Identify a surveillance system and its objectives.

• The purpose of surveillance and surveillance system evaluation.
• Surveillance system attributes, e.g. completeness, timeliness, usefulness, representativeness, sensitivity, specificity.
• Guidelines for conducting a surveillance system evaluation.
• The public health importance of the clinical/health-related event under surveillance.
• The purpose and operation of the surveillance system and resources (financial, personnel and other resources) needed to operate the surveillance system.
• Surveillance system attributes and how to select attributes for evaluation.
• The rationale for surveillance and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• The surveillance cycle: set objectives, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, action, evaluation.
• Population under surveillance.
• Types of surveillance, including: (i) active surveillance; (ii) passive surveillance; (iii) sentinel surveillance; (iv) syndromic surveillance.
• Disease registration systems.
• Cancer registration (as an example of disease registration).

Identify all potential attributes of this surveillance system.

• The purpose of surveillance and surveillance system evaluation.
• Surveillance system attributes, e.g. completeness, timeliness, usefulness, representativeness, sensitivity, specificity.
• Guidelines for conducting a surveillance system evaluation.
• The public health importance of the clinical/health-related event under surveillance.
• The purpose and operation of the surveillance system and resources (financial, personnel and other resources) needed to operate the surveillance system.
• Surveillance system attributes and how to select attributes for evaluation.
• The rationale for surveillance and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• The surveillance cycle: set objectives, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, action, evaluation.
• Population under surveillance.
• Types of surveillance, including: (i) active surveillance; (ii) passive surveillance; (iii) sentinel surveillance; (iv) syndromic surveillance.
• Disease registration systems.
• Cancer registration (as an example of disease registration).

Select and justify relevant attributes in consultation, and evaluate the system.

• The purpose of surveillance and surveillance system evaluation.
• Surveillance system attributes, e.g. completeness, timeliness, usefulness, representativeness, sensitivity, specificity.
• Guidelines for conducting a surveillance system evaluation.
• The public health importance of the clinical/health-related event under surveillance.
• The purpose and operation of the surveillance system and resources (financial, personnel and other resources) needed to operate the surveillance system.
• Surveillance system attributes and how to select attributes for evaluation.
• The rationale for surveillance and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• The surveillance cycle: set objectives, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, action, evaluation.
• Population under surveillance.
• Types of surveillance, including: (i) active surveillance; (ii) passive surveillance; (iii) sentinel surveillance; (iv) syndromic surveillance.
• Disease registration systems.
• Cancer registration (as an example of disease registration).

Prepare a surveillance system evaluation report and make recommendations based on your findings.

• Typical structure of a surveillance system evaluation report.
• Common errors in writing a surveillance system evaluation report.

Present and defend the report at a departmental meeting.

• How to prepare a presentation.
• Giving an oral presentation.
• Responding to questions.
• Critical reflective practice.

Identify a surveillance system and extract data from it.

• The public health importance of the clinical/health-related event under surveillance.
• Population under surveillance.
• Types of surveillance including: (i) active surveillance; (ii) passive surveillance; (iii) sentinel surveillance; (iv) syndromic surveillance.
• Disease registration systems.
• Cancer registration (as an example of disease registration).
• How to distinguish key features of communicable, non-communicable and environmental epidemiology.

Analyse surveillance data (descriptive epidemiology).

• Types of data.
• Time, place, person.
• Frequencies and distributions.
• The epidemiological methods available to analyse the data:
  • summary statistics, i.e. mean, median, mode, measures of spread
  • prevalence and incidence
  • rates (crude, specific and standardised)
  • risk adjustment.

Interpret the results of the analysis and prepare a report detailing the findings exercising professional judgement.

• How to interpret an analysis of surveillance data.
• Hypothesis generation.
• Frameworks for report writing.
• The importance of being able to be able to practise as an autonomous professional and exercise professional judgement.
• Personal responsibility and the importance of being able to justify decisions.

Identify a peer-reviewed analytic epidemiological study for review.

• How to perform a literature search.
• Critical appraisal of scientific literature.
• Epidemiological study designs and their measures of association.

Critically appraise the peer-reviewed manuscript, focusing on potential biases and how these may impact on the findings.

• The analytical methods employed in the study.
• Potential study biases, confounding and chance and their impact on measures of association:
  • selection bias
• • information bias
  • observer bias
  • loss to follow-up
  • misclassification
  • confounding and chance.

Present and defend the critical appraisal, e.g. at a journal club

• How to prepare a presentation.
• Giving an oral presentation.
• Responding to questions.
• Critical reflective practice.

Attend outbreak control team meetings.

• The principles of outbreak investigation.
• How to establish the existence of the outbreak:
  • identification of an outbreak using surveillance data
  • confirmation of diagnosis.
• How to establish a hypothesis related to the mode of occurrence.
  • Contact cases in attempt to establish possible exposures associated with disease
  • Analysis of data collected from cases
• How to test the hypotheses:
  • creation of data collection instruments, e.g. questionnaires
  • selection of suitable control population to compare cases with
  • the principles of epidemiological studies available to test hypotheses, e.g. case-control and cohort studies.
• How to conduct an environmental and/or microbiological investigation.
• How to control the outbreak and prevent further occurrences.
• Social, institutional and political background to outbreak control.
• Need for timeliness to enhance preventive impact of control measures.
• How to build and sustain professional relationships as both an independent practitioner and collaboratively as a member of a team.

Support the outbreak control team during the investigation.

• The principles of outbreak investigation.
• How to establish the existence of the outbreak:
  • identification of an outbreak using surveillance data
  • confirmation of diagnosis.
• How to establish a hypothesis related to the mode of occurrence.
  • Contact cases in attempt to establish possible exposures associated with disease
  • Analysis of data collected from cases
• How to test the hypotheses:
  • creation of data collection instruments, e.g. questionnaires
  • selection of suitable control population to compare cases with
  • the principles of epidemiological studies available to test hypotheses, e.g. case-control and cohort studies.
• How to conduct an environmental and/or microbiological investigation.
• How to control the outbreak and prevent further occurrences.
• Social, institutional and political background to outbreak control.
• Need for timeliness to enhance preventive impact of control measures.
• How to build and sustain professional relationships as both an independent practitioner and collaboratively as a member of a team.

Critically reflect on and document the steps undertaken in the investigation that you have been involved in.

• How to write an investigation report to share experience with the public health and scientific community.