Ensc 440/540

TTH

1:40-2:55

Frasch 107

Ensc 493/593

TTH

10:50-12:05

Frasch 106

Office

MWF

9:00-12:00

Frasch 236

Office

TTH

9:00:10:50

Frasch 236

Lecture schedule and office hours, calendar format.


Text: Basic Epidemiological Methods and Biostatistics. Randy Page, Galen Cole, Thomas Timmreck; Jones & Bartlett, 1995. ISBN 0-86720-869-4

Course Outline
Introduction to epidemiology
History, uses, the epidemiological triad, key concepts, public health practice, data collection and analysis

Epidemiologic rates and rate adjustment
Crude rates, adjustments, mortality measures

Epidemiologic research
Cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, experiments

Avoiding common pitfalls
Reliability, validity, data classification, selection bias, ecological fallacy, cohort effect

Biostatistics
Populations, distributions, hypotheses, sampling, statistical tests, interpretation

Epidemiologic inference
Association, causality

Basic study methods
Organizing data
Tables, graphs, charts

Outbreak investigation

Occupational and community health-based standards
Risk analysis and epidemiology

Assignments will be posted here.

Date

Date due

To do








Supplemental material
Library reserve readings and Internet assignments will supplement the lecture. They will appear in the table below:

"Changing Patterns of Disease" from Rene Dubos' Man Adapting, pp. 226-253. FYI only for now.

Historical overview; many modern day diseases aren't new.

John Snow – a historical giant in epidemiology

John Snow's "life and times" plus his description of the cholera epidemics in London.

Supercourse item: History of Epidemiology

A Brief Introduction to Epidemiology - II (History of Infectious Disease Epidemics & Epidemiology)

National Center for Health Statistics


Epidemiology for the Uninitiated

Concepts overview



Sources

Exams, grading, papers

Test 

Points 

Date 

1 

100 


2 

100 


3 

100 


 

Course grade
Tests: 300 possible points. The third (final) exam will be partly comprehensive.
Grade based on total points earned:
270-300 = A, 240-269 = B, 210-239 = C, 180-209 = D, 0-179 = F 

Additional graduate student requirements
Students enrolled in Environmental Science 540, as a course requirement, will also complete a research paper, around 10 pages doublespaced. The research results will be presented in class during April (specific days will be assigned). One acceptable paper format is to discuss two or more published epidemiological studies of the same disease. The (suspected) disease agent must be chemical or physical, not biological. The paper will contain a discussion of the disease and the agent, followed by a description of each study and its conclusions. The last section of the paper would be a comparison and critique of the several studies. The paper is due at the last class meeting. Please clear your paper topic with the instructor. 

 

Students with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills are encouraged and have the responsibility to contact the instructor regarding reasonable accommodations.


www.faculty.mcneese.edu/wyman/es440.htm
Last modified: 1/14/04 Contact:  Dr. Bruce Wyman