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Practical Design of Epidemiological Studies

© Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

This short course is designed for early career researchers and clinicians who would like to conduct independent epidemiological research and who have had an introduction to epidemiology and some preliminary experience in research.

The Global Population Studies teaching team is keen to work with local partners, such as academic institutions and non-profit organisations, to deliver the course around the world. The course does not accept applications from individuals. If you are interested in running this course for approximately 20 to 30 postdoctoral students or professionals who are enthusiastic about starting a career in health research, please get in touch with the Global Population Studies teaching team at epi.courses@ndph.ox.ac.uk.

COURSE CONTENT

The course covers the practical aspects and considerations in designing epidemiological studies for competitive research funding applications. The course objectives are:

  • to develop a focused and testable research question for an epidemiological study by defining participant, intervention, comparator, outcome and study design (PICOS);
  • to design a sampling strategy that will result in suitable power for a study;
  • to choose measurements for a study that will produce reliable and valid data;
  • to critique the potential for bias and confounding in a study design and be able to mitigate these limitations through robust study design;
  • to understand the requirements of international funding bodies in grant applications.

Course format

The course runs in-person over four full days, followed by a two-week group project on a study design exercise and a mentorship programme leading to a grant proposal. 

COURSE ORGANISERS

The course is designed by experienced epidemiologists and statisticians from Oxford Population Health at the University of Oxford. The department is renowned for its large-scale and innovative observational studies and clinical trials. The Global Population Studies teaching team on this course also runs the MSc Global Health Science and Epidemiology and has created other popular in-person and online epidemiology and statistics short courses. 

FEEDBACK FROM PREVIOUS STUDENTS

The Practical Design of Epidemiological Studies was run in Senegal in June 2024. Attendees were largely postdoctoral students, cardiologists or nephrologists with no prior research training. The 18 students indicated that the course met all of its stated objectives and that they would highly recommend the course.

Now I can make the difference of study designs and my understanding about scientific papers is improved.
The quality of the teaching and above all the teaching approaches.
I liked the entire course: the practicality of all topics and the fact that relationship with our setting was always stressed out / narrowed down to.
A big thank you to the professors and organising team. You surely planted a transforming seed.