27th European Course in Tropical Epidemiology August 25th - September 12th 2008 a three weeks course Organized by: Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health Heidelberg University - Germany [log in to unmask] Prof. Dr. Heiko Becher and Dr. Thomas Jänisch [log in to unmask] Natascha Petersen and Elke Braun van der Hoeven ECTE 2008 The European Course in Tropical Epidemiology (ECTE) is a short course organised by several European centres of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. It is held annually at different European venues, including London, Goteborg, Antwerp, and others (see list below). The lecturers and facilitators for the course are lecturers of these centres of excellence for research in the tropics and have extensive teaching and research experience. This is an intensive course in basic epidemiology and is intended for physicians, nurses, biologists, anthropologists, health programme managers and other professionals with an interest in tropical countries. The course provides participants with basic skills in the epidemiological assessment of health problems and service priorities and in the planning of field studies. Emphasis will be on the methodology and practical application of epidemiological tools in developing countries, the interpretation of data and on the reporting of field studies. ECTE is currently organised by: a.. Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health, Heidelberg University, Germany. b.. Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland. c.. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK d.. Centre for Tropical Diseases "Sacro Cuore - Don G. Calabria" Hospital, Negrar, Verona, Italy. e.. Mario Negri Research Institute, Milano - S. Maria Imbaro, Italy. f.. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK g.. Department of Public Health, Prince Leopold Institute for Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. h.. Nordic School of Public Health, Goteborg, Sweden. ECTE will build knowledge and skills around basic epidemiology and medical statistics and will utilize computer packages appropriate to these skills. PRE-REQUISITES The course is appropriate for those without formal training in epidemiology or statistics. However the course is intensive and applicants should have a good command of English. CERTIFICATE A certificate of attendance is awarded to participants completing the course. LEARNING OBJECTIVES The course provides participants with basic epidemiological and statistical skills for the assessment of health problems, service delivery and planning of field studies, and provides links to social science, economics and computing skills which are often used in epidemiological studies. The emphasis of the course is on the practical application of tools for use in developing countries, the interpretation of data and reporting of operational studies. A comprehensive course manual is provided at the beginning of the course. The course will follow material found in the recommended textbooks but these are not essential. Recommended Reading: Essentials of medical statistics (2nd Edition) by B Kirkwood and J Sterne (Blackwell); Concepts in Epidemiology by Bhopal R. (Oxford University Press) Epidemiology in Medicine by CH Hennekens and JE Buring (Little, Brown and Co). OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAMME a.. general Principles of Epidemiology b.. the role and context of Tropical Epidemiology c.. basic epidemiology of infectious diseases, focussing on those occurring in the tropics d.. main types of epidemiological studies e.. risk estimation, high risk groups & risk factors a.. outbreak investigation and response b.. community epidemiology c.. qualitative approaches in epidemiology d.. evaluation of diagnostic tests f.. survey design, sampling, organization g.. questionnaire design h.. data entry, checking & processing i.. basic statistics using computers The teaching includes lectures, groupwork, practical work and computer exercises. Maximum number of participants: 30. Have a look at the draft Timetable. COURSE FEE The course fee is 1 900 (EURO). This fee includes: participation in the course, the course manual and handouts, lunch on weekdays, refreshment at coffee breaks. The fee does not include travel, accommodation or dinner. ACCOMMODATION Different types of accommodation at a reasonanble price are available within Heidelberg. On request, a list of such accommodation possibilities will be sent. APPLICATIONS Please send the completely filled application form 1.. as MS-Word form by e-mail attachment 2.. as signed hardcopy by mail to: Natascha Petersen Department of Tropical Hygiene and Public Health Im Neuenheimer Feld 324 D-69120 Heidelberg Germany phone +49 6221 565031 [log in to unmask] Deadline for applications: 15th of June 2008