LI Course
CE Hours: 6 contact hours

Statement of Purpose and Institute Overview: Gap Despite the availability of more than 60 introductory and intermediate epidemiology text books, my extensive personal experience in both academic and community settings has shown that 1) defining and measuring epidemiological concepts are often complex and ambiguous, although these concepts are not uncommon. As a result, their appropriate application in professional practice and their interpretation are often confusing, time intense and over-burdening, if not intimidating, even among highly motivated public health practitioners. 2) there is a lack of structured, brief but very basic epidemiology course for the field practitioner and for undergraduate students who may be motivated to pursue careers in public health/epidemiology 3) formal epidemiology course in academic setting is mostly lengthy and may be unaffordable to a public health practitioner who needs to learn salient epidemiological concepts for routine, everyday professional practice Objectives The primary objective of this 2-day learning institute (LI) is to provide an opportunity to define and discuss basic epidemiologic concepts, tools and methods for novice participants who wish to utilize them to their professional practice in their community. Consistent with the theme of APHA’s 140th meeting “prevention and wellness across the life span”, this year’s LI will focus on describing and discussing epidemiological data at various levels of prevention as well as measures of wellness. A secondary objective is to formulate strategies for the student for applying epidemiologic concepts and interpreting epidemiological findings in their professional practice thru group exercises and case studies, in-class reporting and participants’ discussion of findings. A tertiary objective is to assess and analyze the student’s gained knowledge of the basic epidemiologic concepts, tools and methods thru pretest and post-test modules and therefore evaluate progress made within the purview of the 2-day LI. Analysis of concept-specific pre- and post-test comparisons have shown considerable improvement in past LI’s. To the best possible extent and within time limits, each concept will be accompanied by examples of relevant local, regional, national and international data for familiarization and application of epidemiological principles. Sessions are highly interactive and allow participants to clarify epidemiological concepts and measures. Feedback from past sessions have been extremely helpful in re-developing lecture and practice sessions and adding multiple examples to facilitate participants’ application and interpretation of complex but essential epidemiological measures. In-class group exercises and discussions will provide insight into problems and dilemmas faced by practitioners in addressing community issues of their interest

Session Objectives: For Day 1 By the end of the Day 1 of the APHA-LI, participants will be able to 1) Identify and define the concepts of a) prevention, b) morbidity, c) mortality, d) screening, e) reliability and validity, f) public health data sources, g) person years, h) survival, i) measures of prognosis 2) List and discuss how to measure and interpret these concepts and apply them to professional career 3) Illustrate, calculate, and compare the differences among concepts thru examples 4) Design, and evaluate investigations which use the above concepts For Day 2 By the end of the Day 2 of the APHA-LI, participants will be able to 1) Identify and define the concepts of a) study designs for epidemiological investigation, b) measures of association and risk assessment, c) threats to validity in risk-outcome assessment and ways to address them, d) evidence based public health practice, e)community based practice, f) translating epidemiological findings to public health policy 2) List and discuss how to measure and interpret these concepts and apply them to professional career 3) Illustrate, calculate, and compare the differences among concepts thru examples 4) Design, and evaluate investigations which use the above concepts

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)