Epidemiology Certificate

Epidemiology Certificate - CTEPCG, CTEPOG (Ohio online)

Terms of Entry: Fall, Spring, Summer

Terms of Entry Requiring Program Permission: None

Enrollment Eligibility: Current degree-seeking, non-degree status

Certificate Overview

The 9-credit hour Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology is designed to enhance graduate education in epidemiology through gaining the essential knowledge and skills in the design and conduction of epidemiological studies, the analysis of epidemiological study data and interpretation of study results, and their application to curtailing the epidemic of chronic diseases that have become the leading causes of death in the U.S. and globally in the 21st century.  Students will also become knowledgeable in risk factors of the leading chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease/stroke and others) and population-based epidemiological approaches to their prevention and control. The need for the Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology is driven by several factors that drive the job market demand for epidemiology professionals. Firstly, despite significant progress in biomedical sciences and continuous development of new treatments, the epidemic of chronic diseases continues necessitating a combined approach to the problem including not only the individual level interventions (medical treatment by clinicians), but also the population level interventions by public health professionals. Epidemiologists are trained to deal with health and disease from the population health perspective, including investigating risk factors and critically evaluating the effectiveness of health interventions.  Secondly, epidemiologists are also essential to the design and conduction of clinical trials of new drugs – a critical step in the drug development process – as well as to the post-marketing surveillance of safety and effectiveness of new drugs in the real-world patient populations.  Thirdly, with the aging of the population, the need for better understanding of the health and disease processes in senior age groups as well as health interventions and safety and effectiveness of treatment modalities increases continuously, necessitating the need for more epidemiology trained professionals. The expected time to complete the certificate is 2 or 3 semesters.

Certificate Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

1. calculate and critically analyze epidemiological measures of disease frequency and measures of the association between risk factors and disease;  
2. devise population-level disease-mitigation strategies based on the epidemiologic characteristics of the disease. 

Opportunities upon Completion

The job market for epidemiology graduates is strong. Completing the epidemiology certificate prepares students for employment opportunities with federal, state and local public health agencies (ranging from state and county health departments to the CDC and the FDA), pharmaceutical and health insurance companies, contract research organizations conducting clinical trials, research divisions of healthcare systems and plans, non-governmental organizations and foundations (e.g., the American Cancer Society), and clinical research centers at university hospitals.

Relationship to Parent Program

The parent program of this graduate specialized stackable certificate is the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, with program code MP8175  . Neither enrollment in nor completion of the MPH degree is required to complete this certificate, but completing this certificate does fulfill 3 of 14 courses toward the MPH degree. Students admitted to this certificate may also seek admission to the MPH degree. Link to MPH program: https://www.ohio.edu/chsp/social-public-health/community-public-health/graduate.

Further Information

Link to Program: https://www.ohio.edu/chsp/social-public-health/community-public-health/graduate

Admission Requirements

No additional requirements beyond those necessary for university graduate admission.

International Students

An I-20 cannot be issued based on admission to this certificate. However, this certificate can be completed as an integral part of the MPH program (program code MP8175), and an I-20 may be issued based on admission to that degree program.

Completion Requirements

Complete 9 credit hours as follows: