Epidemiology

Goal:
Epidemiology has been defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and disabilities. In recent years, it has also come to include the evaluation of therapeutic and preventive interventions by randomized clinical trials. Students will learn the fundamental methods of both observational and experimental epidemiology. General methods of clinical research will also be covered. The curriculum is relevant to students who will practice in any branch of medicine because the ability to appraise the medical and health literature critically is the primary skill that all students will acquire.  Use this link to visit the Epidemiology Department's web pages.

Career paths of graduates:
Clinical medicine, clinical research, preventive medicine, epidemiology, public health, occupational health, aerospace medicine, government, industry, and academia.

Academic advisor:
Lydia Bazzano, MD, PhD, MPH
Tidewater Building, 2044
504.988.7323
lbazzano@tulane.edu

Administrative contact:
Therese Carter
Tidewater Building, 2010
504.988.6809
tcarter1@tulane.edu

Degrees offered:
MPH (selected students may proceed to PhD or DrPH)

Degree tracks offered:
Chronic disease epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, and clinical epidemiology.

Epidemiology Degree Requirements
MD/MPH Combined Degree students pursuing an MPH in epidemiology complete the following requirements:

• School of Medicine coursework
• Required SPHTM coursework
• Practicum (fulfilled, in part, by the MD/MPH rotation)
• Culminating experience

Required SPHTM coursework, including the following:
(See table below for proposed course scheduling.  Meet with your advisor regularly to assure proper progress and sequencing of courses.)

• Core Courses
• Programmatic Courses
  (Total of 11 credit hours)

• Elective Courses
  Work with your advisor to choose at least 6 hours of methods electives, which include the following:

EPID 624 Monitoring and Evaluation
EPID 626 Survey Methodology
EPID 641 Pharmacoepidemiology
EPID 642 Clinical Epidemiology
EPID 675 Outbreak Epidemiology
EPID 722 Analytic Epidemiology
EPID 731 Meta-Analysis

• Practicum
  The practicum requirement is fulfilled, in part, by the MD/MPH rotation.  Please refer to the MD/MPH Rotation Requirement.

• Culminating experience
  Please meet with your advisor about culminating experience options in the Department of Epidemiology.

Proposed Course Scheduling
Because of the sequential nature of the EPID curriculum, you must plan your classes carefully.  The following table presents a proposed curriculum schedule to help you meet prerequisite requirements while making steady progress through the program.  Please consult regularly with your advisor to make sure you are taking appropriate classes, in the appropriate sequence.

	If you begin summer before SOM	If you begin spring of SOM T1 year
Summer before SOM	EPID 603, BIOS 603 other core courses as schedule allows	NA
T1 fall	No public health classes	No public health classes
T1 spring	EPID 623 Core courses as needed and/or EPID methods elective	EPID 603 BIOS 603 EPID 623
Summer after T1	Any remaining core courses EPID methods elective(s)	Remaining core courses
T2 fall	BIOS 604 EPID 712	BIOS 604 EPID 712
T2 spring	EPID 713 EPID methods elective(s)	EPID 713 EPID methods electives
T3 year (July 1-June 30)	No public health classes: focus on SOM clinical curriculum	No public health classes: focus on SOM clinical curriculum
T4 year	SPHTM Practicum (fulfilled with MD/MPH rotation in SOM) Culminating experience (see advisor for EPID options)	SPHTM Practicum (fulfilled with MD/MPH rotation in SOM) Culminating experience (see advisor for EPID options)