Introduction Uses and aims of epidemiology Qualification Jobs included List of skills Role of epidemiologists Specializations Courses offered Public health significance

1. EPIDEMIOLOGY AS A
PROFESSION
Dr. Shefali Jaiswal
1

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Uses and aims of epidemiology
• Qualification
• Jobs included
• List of skills
• Role of epidemiologists
• Specializations
• Courses offered
• Public health significance
• Conclusion
• References 2

3. Introduction
• The Greek physician Hippocrates is known as the father
of medicine, and was the first epidemiologist.
• The distinction between "epidemic" and "endemic" was
first drawn by Hippocrates, to distinguish between
diseases that are "visited upon" a population (epidemic)
from those that "reside within" a population (endemic).
3

4. • Dr. John Snow is famous for his investigations into the
causes of the 19th century cholera epidemics, and is also
known as the father of (modern) epidemiology.
• He began by noticing the significantly higher death rates
in two areas supplied by Southwark Company .
• His identification of the Broad Street pump as the cause
of the Soho epidemic is considered the classic example
of epidemiology.
4

5. • He used chlorine in an attempt to clean the water and
had the handle removed, thus ending the outbreak.
• This has been perceived as a major event in the history
of public health and regarded as the founding event of
the science of epidemiology, having helped shape public
health policies around the world.
5

6. • In the early 20th century, mathematical methods were
introduced into epidemiology adding statistical support to
the field.
• The study of the distribution and development of health-
related states or events in specified populations, and the
application of this study to the control of health problems.
(John M. Last, 1988)
6

7. • Epidemiologists examine how and where disease
outbreaks start, how diseases are transmitted among
individuals in a population and how to effectively treat
those diseases.
• The information gathered and analyzed by
epidemiologists is then used to develop or improve
clinical and medical research, as well as improve
preventative healthcare.
7

8. • Profile of the “epidemiologist” has changed overtime
given the many areas of specialization and application.
• Some core competencies framed by a common
knowledge –base and skill-set (may vary depending on
field e.g. public health, health services and policy, HRM,
biostatistics, etc.)
8

9. Uses of epidemiology
• To study historically the rise and fall of disease in the
population.
• Community diagnosis
• Planning and evaluation
• Evaluation of individual’s risk and chances.
• Syndrome identification
• Completing the natural history of disease.
• Searching for causes and risk factors.
9

10. Aims of epidemiology
According to International Epidemiological Association
(IEA) –
• To describe the distribution and magnitude of health and
disease problems in human populations.
• To identify aetiological factors in the pathogenesis of
disease.
• To provide the data essential to the planning,
implementation and evaluation of services for the
prevention, control and treatment of disease and to the
setting up of priorities among those services. 10

11. Qualification
• In order to become an epidemiologist, a master’s degree
is the minimum educational requirement.
• The most common master’s degree is in public health
with a specialization in epidemiology; however, the
public health degree is not a requirement and many
epidemiologists obtain master’s degrees in other fields
and specialize in other areas.
11

12. • Many epidemiologists have doctorate and/or medical
degrees, especially if they plan on teaching at the post-
secondary level or overseeing medical research studies.
• On the undergraduate level, most epidemiologists have
backgrounds in public health, biology, medicine and
statistics.
12

13. • The study of Epidemiology as a profession is not very
common and only a few universities offer epidemiology
as a course of study at the undergraduate level.
• Most epidemiologists are practicing physicians and hold
degrees such as Master of Public Health and Master of
Science in Epidemiology.
13

14. • Doctorates are also offered which include the Doctor of
Public Health, Doctor of Pharmacy, Doctor of Philosophy
and Doctor of Science. Clinically trained physicians have
a Doctor of Medicine or a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
• Epidemiologists are public health officers and health
practitioners.
• This gives them an opportunity to work in a number of
different settings.
14

15. • Some of them work in the community, mostly in health
protection services and are often the first to investigate
and combat outbreak of diseases.
• Many others work for universities, nonprofit
organizations, hospitals and government agencies like
the Centre for Disease control and prevention (CDC), the
World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Protection
Agency.
15

16. • This range of exposure to different diseases gives them
a good understanding that helps them to handle adverse
situations during a disease outbreak.
16

17. Job duties include
• Collection and analysis of research and statistical data.
• The data can be historical, analyzed in ways not
previously anticipated, or contemporary, acquired from a
recently completed research study or clinical trial.
• The design and implementation of clinical research, trials
and testing in order to treat public health problems and
prevent diseases from spreading and developing.
17

18. • Management or development of public health initiatives
based on new research data and analysis.
• Presentation of findings resulting from research or public
health programs to members of the public, government
and private organizations.
• Development and improvement of medical research
methodology.
18

19. List of skills for epidemiology
career
Strong understanding of statistical concepts
• Perhaps the single most important skill an epidemiologist
must have is the ability to use and understand statistics.
• Gathering data is one thing, but being able to create
credible, real world conclusions from the data is much
more important and useful.
• Also, even if a particular epidemiologist is not involved in
data creation or analysis, she or he must still be able to
critically analyze the data and test its significance,
accuracy or both.
19

20. Strong understanding of medical and biological
processes
• Equally as important as proficiency of statistical
concepts, an understanding of medical and biological
processes is critical for effective analysis of how to
prevent and treat diseases.
20

21. Critical thinking skills
• Even if an epidemiologist is able to use and understand
statistical tools or biological concepts, they must also be
able to know when to use such tools and identify issues
in a given public health problem.
21

22. Strong communication skills
• Epidemiologists are paid to find patterns, draw
conclusions and develop plans.
• These ideas must be adequately conveyed to others.
• Finding a means to prevent a public health problem is
meaningless unless the epidemiologist is able to
communicate that method of prevention to the proper
officials or general public.
22

23. Attention to detail
• Epidemiologists must be accurate with their data
gathering and analysis, as well as able to identify
nuances in numerical data.
• They must also be able to identify public health issues
that may not be readily observable to identifiable to the
average medical professional.
23

24. Computer skills
• Much of the data collection, storage and analysis is done
by computer and databases.
• An epidemiologist must know how to use the technology
to access and process this information.
• A familiarity of information technology advancements
such as Big Data, data mining and predictive analytics
can also be very useful.
24

25. Role of epidemiologist
• An 'epidemiological triad' is used to describe the fusion
of host, agent and environment in analyzing an outbreak.
It is the duty of an epidemiologist to study the
relationships between them and fortify results that help
them better understand the effect of one on the other.
• A range of study designs are employed by
epidemiologists. These studies aim at revealing the
relationships between exposures such as smoking,
alcohol, other drugs, biological agents, stress or other
chemicals to morbidity and mortality.
25

26. • The most important factor in epidemiology is the
understanding of the causal relationships between the
given exposures and the outcomes.
• Today's epidemiologists use informatics to reveal these
relationships. This helps them in predicting the pattern of
the disease once the cause of the disease is determined.
26

27. • Epidemiologists are concerned with improving the health
of the public. An epidemiologist contributes to public
health by investigating causes and prevention of
epidemics.
• They not only take infectious diseases into
consideration, but also chronic diseases, genetic
diseases and disorders, as well as the effects of natural
disasters, accidents, and acts of terrorism or bio-
terrorism.
27

28. • The main duties of epidemiologists include investigating
the cause of the outbreak of infectious disease and
taking steps to prevent future outbreaks.
28

29. Epidemiologist
s
Research Clinical
conduct research in
an effort to eradicate
or control infectious
diseases.
work primarily in
consulting roles at
hospitals, informing
the medical staff of
infectious outbreaks
and providing
containment solutions.
work in colleges
and universities,
schools of public
health, medical
schools, and
research and
development
services firms.
who develop a
hospital's standards and
guidelines for the
treatment and control of
infectious diseases.
29

30. Job prospects
• As an epidemiologist, one may perform research in
laboratories, investigate outbreaks of new diseases, and
educate individuals about the harmful factors that
influence personal health.
• They inspect how a disease affects the inhabitants in a
certain place, the emergence of viruses in a specific
geographical area, or track the occurrence of a certain
ailments.
30

