Hi everyone… I’m thinking about adding a second course to my spring schedule to see how I handle two classes at a time. Since all the pre-req courses start in the fall, I was looking at some of the other courses in the medical sciences listing. One I noticed was intro. to epidemiology. Any thoughts/comments on the value of taking a course like this at this point in my journey (I know that oftentimes it’s a course, or a component of a course, in the first year of med school)?
Also, out of curiousity, anyone know what ScD stands for? The prof for that class has those letters following her name and I don’t think I’ve seen that designation before… I hope I’m not just incredibly ignorant! 
Hey there!
ScD = doctor of science. I am not a med student (hopefully will be one in 2006), but in my research on medical curricula I did find that epidemiology was optional for some schools and mandatory for others. It seems that you have some time on your hands before the next load of classes, so it might be good to take the epi course - see how you like it.
Intro to epi doesn’t go into the details of clinical relevance, but it’s a good introduction to clincial studies. It might help answer the following questions - What exactly is a p-value? What is an Odds Ratio? How about a Relative Risk? What is statistically significant? If something is not statistically significant, then does it have any clinical value?
I do recommend you taking it, but only if you have the time and energy (requires minimal math and lots of reading). It definitly will not hurt! If you are into reading clinical trials and epidemiological studies, this class will show you how to make sense of the findings.
Hope this helps!
Best,
PVD
I agree that epidemiology is a valuable subject. It can be useful as background information for you when you read medical journals (e.g just what do all these stats mean anyway). Assuming that your math skills are good and up to speed for whatever chemistry and physics you have yet to do, I’d say it’s a good course for you. If you math skills are in need of a brush-up, or your writing skills or what have you, then you’re time might be better spent there. Otherwise, go enjoy the difference between sensitivity and specificity! Good luck! 