Methods in Field Epidemiology

Book excerpt: This unique guidebook covers all aspects of practical field epidemiologic investigation. It explains the requirements, defines terms, and illustrates many examples of how to undertake the tasks of the public health epidemiologist during a field investigation. Unlike other texts of its kind, it breaks down each function of field epidemiology to its constituent parts and thoroughly answers questions related to them. Topics include: public health surveillance; qualifying a potential outbreak; assembling and equipping a team; hypothesis generation and descriptive epidemiology; epidemiological studies; hypothesis-testing interviews; data analysis; writing a report; public health laboratory’s role in field; environmental health components; investigating non-infectious health events; forensic epidemiology investigations; GIS; and special considerations. The text is accompanied by a complete package of instructor resources including Sample Syllabus, Instructor's Manual, TestBank, and PowerPoint slides.