EPI 390: DISEASE IN SOCIETYINTRODUCTION TO EPIDEMIOLOGY& PUBLIC HEALTHSpring Semester 2021Instructor David A. Barondess, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorDepartment of Epidemiology and BiostatisticsCollege of Human MedicineThis class is being offered in a 100% remote format.E-mail [email protected] Hours Monday and Wednesday 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. These times are for individual meetings initiated by student request. Upon your request for a meeting, a private Zoom link will be sent to you by the Instructor.Day & Time All ‘live’ and synchronous lectures are T/Th (10:20 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.). This lecture format will run from January 19th – March 11th. Recorded lectures in the second half of the class will run from March 16th – April 20th. This will be a self-paced format and thus can be accomplished asynchronously (i.e., no ‘live’ lectures during these class weeks).T.A. Ms. Sarah Brewer, MPHE-mail [email protected] Hours T/Th 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (after class)These times are ‘open format,’ meaning that you may log in (no invite needed) and ask the T.A. your questions. Other students may be listening while you are interacting with the T.A. T/Th 4:00-5:00 p.m. and 6-7 p.m. These times are for individual meetings initiated by student request. Upon your request for a meeting, a private Zoom link will be sent to you by the T.A.ReadingsNo textbook required. Comprehensive lecture materials and related readings are available on the course's D2L web site. From time-to-time, additional reading materials pertinent to the week’s topic(s) will be posted on D2L. Please check your e-mail and course web site regularly for timely updates. ObjectivesThis course provides an introduction to the related disciplines of Epidemiology and Public Health and addresses the complexity of health issues facing contemporary society, in both industrialized and less-developed settings. This course will present, via extensive case studies, an overview of the contributions that epidemiologists make to the discovery, prevention and control of disease. We will also discuss how the disciplines utilize various methodological approaches to differentiate disease causality and association. Critical thinking skills acquired in this class will help you evaluate questions related to population health and disease ascommunicated through scholarly publications and via mass media.COURSE GRADESCourse grades will be based on the following:Three (3) exams (including the final) comprising 100% of the final course grade.All exams will be given on the dates and times indicated below. All exams will be offered remotely.1. Exam 1: Tuesday February 23 (10:20 - 12:10 p.m.)2. Exam 2: Thursday March 25 (10:20 - 12:10 p.m.)3. Exam 3 (Final): Friday April 30 (7:45 - 9:45 a.m.)All exams are ‘closed-book and closed-note’ and are to be completed independently. During the exams all course content will be closed. All exam questions are worth one point unless indicated otherwise. All three exams are multiple choice format and non-cumulative. However, general concepts learned throughout the semester will be important for all exams. Final grades are assigned according to the following distribution:4.0≥90%; 3.5=85-89% 3.0=80-84%; 2.5=75-79%; 2.0=70-74%; 1.5=65-69%; 1.0=55-64%; 0.0 =<55%There is no rounding of final grade percentages. That is, final grades are determined by digits to the left of the decimal point only.MISSED EXAMSThis course adheres to the University's policy for missed examinations and strives to be fair to everyone in the class. Should you miss an exam, it is required that you submit a written explanation. If you suffered from ill health, it is your responsibility to obtain a note from a medical professional. Please remember, just any excuse is not acceptable to be permitted to take a make-up exam. The onus is on you to contact the Instructor or the T.A. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (preferably before the test). Make-up exams will not be permitted without documented evidence.These expectations are in keeping with University policy:"A student absent from an examination without satisfactory explanation will receive a grade of 0.0 on the numerical system. Students unable to take an examination because of illness or other reason over which they have no control should notify the assistant deans of their colleges immediately.” Web Site: https://reg.msu.edu/roinfo/calendar/FinalExam.aspx HONORS-OPTIONThe Honors Option (HO) is available for this course. If you are interested in pursuing the HO, please e-mail Ms. Brewer, your class T.A. (and cc the Instructor) within the first week or two of class so that we can add your name to a group contact list. Briefly, in order to successfully complete the HO, you will be required to listen to seminars organized by the Department and prepare short synopses of what you learned. A schedule of seminars is availableon the departmental website. Please note that in order to qualify for the H-Option, you are required to obtain an overall grade of 3.0 or higher for the course. More details for the HO will be provided soon after the course begins. RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCEStudents are able to miss class to observe ANY religious occasion. However, it is your responsibility to catch up with the course material on those days you are not in class. The T.A. and/or Instructor will be happy to assist you in these circumstances. Please see MSU's religious holiday policy web site at:https://reg.msu.edu/ROInfo/Notices/ReligiousPolicy.aspx. AttendanceWe STRONGLY encourage you to attend lectures that are ‘live’ and synchronous.Class EtiquetteThe focus of each lecture is on active learning and critical thinking. Respectful, courteous student behavior is demanded in the on-line environment. Given that the class is very large, upon entry all students will be muted. If you have a question, please use the chat function in Zoom which will be monitored by Ms. Brewer. We will do our best to monitor chat during lecture, but it will probably be most efficient if you can hold your question(s) until ‘office hours.’ In this way we can devote uninterrupted time to lecture, which is especially precious given the nature of the current university-mandated semester window in the context of the ongoing pandemic. Use of Social Media Derived from the ClassroomAs members of a learning community, students are expected to respect the intellectual property of the course Instructor(s). All course materials presented to