Competencies

The Master of Science in Epidemiology is offered through the Program in Public Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). In order to prepare students to pursue epidemiologic research, the degree requirements for the MS in Epidemiology were developed to teach students the necessary skills for work in clinical epidemiologic research and/or public health. Upon completion of the required coursework, all students earning the degree should be able to:

1. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of study designs (e.g., cross-sectional, cohort, case-control, randomized experiments) and the appropriate measure of association for a given study design.
2. Describe the causes of random and non-random error in research studies, including information bias, selection bias and confounding.
3. Conduct epidemiologic analysis using classical statistical methods such as linear, logistic, Cox and/or Poisson regression models.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of ethical and regulatory requirements for research.
5. Describe molecular techniques commonly used in epidemiologic studies.