31. • Epidemiologists spend much of their time collecting data
and then analyzing it.
• This will include the use of observations, surveys,
personal interviews, blood samples and other human
tissue samples to discover what is causing the spread of
disease.
• Once they understand how a disease is spread, they
then develop a means for prevention and control.
31

32. • Job prospects in this field is positive. According to
medical norms, every medical college must have an
epidemiologist, but those trained in the field are limited
compared to the demand.
• Those who train as epidemiologists can work in many
diverse environments.
• They may work for public and private health institutions,
government agencies, laboratories, pharmaceutical
businesses or universities.
32

33. • Epidemiologist can work as health experts in
Government agencies like World Health Organization
(WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),
Indian Council of medical Research responding to urgent
epidemics, finding out what caused them, and helping to
contain them.
• The State AIDS Control Societies also provide job
openings for Epidemiologists.
33

34. • Epidemiologists can find employment in clinical
development and research for pharmaceutical
companies, NGOs, international organisations and
national health programmes.
• They can be found working in hospitals to study the
affects of diseases in patients. Many do academic work
teaching and conducting research at universities.
34

35. Levels of epidemiologist
Basic
epidemiologi
st
Simple data
collection,
analysis, and
reporting in
support of
epidemiologic
investigations,
surveillance,
research, or
policy
analysis.
Master’s
program with
a focus ion
epidemiolog
y and/or
analysis and
assessment.
35

36. Mid-level
epidemiologi
st
Simple and
more
complex
data
collection,
analysis,
and
interpretatio
n. Can work
independentl
y; or
supervise a
unit or serve
as a project
leader or
coordinator.
Master’s
degree with
a focus in
epidemiolog
y with 2 or
more years’
work
experience
in
epidemiolog
y; or
Doctoral
level
epidemiologi
st
36

37. Senior-level
epidemiologi
st
Supervisor
and/or
manager,
director of a
major
research
initiative,
project, or
section; or
Senior
scientist/subje
ct area expert
in an
epidemiologic
focus area.
Master’s
degree with a
focus in
epidemiology &
≥4 years’ work
experience in
epidemiology;
or
• Doctoral-level
degree in
epidemiology
supplemented
with ≥ 2 years’
work
experience
37

38. Specializations
• Epidemiology of aging
• Behavioral epidemiology
• Birth defects epidemiology
• Chronic disease epidemiology – coronary heart disease
Diabetes
Obseity
• Clinical epidemiology
• Primary care epidemiology
• Field epidemiology
• Genetic and molecular epidemiology
• Dental epidemiology
• Substance abuse epidemiology 38

39. • Infection disease epidemiology – infection control and
hospital
Parasitology
Surveillance
Vector-borne
Virology
• Injury epidemiology
• Neuroepidemiology
• Nutrition epidemiology
• Pharmceutical epidemiology
• Veterinary epidemiology
• Psychiatric epidemiology
39

40. • Women’s health epidemiology – perinatal and pregnancy
• Occupational epidemiology
• Life course epidemiology
• Social epidemiology
• Spatial epidemiology
• Reproductive epidemiology
• Sports epidemiology
• Epidemiology of cancer
• Epidemiology of urban health
• Environmental health epidemiology
40

41. Academic Research epidemiologist
• Works in universities and academic centers.
• Research the underlying etiologic factors causing a
disease or condition.
• Research is usually majority working with data; fieldwork
may include collecting data.
• Can be genetic, environmental, infectious disease,
chronic disease, or even behaviorally focused.
41

42. • Usually just knowledge for knowledge's sake, but can
advise policymakers. (some professors testify before
congress)
• Salary and career track very similar to other academic
departments.
• Highest level would probably be professor.
• For example: interviews, blood draws, data collection.
42

43. Applied epidemiologist
• Works in city, state, or national (CDC, FDA) health
departments and agencies.
• Investigating the distribution of diseases and its risk
factors for geographic area and disease area. (including
temporal and geographic distribution). Surveillance of
disease.
• Emphasis is on accurately describing the health situation
and trends for jurisdiction.
43

