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This highly interactive module seeks to prepare students for the practice of communicable disease control through a variety of teaching and learning strategies. Students will first be presented to the core concepts of communicable disease control (CDC) through a series of lectures. In addition to the lectures, students will work in small problem-based learning groups with a staff facilitator throughout the module. Each group will work on an emerging and realistic CDC scenario. The groups will be tasked with applying material taught in the module and identifying alternative sources of information to plan strategies for resolving the problem-scenario presented.

The overall module aim is to explore the core knowledge and skills necessary for the application of communicable disease control activities in a variety of settings & populations.

Intended learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the module a student should be able to:

1. Differentiate the key mechanisms of communicable disease transmission, and to propose realistic public health prevention and control strategies;
2. Apply and evaluate the principles of surveillance and the characteristics of different surveillance systems, their strengths and weaknesses, their usefulness, and their application to disease control;
3. Evaluate policies and programmes used in the prevention and control of important infectious diseases, and the issues involved in their implementation and evaluation;
4. Apply epidemiological methods to the investigation and management of outbreaks;
5. Examine the issues involved in managing and evaluating vaccination programmes;
6. Question the appropriateness of standard communicable disease control strategies for vulnerable, marginalised, and at-risk populations, and to propose alternative strategies;
7. Evaluate communicable disease control strategies using ethical frameworks;
8. Design communicable disease control strategies suited to the student’s own country or work situation.

Mode of delivery

This module is delivered predominantly face-to-face. Where specific teaching methods (lectures, seminars, discussion groups) are noted in this module specification these will be delivered by predominantly face-to-face sessions. There will be a combination of live and interactive activities (synchronous learning) as well as self-directed study (asynchronous learning).

Assessment

1. A group assignment (50%) 

   The PBL sessions will explore a realistic outbreak scenario, with structured evolutions over a four-week period. At the end of the PBL sessions, students will be asked to complete a group outbreak report of 2,500 words, which summarises the actions taken by the group, with rationale, reflections and recommendations presented. Students will be evaluated on their critical evaluation of the outbreak, drawing on the core themes and topics presented throughout the module.

2. An individual assignment (40%)

   Linked to the PBL sessions, each student will reflect on an essay question that provides an outbreak scenario, which the students will be asked to critique in 1000 words. Within the 1000-word limit, students should consider the epidemiology and evidence that informed their approach, the potential unintended consequences of their actions, and the ethical considerations that influenced key decisions.

3. An oral ‘press conference’ (10%)

   Linked to the PBL sessions, each student will answer one question about their group’s outbreak control strategy at a simulated press conference attended by their peers and the PBL leaders. This mark will be pass/fail.

4. Non-assessed criteria

   As this module builds on sequential core concepts presented in PBL sessions and lectures, students are required to commit to full participation in all sessions.

Credits

• CATS: 15
• ECTS: 7.5

Module specification

For full information regarding this module please see the module specification.