M.Sc. in Epidemiology

The domain of community health and epidemiology is broad and includes a range of content areas focusing on the determinants and preservation of health in human populations. These areas are linked by a common concern for the use of appropriate research methods including methods of data collection, statistical analysis, and interpretation.

The purpose of the MSc program is to provide the common methodological foundation from which to conduct research across diverse health-related areas. Toward this end, the Department offers a two-year research-based MSc degree in Epidemiology with one cycle of enrollment in September of each year.

The Department offers students the opportunity to specialize in one of three streams of study within the M.Sc. degree although it is not mandatory to do so. These streams correspond to the research strengths of the Department's faculty: Epidemiology and Population Health,Health Services and Policy Research and Clinical Epidemiology.

Students graduate from the program with an ability to: communicate scientifically; describe trends and patterns of disease incidence and prevalence; critically review scientific literature related to community health and epidemiology; apply epidemiologic and analytic methods in the design of research; collect, analyze and interpret health data; conduct a study; and write and defend a thesis. Study satisfactorily completed by physicians may fulfil part of the requirements for Fellowship in Community Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, in conjunction with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, now also offers a one year collaborative M.Sc program with a biostatistics specialization.  For information, see the new Biostatistics website