Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Dartmouth Medical School Year 1
Director: Bernard "Chip" Cole, PhD
Description and Goal:
This required first year course focuses on the use of information
in solving clinical and public health problems, and in understanding disease
etiology. The goals are to teach students how to read and understand published
medical studies and how to apply the findings of studies in medical practice.
We believe these skills will be increasingly important as the focus of
the students' medical education shifts from the classroom to the bedside
and ultimately to the community where the student practices.
Objectives:
The specific objectives of the course are:
- Description - appropriate characterization and presentation of data from individuals and populations, including: statistical measures of dispersion and central tendency, concepts of bias and precision, and calculation of rates and proportions commonly used as public health measures.
- Prediction - risk and prognosis, including: measurement of risk, estimation of survival probabilities, and clinical test interpretation.
- Inference - assessment of study validity and generalizability, including: studies to determine treatment efficacy and disease etiology, and interpretation of statistical significance tests and confidence intervals.
Format:
This course meets in the spring for eight weeks with approximately
one large lecture per week. In addition to these sessions, there are six
small group discussion sessions. Each deals with important medical topics
illustrate different study design approaches.