FHE4100 – Clinical Epidemiology and Scientific Evidence in Health and Health Care
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
Clinical epidemiology is a scientific pillar in evidence-based medicine and plays a crucial role in the development of guidelines and recommendations for preventive measures and care. It involves the application of epidemiological principles and methods to the practice of healthcare and public health, aiming to provide a scientific basis for the decision-making process and priority-setting. Clinical epidemiology is used to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of medical interventions, diagnostic tests, and screening programs through studies such as randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, among others.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the three pillars of evidence-based medicine and the basic terminology and principles of clinical epidemiology
- Explain designs, with strengths, weaknesses, and risks of bias, for studies of 1) clinical test properties, 2) screening programs, 3) effectiveness of interventions, and 4) systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Be familiar with established reporting requirements and tools for the critical appraisal, including risk of bias, for study designs in clinical epidemiology
- Explain critical appraisal of studies in clinical epidemiology, and conversely, the design and conduct of studies that provide the highest quality evidence for decision making
- Explain priority setting in evidence-to-decision processes and guideline development
Skills
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Apply basic terminology and principles of clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine
- Critically appraise published studies of test properties, screening programs, randomized controlled trials, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Design basic but high-quality studies of test properties, screening programs, randomized controlled trials, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Apply evidence-to-decision processes
- Effectively instruct and validate the output of large language model based artificial intelligence (GPT UiO) in design and critical appraisal of studies in clinical epidemiology
General competence
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand and reflect on the role of evidence from clinical epidemiology in evidence-based medicine
- Critically appraise the evidence presented in published studies in clinical epidemiology
- Reflect on the evidence behind health care and public health practices, and the evidence-to-decision processes involved
Admission to the course
This course is available for students at the following master's programmes:
- Folkehelsevitenskap og epidemiologi (master)
- Helseadministrasjon (master – experience based)
- International Community Health (master)
Students at Folkehelsevitenskap og epidemiologi (master) and Helseadministrasjon (master – experience based) have priority.
There are 10 available seats for students at International Community Health (master)
If there are more than 10 applicants from International Community Health, the principle of the first come, first served applies.
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
- INTHE4020 – Introduction to Quantitative Methods; or equivalent
- INTHE4021 – Introduction to Epidemiology; or equivalent
Overlapping courses
- 5 credits overlap with HADM4403 – Medisinsk epidemiologi og kunnskapsh?ndtering (discontinued).
Teaching
- The course will be given during 2. semester with intermittent teaching, self-study and peer-based learning.
- Several assignments will be given for self- and peer study in the days with no teaching.
Examination
Written group assignment.
Examination and Grading at The Faculty of Medicine
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.