Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization

A well-structured and practical foundation in epidemiology—perfect for anyone stepping into public health through surveillance, measurement, and outbreak response.

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access	Lifetime
level	Beginner
certificate	Certificate of completion
language	English

#Coursera

Description
Additional information

What will you learn in Epidemiology in Public Health Practice Specialization Course

Get comfortable with the core tools epidemiologists use—learn to measure the health of populations and estimate disease burden.
Discover how to gather, interpret, and use public health surveillance data effectively for real-world decisions.

Understand how surveillance systems are constructed, what makes them effective, and master variations used in practice.
Explore outbreak and epidemic investigation—learn how to ask the right questions, follow disease patterns, and respond using real case studies.

Program Overview

Course 1: Essential Epidemiologic Tools for Public Health Practice

⌛ ~4 hours

Topics: Basics of public health and epidemiology. Measure disease burden (counts, rates, proportions). Visualize risk factors. Map health data.
Hands-on: Watch videos, read brief texts, complete calculations and mapping exercises.

Course 2: Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice

⌛ ~6 hours

Topics: Role of epidemiologists. Public health data systems. Calculating disease measures for interventions.
Hands-on: Analyze data from surveillance systems and compute disease burden indicators.

Course 3: Surveillance Systems: The Building Blocks

⌛ ~5.75 hours

Topics: How surveillance systems work. Objectives, data flow, attributes, and performance evaluation.
Hands-on: Explore surveillance system design and learn to assess their effectiveness.

Course 4: Surveillance Systems: Analysis, Dissemination & Special Systems

⌛ (est. ~5 hours)

Topics: Analyze surveillance data. Detect trends. Learn about syndromic surveillance and special reporting systems.
Hands-on: Interpret data trends and understand advanced surveillance approaches.

Course 5: Outbreaks and Epidemics

⌛ ~4 hours

Topics: Stages of outbreak investigation. Epidemic dynamics. Real-case studies (e.g., Ebola, opioid crisis).
Hands-on: Investigate real-world outbreaks via assignments and case studies.

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Job Outlook

Ideal for newcomers or current professionals in public health agencies, government, or health NGOs involved in disease surveillance and outbreak management.
Great for roles like Epidemiologist, Public Health Analyst, or Outbreak Investigator, focusing on data-informed health decisions.
Builds a concrete foundation for more advanced epidemiology training or direct field application in monitoring and controlling health threats.

9.7Expert Score

Highly Recommendedx

A comprehensive and accessible entry-level specialization that teaches practical, widely used epidemiologic methods—especially useful for anyone starting a career in public health or looking to strengthen their real-world impact.

Value

9.5

Price

9.3

Skills

9.8

Information

9.7

PROS

Beginner-friendly and flexible—no prior experience needed.
Highly rated: around 4.7/5 from over 3,600 learners.
Hands-on approach—includes mapping, calculations, surveillance tools, and case-based learning.

CONS

Compared to more advanced programs, it stays at foundational methods and doesn’t deeply explore complex analytical or statistical models.
Some more experienced learners might find the content less challenging if they already know epidemiologic basics.