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EPI 522: Reproductive Epidemiology

Spring Quarter 2010

Syllabus

Introduction

 

This course will focus on the epidemiology of issues and conditions related to the male and female reproductive systems, as well as pregnancy outcomes other than birth.  Prior completion of EPI 511 or EPI 512 and 513 (or instructor permission) is a prerequisite for enrollment in the course.

 

Course goals and objectives

 

The overall goal of the course is to increase students’ knowledge of and curiosity about reproductive epidemiology.  By the end of the course students should be able to:

 

·        Broadly describe normal male and female reproductive anatomy and physiology;

 

·        Identify determinants of contraceptive use and contraceptive efficacy;

 

·        Describe main sequelae of the use of specific male and female contraceptive agents;

 

·        List important conditions and diseases of the female reproductive system and identify major risk factors;

 

·        Identify methodologic issues relevant to epidemiological studies of contraception and conditions and diseases of the female reproductive system; and

 

·        Demonstrate skills in critical reading, writing, and speaking.

 

Faculty

 

Victoria L. Holt, PhD, MPH

Phone:         206 685-1643

Mailstop:      Box 357236

E-mail:         vholt@u.washington.edu

UW office:    F346A (Monday and Wednesday afternoons)

 

Course format

 

Sessions will consist of presentations of current epidemiologic knowledge and discussion of content and methodologic issues.  The format of the course will be a mix of lecture and discussion of articles from the scientific literature that are to be read prior to each class.

 

Course readings

 

Required readings may be accessed from the "Readings" page of the class website at (http://courses.washington.edu/epi522).

 

Suggested readings will also be listed in the "Readings" page.  For selected sessions, background readings will be listed for those students who wish to know more about the clinical aspects of the disease or condition under consideration.

 

Course grading

 

Evaluation will be based on class participation, two short written discussion question responses, and an individual project consisting of an oral presentation and a related paper.

 

Class participation:  (30% of grade)  This is a seminar-style class. All students are expected to read the assigned articles and participate actively in class discussions.

 

Discussion question responses (20% of grade) A 1-2 page response paper that discusses and analyzes a specific issue will be due at the beginning of each of the two discussion sessions (see schedule).

 

Individual project (50% of grade)  The individual project will take the form of a 5-10 page (double-spaced) review paper on a reproductive epidemiology topic of your choice, along with a 20 minute oral presentation of your paper during one of the last 4 class sessions.  The paper should summarize what is known about the topic and point out areas, if any, in which further research is needed.  Please feel free to discuss proposed topics with the instructor at any time during the course, and a ½ page outline that identifies the topic and the proposed approach is due 5/10/10.  The term paper is due on the last day of class (6/2/10).

 

Handouts

 

Handouts of material covered in class sessions are available for downloading from the course website, usually 24 hours before class.

 

Electronic mailing list

 

Registered EPI 522 students for whom an email address is on file in the UW Registrar’s office are automatically included in an electronic mailing list for the course.  The address for the list is epi522a_sp10@u.washington.edu.  Announcements about the course may be sent out occasionally to members of this list, as well as being posted on the course home page.  The list is updated automatically by the Registrar’s Office when students officially add or drop the course.

 

Course website

 

Most course information will be available on the course website.  Much of the website is password-protected because it is intended for use by students in EPI 522, not for everyone on the Internet.  The teaching materials posted on it are not in the public domain and are protected by copyright law.  You gain access to website materials by being a registered EPI 522 student and are asked to respect this privilege by not redistributing materials retrieved from the website.

 

Some materials on the website can be read and/or printed with a standard web browser.  Some items cannot be viewed directly with a browser but can be downloaded in Portable Document Format (PDF), then viewed and/or printed with Adobe Reader on your personal computer.  Adobe Reader is widely available in on-campus computing labs, is included in the UW Internet Connectivity Kit (UWICK), and can be downloaded for free over the Internet from the Adobe website.

 

Feedback to instructor

 

Any comments, suggestions, criticisms or compliments you care to offer about the course as we go along will be welcomed.  You can catch the instructor before or after class, or communicate by email (vholt@u.washington.edu) or by campus mail (Box 357236).

 

Students with disabilities

 

If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, 543-8924 (V/TDD).  If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor so that the accommodations you might need for class can be discussed.

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3/27/10