44. • The other half of work is recommending the direct public
health response(s), including advising policymakers.
• Highest level would probably be senior
epidemiologist/scientist (PhD) or health commissioner.
(MD/MPH or MD/PhD)
For example:
1. the monitoring of reports of communicable diseases in
the community.
2. the study of whether a particular dietary component
influences risk of developing cancer.
44

45. Clinical trial research epidemiologist
• Works for pharmaceutical companies or health care
organizations.
• Clinical trial of a drug or a medical procedure, enrolling
patients, monitoring adverse side effects.
• Research is usually oriented toward the structure of the
trial, quality control, reliability, validity, careful
documentation.
• Highest level would probably be MD/MPH or MD/PhD
clinical trial director.
45

46. Infection control epidemiologist
• Works for a hospital
• Tracking hospital acquired infections; often highly related
to antibiotic resistance, MRSA(Methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus), VRE (Vancomycin-resistant
enterococci )etc., and/or postoperative infections, but
can also link with academic or applied epidemiologists to
share data on current outbreaks.
46

47. for example H1N1; hospital based surveillance
• Can enact policy at the hospital level for example,
enforcing hand hygiene on the wards
• Can do some publishable research, for example
association between a specific procedure and reduction
in infections
47

48. Field epidemiologist / "outbreak investgation“
• Works in health departments and agencies, also certain
NGOs like doctors without borders.
• In the field investigating outbreaks, including
interviewing, casefinding, gathering specimens, etc.
• Restricted/concentrated to a specific time and place.
• Can be often international.
• Usually the work is in response to specific outbreaks
only, not a dedicated position i.e., contract/consulting
work.
48

49. • Usually works on a team including clinical, epi, lab,
policy.
• The goal is to identify the primary source(s) of the
outbreak, and then find the best way to contain it if
possible.
• Often applied epidemiologists are called off their normal
duties into the field for an outbreak.
For example : cholera outbreak in Haiti
49

50. Disaster Epidemiology
• Disaster epidemiologists study the factors that cause
disasters and find mechanisms to reduce their negative
health effects.
• This specialty uses epidemiology methods, such as the
establishment of surveillance systems, to identify the
injuries and potential diseases caused by a disaster.
• One of the main purposes of disaster epidemiology is to
provide situational awareness to disaster relief workers
by generating the information they need to plan an
effective response and collect the necessary resources.
50

51. • For example: The Bhopal gas release and the Chernobyl
nuclear accident.
51

52. Travel Epidemiology
• Travel epidemiologists focus on the health risks
associated with travelling.
• Their priorities include studying the types of diseases
travellers face, providing a risk assessment based on the
particular characteristics of the traveller and destination,
and suggesting prevention and treatment methods.
• Travel epidemiologists study prevalence and risk level of
a disease so they can provide accurate and relevant
information to travellers.
52

53. • This helps travellers make informed health decisions
about the places they are travelling to, and reduces the
spread of communicable diseases among the general
population.
For example: Increasing travel to destinations in Asia and
Africa will place more travellers at risk for a variety of
travel-related conditions, including malaria, dengue,
measles, and other tropical or vaccine-preventable
infections.
53

54. Enteric Epidemiology
• Enteric disease epidemiologists specialize in the study of
infections that enter through the mouth and intestine
tract.
• Epidemiologists investigate the sources and solutions of
bacterial and diarrheal infections by establishing
transmission routes and attributing illnesses to specific
foods and situations. These diseases are usually caused
by contaminated food and water.
For example: every millions of cases of foodborne illness
and thousands of associated deaths occur in the United
States, and the illness burden is even higher in
54

55. Molecular Epidemiology
• Molecular epidemiologists apply the techniques of
molecular biology to the study of epidemiologic
problems.
• Molecular biology techniques, such as nucleic acid
analysis, allow public health workers to investigate the
causes of disease incidence in a population and
measure more precisely agent factors and exposures of
a disease.
For example, molecular epidemiology is useful in the study
of diseases, such as AIDS and polio, that are caused by
viral agents.
55

56. Genetic epidemiology
• Genetic epidemiology is the study of the role
of genetic factors in determining health and disease in
families and in populations, and the interplay of such
genetic factors with environmental factors.
• It is closely allied to molecular epidemiology, but these
overlapping fields each have distinct emphases,
societies and journals.
For example: genes that were associated with rare familial
forms of breast cancer in specific families via linkage
56

