Postgraduate
Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health
(MSc, Postgraduate Diploma and postgraduate Certificate)
Syllabuses
Compulsory core
courses
Epidemiology
and animal health economics
[Course code 667 0004]
This course will enable students to understand the role of
epidemiology and economics in the design and delivery of
effective veterinary services aimed at improved animal health and
productivity. Subject areas: introduction to statistics;
introduction to veterinary epidemiology - basic principles,
descriptive epidemiology, study design, sampling, quantitative
aspects of diagnostic testing; animal health economics -
principles, partial budgets, decision tree analysis, cost-benefit
ratio, economics and project planning.
Statistical methods in veterinary epidemiology
[Course code 667 0012]
The objectives of this course are to introduce statistical
methods used in veterinary epidemiology to enable students to
conduct statistical modelling of epidemiological data. Subject
areas: introduction to measures of effect; analysis of cohort
studies and casecontrol studies; likelihood, multivariable
analysis and statistical modelling; simple logistic model,
logistic regression, Poisson regression and Cox regression.
Veterinary public health
[Course code 667 0006]
The course will examine the role of veterinarians and other
related professionals in the protection of human health through
the safe production of foods of animal origin, control of
zoonotic disease and environmental contamination. Subject areas:
disease surveillance and risk analysis; zoonoses and their
control; disseminating information on veterinary public health;
quality and safety assurance in food production (meat, milk and
eggs); development of disease control programmes.
Optional
courses
Advanced statistical methods in veterinary epidemiology
[Course code 667 0013]
This course will provide an introduction to advanced methods of
statistical modelling of epidemiological data. Subject areas:
analysis of spatial data; advanced aspects of multivariable
regression analysis; analysis of correlated data; meta-analysis
and systematic reviews; modelling of production data.
Note:
Students must already have passed the compulsory core module
'Statistical methods in veterinary epidemiology' and will require
access to Arc View 9.0, plus the extensions, Spatial Analyst and
3D Analyst. The cost of the GIS software is NOT included in your
course fee and you will need to purchase it, if you do not have
access to it already. For details of how to purchase the
software, please contact ESRI via the following website and
select your country of residence from the drop down menu:
http://www.esri.com/about-esri/locations.html [external link;
new window].
You may be eligible for a student discount, therefore please
supply full details of the course you are intending to study.
The GIS software used on this course is subject to a US export
embargo, which covers a small number of nations. The list of
countries affected by the embargo can be found on the
US Department of the Treasury website [external link; new
window]. You are strongly advised to visit this website before
registering for this module.
Developing and monitoring
of livestock production systems
[Course code 667 0003]
This course will adopt a farming systems approach to permit
the student to place livestock production within the context of
the utilisation of resources. This will allow a critical
consideration of appropriate husbandry for different animals in
diverse environmental and socio-economic conditions. Subject
areas: An introduction to farming systems; Details of major
livestock production systems; Developing and monitoring of
functioning livestock systems with farmers, including organic
farming; Environmental, welfare and breeding issues in
sustainable livestock husbandry.
Management of infectious disease outbreaks in animal populations
[Course code 667 0017]
This course is designed to teach
both the theoretical and practical information required for the
management of a major infectious disease outbreak of farm
animals. Topics will include epidemiology of infectious viral
diseases, risk and cost-benefit analysis, surveillance, diagnosis
and vaccination strategies before and during an outbreak,
contingency planning and case studies to illustrate how disease
outbreaks could be better managed.
Economics for livestock
development and policy [Course
code 667 0011]
The objectives of this course are to stimulate awareness of the
socio-economic, political and environmental issues that will
affect future livestock development and to provide the tools to
analyse the issues confronting producers, their advisers,
planners and policy makers. Subject areas: Basic concepts of the
economics of livestock production; Extensive, medium intensity
and intensive systems of livestock production; Marketing and
policy; Further economics for the analysis of livestock
development; Tools for livestock economists.
Research design, management and
writing grant applications [Course
code 667 0014]
This course will enable students to undertake a research project,
with an appropriate study design to validate a hypothesis and
analyse the data, including the presentation of results and
writing a grant application. Subject areas: introduction to
scientific research and how to formulate a hypothesis; literature
search, critical analysis of papers and writing a scientific
review; experimental and statistical design in project planning;
project management; preparing data for analysis - qualitative
data, quantitative data; statistical analysis and analysing the
validity of findings; report writing, presentation of data and
writing a scientific paper; introduction to grant application
writing, planning the project and budget; guidelines to writing a
good grant proposal.
Surveillance and investigation of animal health
[Course code 667 0015]
This course will provide in-depth knowledge of qualitative and
quantitative risk analysis, animal health surveillance programmes
and introduce students to disease modelling. Subject areas:
qualitative and quantitative risk analysis; design and evaluation
of animal health surveillance and control programmes involving
multiple herds; farm-level animal disease and production
surveillance; introduction to database management; deterministic
and stochastic modelling of animal diseases.
Research project in veterinary
epidemiology and public health
[Course code 667 0200]
The research project is an optional component and it is strongly
recommended that you complete the optional course Research
design, management and grant application writing before
undertaking a research project as part of your MSc. In choosing
to carry out a research project you take the opportunity to
conduct an investigation on a subject of your own choice, within
the topics of the MSc. This option will provide an important,
qualitatively different addition to your academic experience as a
postgraduate student.
The overall
objectives of the project are:
-
to introduce
you to methods of scientific investigation
-
to train you
in the critical evaluation of the scientific literature
-
to enable you
to acquire experience in the preparation of a scientific
report.
