Epi 615 Epi Doctoral Seminar

This advanced applied doctoral-level seminar course synthesizes across students’ prior training in epidemiology, biostatistics, applied research, and the disciplines/content areas that are required for students’ doctoral research. Drawing from doctoral students’ and the instructor’s expertise, this course aims to facilitate the professional development required to be a successful PhD student and graduate. The course is repeatable, and best taken for the first time during the 2nd year of the doctoral program. The principal goals of this seminar class are to: 1) Engage with the CDC’s 10 Essential Public Health Services and how they play out in epidemiology and the students’ own research. 2) Familiarize students with the historical development, philosophy and culture of the discipline of epidemiology, including entrenched structural racism. 3) Explore, critique, and have in-depth discussions regarding the current state of epidemiologic research and practice, with special emphasis on how to conduct anti-racist epidemiologic studies. 4) Formulate innovative research questions and select appropriate epidemiologic study designs and analytic methods. 5) Refine and verbally present study designs, aims for students’ proposed dissertation projects, or research in progress on students’ dissertation. Through honing these skills in this seminar, students will reinforce and further build competencies in doctoral education, as laid forth by the American College of Epidemiology, the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Specifically, doctoral students will develop the abilities to: 1) Synthesize existing evidence of health determinants to research of public health problems; 2) Analyze ethical problems that arise in epidemiologic research; and 3) Formulate a testable research question and propose a related study design and analytic approach. This education will prepare students to work independently and to collaborate with health professionals in other disciplines on research and applied projects that include epidemiologic elements. This course may be taken three times for separate credit.