Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health (CEPH) is a core component of the Harvard Medical School Pathways Curriculum. The clinical Epidemiology and Population Health Curriculum is led by DPM faculty members Laura Garabedian, PhD, MPH, Jason Block, MD, MPH, Izzuddin Aris, PhD, and Emily Oken, MD, MPH. Every year, up to two dozen other DPM faculty, research scientists, and fellows teach in the CEPH courses.
The longitudinal curriculum spans three required courses in the pre-clerkship and post-clerkship phases of the HMS curriculum: Essentials of the Profession I, Transition to the Principal Clinical Experience, and Essentials of the Profession II. These combine the teaching of core skills of clinical epidemiology (biostatistics, study design, and critical reasoning) as they apply to the care of individuals and populations with an introduction to key public and population health topics. The curriculum provides students with the skills to critically evaluate evidence and use it appropriately in clinical decisions and population health management. In pre-clerkship courses, students are introduced to key clinical epidemiological concepts (Essentials I) and then apply these concepts to make evidence-based decisions for clinical cases (Transitions). In the post-clerkship course (Essentials II), students learn additional clinical epidemiology concepts and employ concepts from both Essentials I and II to critically appraise population health research studies and explore and improve population health problems.
All of the Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health sessions incorporate components of case-based collaborative learning, a pedagogical approach designed and adopted by HMS faculty to teach medical and dental students to think critically, apply basic concepts, and work in teams.
In addition to teaching in the CEPH courses, DPM faculty actively mentor HMS students on scholarly projects that employ clinical epidemiological methods and focus on population health issues.