After the course the student will
- Have better skills for evaluating critically epidemiological articles
- Will have better tools for scientific discussion

Content of the course: A journal club is a group of individuals who meet regularly to evaluate critically recent articles in scientific literature. Sir William Osler established the first formal journal club at McGill University in 1875, and the tradition has persisted over the years in universities and medical centers around the world.

The purpose of this course is to provide grounds to discuss publications relevant to epidemiology, which would enable participants to keep up with current literature, and enhance their critical appraisal skills in this rapidly evolving science. Participants will practice presentation of research articles in English with guidance of a faculty mentor, who will assist in selecting articles for upcoming meetings, and will lead the discussion of selected article(s). An open debate during and after each presentation will take place, which will enrich participants’ learning experience as well as improve their critical and communication skills. The course will also provide participants with broad overview of the application of epidemiologic methods in different fields of epidemiologic research, based on practical examples from published literature.

Contents: Selected journal articles focusing on epidemiology, or have used epidemiological methods.

Modes of study: A series of presentations given by students on recent journal articles.

Prerequisites: Doctoral studentship in public health or epidemiology.

Teaching methods: Seminars, group assignments and readings

Passing the course: Participation in seminars and course assignments.                     

Course directors:

Pekka Nuorti ( Pekka.nuorti@uta.fi ) 

Anssi Auvinen (Anssi.auvinen@uta.fi)

Coordinator:

Omar Okasha (omar.okasha@uta.fi)

Each student is required to participate in group-assignments to present recent journal articles with slides, and attend to at least 75 % of the meetings. In the end of the course, students must hand in a small learning diary, with summaries of at least a few sentences of each presentation. They must prepare summaries of half a page to one full page of their own presentations and the presentations they missed.