To Register: Contact the Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, 265-8035.
| GMS 6801 Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course teaches the tools necessary to understand and explore infectious disease epidemiology. A variety of important infectious diseases will be examined including HIV/AIDS, HPV, and others. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6802 Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides a detailed review of epidemiology, prevention, and control of major chronic diseases, risk factors, and methodology. Both adult and childhood chronic diseases will be addressed. The impact of childhood chronic conditions on adult health is an important component of the course. Health disparities and chronic diseases also will be discussed. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6803 Data Management for Epidemiologic & Clinical Research (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description:This course introduces techniques of data management as they apply to epidemiologic and clinical research. Students will learn basic principles related to the development and management of databases. Several different types of databases will be discussed including those for population-based studies and databases linking clinical and genetic data. Students will be provided hands-on opportunities to work with and manage data. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6811 Grant Writing Skills in Epidemiology and Clinical Research (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides instruction in the grant process related to clinical and translational research, including studies conducted in community settings. There is a specific focus on National Institutes of Health (NIH) procedures, VA-funded research applications, and competitive foundation applications such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Students receive individual mentoring from an assigned faculty mentor and complete a proposal to the funding agency of their choice during the course. | |
| Instructor: Betsy Shenkman, Ph.D. | |
| Prerequisite: None | |
| GMS 6812 Cancer Epidemiology Prevention and Control (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course gives a detailed review of epidemiology, early detection, prevention, and control strategies of major cancer sites. Emphasis is placed on examining research methods as it relates to a range of clinical studies including population-based research and its application to cancer prevention and control. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6815 Cardiovascular Epidemiology (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course is intended to be a survey of the major chronic diseases with emphasis on recent epidemiology research and findings in a series of lectures that will introduce the demographic aspects, causation, and the role of screening in the early detection of chronic diseases. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6816 Pediatric Epidemiology (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides an overview of the epidemiology of some of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in infants and children including the clinical aspects, descriptive epidemiology and suspected risk factors. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6817 Epidemic Investigations (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course presents the principles of epidemiology surveillance, epidemic investigation, and filed epidemiology. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6818 Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials I (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course focuses on various study designs, including phase I-IV, single-arm, crossover, factorial, and sequential multi-stage, plus the means to allocate study participants to appropriate treatment groups using randomization (blocked or stratified) and prognostic factors. In addition, the protection of study participants and the need for equipoise is covered, including regulatory restrictions and the latest patient privacy regulations for the dissemination and use of data associated with the participants in clinical trials. The importance of informed consent and the use of intent-to-treat analysis will also be emphasized | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6819 Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials II (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course introduces the complex issues surrounding the analysis and interpretation of clinical trials including power and sample size considerations in the context of clinical trials. In addition, analytic methods and their applications to clinical trials will be emphasized. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6821 Measuring and Analyzing Health Outcomes I (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides the basic knowledge of health outcomes measures and practical skills in selecting appropriate measures for research. The focus is on a wide range of health outcomes measures that can be used in clinical and community settings. The meaning and interpretation of measures, including subgroup analyses (e.g., based on race/ethnicity, health status, and others) are emphasized. Measures addressed in the course include patient-reported outcomes and physiologic measures. This course can be taken as a stand-alone course or as part of a sequence with GMS 6822 and includes an overview of measurement theory and assessment and critique of various measures and their applicability to different research studies. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6822 Measuring and Analyzing Health Outcomes II (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course can be taken as a sequence with 6821 or as a stand-alone course. This course provides instruction in the measurement methods currently used in health-related research in both clinical and community settings. The particular emphasis in this course is on cross-cultural translation of patient-reported outcomes measures, the development and use of measures for special populations such as children or those with chronic diseases, and on writing measurement sections for research proposals. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6823 Methods for Evaluating Health Care Outcomes and Costs: Clinical Decision Analysis (1 credit hr) | |
| Description: This course is the first in a three part series and provides an introduction to the use of decision sciences in health care. This course can be taken stand-alone or with GMS 6824 and/or GMS 6825. In addition to developing a conceptual understanding of medical decision making, the module will develop the students’ technical skills in decision analysis, including the topics of decision trees, health state utilities and costs, sensitivity analyses, Markov models, and stochastic simulation. The advantages and disadvantages of formal mathematical and statistical modeling for the analysis of clinical conditions will be presented, and examples from the current medical literature will be discussed. A substantial part of the course will be devoted to applications of clinical decision analysis, including the Coronary Heart Disease Model, the Oregon Health Plan, and the Duke Stroke Policy Model. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6824 Methods for Evaluating Health Care Outcomes and Costs: Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit Analysis in Health Care (1 credit hr) | |
| Description: This is the second part of a three part course (GMS 6823, 6824, and 6825). The course can be taken in sequence or each one can be taken stand-alone. We will cover basic types of evaluation that focus on the interplay between outcomes and costs of procedures, services, and programs in health care. These evaluation techniques are designed to provide information to decision-makers in the allocation of health care resources among alternative procedures, services, and programs in health care that are known to be efficacious and effective. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6825 Methods for Evaluating Health Care Outcomes and Costs: Econometric Modeling and Estimation (1 credit hr) | |