57. Veterinary epidemiologists
• Veterinary epidemiology deals with the investigation of
diseases, productivity and animal welfare in populations.
• This is a critical job in today’s age, given the prevalence
of animal-to-human transmission of infectious diseases,
such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow
disease), avian influenza and swine influenza.
• Additionally, private enterprises such as those involved
in the meat production industry rely on the expertise of
veterinary epidemiologists to prevent diseases from
harming the animals and monitoring their overall health.
57

58. for example:
• Seasonal occurrence of leptospirosis in humans in
USA(1886).
• The disease was first described by Adolf Weil.
• Leptospirosis is the most common bacterial zoonoses
and now has been identified as an important emerging
global public health problem in Southeast Asia. Rodents
are important reservoirs for human leptospirosis, but
epidemiological data is lacking.
Cosson JF, Picardeau M, Mielcarek M, et al. Epidemiology
of Leptospira Transmitted by Rodents in Southeast Asia. PLOS
Neglected Tropical Diseases (2014) 8(6): e2902
58

59. Supervisory epidemiologist
• Supervisory epidemiologist is simply an epidemiologist
who has entered a supervisory role.
• They'll be responsible for overseeing teams of
epidemiologists, for managing research efforts, and for
coordinating with others in the industry as needed.
• The overall goal of any epidemiologist is to improve the
public health through research, and to that end a
supervisory epidemiologist will simply spend their time
making sure that the entire research process goes
smoothly.
59

60. Pharmaceutical epidemiologist
• Pharmaceutical epidemiologist studies the cause,
effects, and spread of substance abuse condition in a
community.
• They will conduct research on the effects of
pharmaceuticals on human health and physiology, and
also track social trends and habits that can lead to the
spread of the condition.
• Although substance abuse is not communicable, it can
still follow vectors the way other diseases can, and
pharmaceutical epidemiologists plot these trends in
order to predict outcomes, but also to consider isolation
60

61. • For example: whether the risk of cardiac adverse events
is greater in one type of medicine used to treat a specific
disease compared with another type of medicine used to
treat the same disease.
61

62. Reproductive epidemiology
Expertise in a broad range of reproductive epidemiology
topics including the following:
• Family planning.
• Contraceptive safety and efficacy.
• Maternal morbidity and mortality.
• Perinatal and infant health.
• Adolescent sexual behavior.
• Domestic violence.
• HIV/STDs.
• Population-based reproductive health surveys. 62

63. Nutrition epidemiology –
• The effects of dietary intake and nutritional status on
health are complex.
• Understanding and untangling specific effects of overall
diet and individual nutrients requires an understanding of
the complex interactions among dietary, lifestyle,
metabolic and genetic exposures and the critical-thinking
skills for clarifying them in population-based data.
63

64. Neuroepidemiology –
• involving the study of neurological disease distribution
and determinants of frequency in human populations.
• Investigates prevalence and risk factors for neurological
diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease and multiple sclerosis.
64

65. Injury epidemiology –
• Used to investigate the incidence, prevalence, and risk
factors for accidental injury and death, types of accidents
include motor vehicle accidents and workplace
accidental injuries.
65

66. Dental epidemiology –
• The area of public health that deals with the distribution
and the impact of oral disease on the human population.
• Emphasis is placed on the relevance of epidemiology to
clinical practice and information about the prevalence,
incidence and trends of dental caries.
66

67. Courses offered
• MD Social and Preventive Medicine / Community
Medicine.
• Masters in Public Health (MPH) in India.
• PhD programmes.
• Master of Dental Surgery in Public Health Dentistry .
67

68. • Other programmes
 BSc in Public Health Management
 MD Community Health Administration
 Masters in Community Health
 Masters in Health Administration
 Masters in Epidemiology
 Masters in Applied Epidemiology
 Masters in Applied Nutrition
 Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health Management
 Post Graduate Diploma in Health Economics, Health
Care Financing and Health Policy
 Post Graduate Diploma in Biostatistics and Data
Management
 Post Graduate Diploma in District Health Management
68

69. Public health and community health education abroad-
• Masters programmes in public health
69

70. MD Social and Preventive
Medicine
MD Social and Preventive Medicine / Community Medicine
is a three year programme available for those who have
completed their MBBS studies. It is offered in over 130
medical colleges in India as an option for postgraduate
studies. Some of the reputed programmes are:
• All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
• Christian Medical College, Vellore
• St. John's Medical College, Bangalore
• Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences,
Sevagram, Wardha
• Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate
70

71. • Medical Education and Research, Puducherry
• Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research, Chandigarh
• Christian Medical College, Ludhiana
• Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
71

72. Masters in Public Health
The Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme is a two
year programme available to graduates in medicine,
dental, AYUSH, physiotherapy, nursing, pharmacy,
nutrition, life sciences and social sciences. The
programmes are relatively new with the first one starting
in 1997.
• Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree
Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences &
Technology, Tiruvananthapuram
• National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai
• National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
72

73. • Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Pune
• Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research, Chandigarh
• Institute of Public Health, KLE University, Belgaum
• School of Public Health, SRM University, Kanchipuram
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
• Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani
• Christian Medical College, Vellore
• Allahabad Agricultural University, Allahabad
• Annamalai University
• MGR University, Chennai
• Manipal University 73

74. PhD programmes
• Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree
Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences &
• Technology, Tiruvananthapuram
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
• Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health,
Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• School of Public Health, SRM University, Kanchipuram
• Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai
• National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New
Delhi
74

75. BSc in Public Health Management
• Allahabad Agricultural University
MD Community Health Administration
• National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New
Delhi
Masters in Community Health
• Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health,
Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Masters in Health Administration
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
• Institute of Health Management Research, Jaipur
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
75

76. Masters in Epidemiology
• Christian Medical College, Vellore
• MGR University, Chennai
Masters in Applied Epidemiology
• National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai
• National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi
Masters in Applied Nutrition
• National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad
76

77. Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health Management
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad
• National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New
Delhi
• Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences,
Sevagram, Wardha
• All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata
77

78. Post Graduate Diploma in Health Economics, Health Care
Financing and Health Policy
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi
Post Graduate Diploma in Biostatistics and Data
Management
• Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad
Post Graduate Diploma in District Health Management
• Distant learning programme offered by Public Health
Resource Network
78

79. Public health and community health
education abroad
Masters programmes in public health
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
London, UK
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
• John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Baltimore, USA
• Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
• Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
• University of Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
• Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
79

80. Public health significance
• An epidemiologist can work as both clinician and as
researcher.
• It gives opportunity to work in different settings and
mainly to protect health services and against any
outbreak of diseases.
• The number of people opting for epidemiology is
increasing every year along with the job opportunities.
80

81. Conclusion
• Many consider epidemiologists as a statistical tool to
measure exposures and outcomes of diseases, but the
science of epidemiology has improved a lot from that
notion.
• It takes assistance from biology, mathematics,
sociology, statistics, psychology, anthropology and other
such fields to help determine the causal relationships
between exposures and outcomes.
81

82. • It is the duty of the epidemiologists to obtain sufficient
evidence to overrule the least probable causes so that
they can focus on more probable causes that can help in
either containing the disease or treating it.
82

83. References
• Park’s Textbook of preventive and social medicine. 23rd
edition.
• Robert H. Friis. Epidemiology for Public Health Practice.
4th edition.
• http://www.careersinpublichealth.net/
• Epidemiologists : Occupational Outlook Handbook : U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• https://www.sokanu.com/careers/epidemiologist/
• http://www.healthcarepathway.com/HealthCareCareers/e
pidemiologist.html
• http://www.careersinpublichealth.net/careers/pharmaceut
icalepidemiology 83

84. • http://aiihph.gov.in/
• http://www.publichealthonline.org/epidemiology
• http://www.communityhealth.in/
• Cosson JF, Picardeau M, Mielcarek M, et al.
Epidemiology of Leptospira Transmitted by Rodents in
Southeast Asia. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
(2014) 8(6): e2902
84

85. 85