Graduate Course Directory and Schedules

This advanced applied doctoral-level seminar course synthesizes across students’ prior training in epidemiology, biostatistics, applied research, and the disciplines/content areas that are required for students’ doctoral research. Drawing from doctoral students’ and the instructor’s expertise, this course aims to facilitate the professional development required to be a successful PhD student and graduate. The course is repeatable, and best taken for the first time during the 2nd year of the doctoral program. The principal goals of this seminar class are to: 1) Engage with the CDC’s 10 Essential Public Health Services and how they play out in epidemiology and the students’ own research. 2) Familiarize students with the historical development, philosophy and culture of the discipline of epidemiology, including entrenched structural racism. 3) Explore, critique, and have in-depth discussions regarding the current state of epidemiologic research and practice, with special emphasis on how to conduct anti-racist epidemiologic studies. 4) Formulate innovative research questions and select appropriate epidemiologic study designs and analytic methods. 5) Refine and verbally present study designs, aims for students’ proposed dissertation projects, or research in progress on students’ dissertation. Through honing these skills in this seminar, students will reinforce and further build competencies in doctoral education, as laid forth by the American College of Epidemiology, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Specifically, doctoral students will develop the abilities to: 1) Synthesize existing evidence of health determinants to research of public health problems; 2) Analyze ethical problems that arise in epidemiologic research; and 3) Formulate a testable research question and propose a related study design and analytic approach. This education will prepare students to work independently and to collaborate with health professionals in other disciplines on research and applied projects that include epidemiologic elements. This course may be taken three times for separate credit.
 

Prerequisites

Graduate training in epidemiologic methods and biostatistics. Epi 512/Epi 612 (or equivalent), Epi 613, Epi 614, BSTA 612, BSTA 613 (or equivalent), or permission of instructor.

This is an elective course for epidemiology track masters students. Doctoral students are required to register for at least two terms (one credit each) during the first two years of their program. This course is intended to extend students’ understanding of the fields of epidemiology and public health research, and their ability to explore and critique research methods. In weekly sessions, the instructor, guest faculty, and students will prepare a peer-reviewed article for class discussion that demonstrates or involves innovative public health content or methods. A secondary goal of this class is to prepare students to perform peer-review themselves (e.g., for journals, study sections) by examples of this work from faculty.

Grade mode: Pass / No Pass.

This course is intended to provide a guided, mentored teaching experience for doctoral students in Epidemiology. In addition to typical and course-specific teaching assistant (TA) duties that support the teaching faculty member/course instructor, PhD epidemiology graduates will be provided basic-level preparation for independent teaching. Each TA is expected to perform some or all of the following duties: 1. Prepare for and hold office hours for student enrolled in the course they have been assigned to, 2. Support on-line (Sakai) teaching website for the course, if needed for the course (students must complete a TA confidentiality form for these Sakai activities and submit to the OHSU Teaching and Learning Center). 3. Support the development and distribution of course materials for students and the instructor. 4. Support the evaluation of students’ assigned work, including homework, quizzes and tests, term papers, small group activities, computer-lab assignments, etc. 5. Prepare and deliver one or more course sessions under the supervisor of the faculty/course instructor mentor.

Grade mode: Pass / No Pass.