| Description: This is the third part of a three part course and will cover fundamental econometric methods useful in evaluating therapies, procedures, and policies based on their observed costs and outcomes. This course can be taken stand-alone or as part of a sequence with GMS 6823 and GMS6824. Discussions and examples will be cast in the context of cost–effectiveness, cost-benefit, and decision analyses. Particular attention will be paid to the problem of bias due to confounding (often called selection bias). This course should be useful to masters-level and doctoral-level students in Medicine, Public Health, and other health professions, as well as students in public policy, sociology, psychology or other social sciences with plans for a career in research. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6829 Longitudinal Research Design (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides instruction in design, evaluation, and implementation of longitudinal research designs and focuses on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of several designs as well as addressing other methodological issues. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6830 Epidemiology and Health Policy (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course focuses on the role of the science of epidemiology in informing policy designed to improve the health and well-being of the population. Drawing on theory, methods and research results from social and behavioral epidemiology and related fields, we will discuss numerous public policies that have had or could have significant effects on rates of morbidity and mortality. The course has a strong focus on the critical role of social and physical environments in shaping health behavior and health outcomes, and how dimensions of those environments are affected by public policy. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6833 Health Care Policy and Vulnerable Populations (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: Policy tools used to explore how the health care system can serve vulnerable populations such as the poor, elderly, and children. A strong emphasis is placed on health disparities within each of these vulnerable groups and mechanisms to design health policy studies to address critical issues facing these populations. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6834 Health Policy and the Formulation of Payment Mechanisms for Health Care (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: In this course, policy analytic tools are used to analyze payment mechanisms used in health care. Students gain an understanding of the evolution of physician and other provider reimbursement in health care throughout the twentieth century. Basic economic theory related to compensation and its application to the health care delivery system is presented. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6835 Health Policy Issues in Children (3 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course uses policy analysis tools to examine critical issues in child health policy such as the development and funding of early intervention programs, the rise of new morbidities of childhood, and the health and insurance status of children in the United States. The impact of childhood conditions on adult health, health disparities in children and associated policy issues are addressed. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6842 Translational Research Methods (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course introduces the concepts of translational research using both components of the NIH definition both bench to bedside and the translation of research findings into community settings. The application of translational research methods to epidemiology and improved health are addressed including an overview of various study designs and how findings across the research continuum can be used to identify new research. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6844 Experimental and Quasi-experimental Research Designs for Community Settings (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides instruction in group-randomized trials and controlled quasi-experimental trials─longitudinal and time-series experiments where random assignment is not possible, but high levels of internal validity remain attainable. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6846 Meta-Analysis in Clinical, HSR, & Public Health (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides instruction in policy-related research method Meta-analysis, the systematic reviewing of strategic summarized research evidence comprehensively and, when appropriate, quantitatively synthesized data from multiple studies. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6892 Epidemiology Seminar I: Epidemiology: Past, Present, and Future (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course provides a discussion and didactic program in the history, expectations, and careers in epidemiology. The principal goals of this seminar class are to: 1) Familiarize students with the historical development, philosophy and culture of epidemiology; 2) Explore, critique, and have in-depth discussions regarding the current state of epidemiology practice and science; and 3) formulate innovative research questions and epidemiology study designs to answer important health-related scientific questions for the future | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6893 Clinical and Translational Science Seminar Series (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This seminar series is designed to further the training of students in multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary clinical and translational research. Content areas include leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States, issues relevant to rural health and diseases such as HIV/AIDS and conditions such as obesity which have significant impact and research needs. The series consists of weekly, two-hour sessions which include researchers from the bench to the community. Specifically, for each topic area, speakers will discuss the clinical, laboratory, and epidemiological and economic aspects of the particular condition along with potential intervention strategies and community outreach activities. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6894 Epidemiology Journal Club (1 credit hr) | |
| Description: The principal goals of this journal club are to: 1) extend understanding of the field of epidemiology, and 2) practice reviewing and critiquing research studies. After this course, students will be better able to critically analyze and interpret epidemiology research articles. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6931 Ethical and Policy Issues in Clinical Research (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: Ethical and policy issues related to conduct of clinical research. Basic understanding of regulations that govern human research and introduction to the topic of research with animals is also covered. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
| GMS 6826 Advanced Design and Methodology for Case-Control Studies (2 credit hrs) | |
| Description: This course focuses on case-control and other case-based studies including case series, case-cohort, and nested case-control studies. Case-control studies can be extremely efficient study designs and are particularly useful for studying rare diseases. The popularity of case-control studies has recently been increasing as approaches for conducting these studies have improved and the scientific community has given greater credence to the validity of findings based on these study designs. | |
| Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor | |
