Study programmes

The aim of the program is to establish the field of social epidemiology in Czech higher education and create experts specialized in social epidemiology who are not currently available on the labor market. The program focuses on natural and social sciences in the area of human health by drawing on demography, geography of health, medical geography, epidemiology, anthropology, virology, human psychology and biostatistics. One of the main goals is to link the program with ASPHER (the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region) and to further develop cooperation with the world’s leading social epidemiology institutes (e.g. School of Public Health, University of Queensland; School of Public Health, UC Berkeley; University of Coimbra; Agència Salut Pública de Barcelona).

The accreditation of this program is in accordance with the long-term plan of the Faculty of Science, Charles University, and adds a missing field of study that will meet demand on the labor market. The proposed program does not exist at Charles University at the moment. It represents a socially oriented approach to the study of population health and its determinants. The existing program in epidemiology at Charles University’s Medical School is different from the proposed program by its strong focus on the medical aspects of human health. The proposed program includes many courses based on cooperation with various non-academic professionals (e.g. from SZÚ, WHO, ÚZIS, NUDZ, VZP), which will allow for the transfer of knowledge and experience from these experts. Students will also gain practical experience in the course “Practice for epidemiologists”, which is organized together with Prague’s City Health Station. The graduates of the proposed program will have many professional opportunities: to continue in postgraduate studies or start their professional careers (e.g. SZÚ, VZP, MPSV, MZ ČR) as epidemiologists, specialists in the field of the protection of public health, assistants of hygiene services, social workers, prevention methodologists, social analytics among others. The proposed program incorporates a comprehensive up-to-date overview of social epidemiology.

A broad range of elective and optional elective courses allows students to shape their own curriculum in the context of preparation for their professional careers. Furthermore, the aim of the program is also to support the internationalization of the Faculty through the integration of international experts into classroom instruction at Charles University (not only from University College London), increased opportunities for students to study abroad and participate in international student competitions and organizations.

The proposed program emphasizes, among others, data analysis and processing, involving quantitative epidemiological data available from various registers and databases and qualitative data collected through field work. Students are actively involved in the annual preparation and organization of The Health Day at the Faculty of Science, they collect and analyze data in cooperation with medical doctors from the State Health Department and Prague’s City Health Department.

Since the last accreditation, several important changes have been made in the program in response to student and labor market requirements. For example, new courses have been added into the curriculum, including Practice for epidemiologists, Epidemiology of tobacco use, Statistical data analysis - preparatory course, Virology Laboratory Course for Epidemiologists. A new optional elective course taught in English has been introduced.