Short Courses - Clinical Epidemiology
* PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES:
What is available?
Some professional development courses are designed as stand-alone short courses open to the public e.g. Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology short course. Individual units of study in the Clinical Epidemiology Program are also offered as 'short courses' and can be studied individually, (that is, not as part of a course). Please note that some units of study have prerequisites.
For more detailed information on units of study of the Clinical Epidemiology coursework program, please see the link below.
Clinical Epidemiology
Enrolling in units of study as short courses
If you would like to enrol in a specific unit of study only, not an entire degree course, then you should enrol as a "non-award student". You will need to go through the full enrolment procedure outlined below. Non-award students are expected to take part in all learning and assessment activities. If you fail the unit, for example by not submitting compulsory assessment tasks or by failing them, an AF (Absent Fail) will be recorded on your academic transcript. Non-award students pay the standard university rate for the unit of study (calculated on a fee per credit point basis). Non-award students who have taken units of study from the Clinical Epidemiology program as short courses, may later apply for credit for these units to count towards a graduate certificate, graduate diploma or master's degree.
How do I apply?
Applicants wanting to undertake any of the units of study of the School's coursework programs as short course need to complete a non-award application form (PDF).
This form must be forwarded to:
Postgraduate Student Administration Office
Faculty of Medicine
Edward Ford Building, A27
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
Please contact Postgraduate Administration for course fee and timetable information.
Phone: 9351 5470
Email:
Application deadlines for non-award enrolment:
For Semester 1 units - no later than 31 January
For Semester 2 units - no later than 31 May
- Overview
- Course dates
- Course Objectives
- Course Content
- Course Structure
- Course Cost
- How to Apply
- Deadlines
- Cancellation Policy
- For information on other School of Public Health short courses
The Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology short course is a stand-alone course that differs from the other short courses offered by the School of Public Health.
It DOES NOT provide credit towards future enrolment in Masters, Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate (Clinical Epidemiology) degrees.
In this course we aim to introduce you to 'Clinical Epidemiology' the science of applying best available evidence to patient care. It is desirable that those who apply to do this short course have some clinical experience or experience in clinical research. The assessment tasks assume this knowledge and experience.
This course will be offered twice in 2008:
Courses start in Semester 1 (Monday 3 March) and Semester 2 (Monday 28 July).
At the end of the course participants should be able to:
- Formulate a concise clinical question, find and appraise the evidence and apply the information to patient care;
- Identify the best type of study to answer clinical questions;
- Locate and critically appraise articles on treatment, systematic reviews and diagnostic tests;
- Identify major sources of bias and their likely effects on results;
- Understand and interpret: 95% confidence intervals; p values; and power estimates;
- Understand, calculate and interpret: prevalence; incidence; relative risk; risk ratio; odds ratio; risk difference; number needed to treat;
- Calculate and interpret: sensitivity; specificity; likelihood ratios; pre- and post-test probability of disease.
The six topics of the course will address different questions:
- How to ask clinical questions and use efficient literature searching strategies?
- The basics of epidemiology - study designs and measures of effect
- Understanding Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
- Understanding Systematic Reviews
- Understanding Diagnostic Test Studies
- Understand and apply the evidence - a critical appraisal task
This course is fully online and is structured around the six 'topic' modules. You can work through the course materials at your own pace, whenever and wherever you like, within the semester time frame.
WebCT/IT support is available via email - with a response usually within the working day. Academic support is also available via email - with response within 1-2 working days (if issues can't be dealt with via email, a phone call would be fine). Once you are enrolled, you will be given access and the instructions on how to use WebCT.
In the Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology – Short course you will be assessed in the following ways:
1. Formative assessment:
Module 1 to 5 Tasks are formative assessment – no marks will be assigned for your answer to the task and you will be given feedback in the form of a ‘model’ answer once you have submitted your task.
2. Summative assessment:
Module 6 Task -
No grades are given for the Module 6 task, however, you will be required to make a ‘Satisfactory’ attempt before you are given your ‘Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology – Short course’ completion certificate.
The course fee for Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology in 2008 is $770. Please contact for details.
The University's tuition fees are reviewed annually and may be varied during the period of study. The exact tuition fee may depend on the specific units of study in which you enrol.
Applicants wanting to undertake the Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology short course offered by the School of Public Health need to complete the application form and tax invoice (PDF).
Please either fax or post the application form with payment to :
Miranda Cheung
Course Secretary
School of Public Health
A27, Edward Ford Building
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Tel: 9351-5994
Fax: 9351-5049
Email:
Your completed application form and payment must be received by the School one month before the start of each semester. However, late applications may be accepted up to one week before the start of the course.
No refunds will be made once the course has commenced. All cancellations must be in writing and addressed to Dr Sharon Reid.