MSc in Epidemiology

Are you interested in the basic mechanisms that underlie health and disease? Do you want to learn how to examine their occurrences and determinants in contexts such as clinical practice and healthcare policy? Are you interested in pursuing or developing your career as an epidemiological researcher or policy adviser in public health or clinical medicine? Then Epidemiology could be just the program for you.

Fast facts

• Strong focus on research with a broad scope of applied research
• Study causes and determinants of disease
• In the context of public health and clinical practice
• 1-year full-time or 2-year part-time, taught in English
• Study load per week - full-time: 40 hours, approximately 13 contact hours and 27 hours of group/independent study / part-time: 20 hours, approximately 6-7 contact hours and 11-13 hours of group/independent study
• Starts in September

Why this program?

Epidemiology focuses on the occurrence, distribution and determinants of health and disease, and on the methods that can be used to study them. It’s considered a cornerstone of public health, preventive medicine and evidence-based clinical medicine. In the master’s program in Epidemiology, you’ll gain a solid education in the theoretical concepts, methods and interpretation of epidemiological research focusing on the diagnosis, etiology, and outcomes and prognosis of disease. You’ll also study the efficacy of preventive and therapeutic interventions.

You will explore epidemiology in all its different facets with examples ranging from the epidemiology of cancer or musculoskeletal disorders to nutritional, molecular, clinical and occupational health epidemiology. You’ll develop the full range of theoretical knowledge, practical and analytical skills, and experience you’ll need to become a certified epidemiologist.

Thorough grounding in Epidemiology

In this program, you will learn:

• about the basic principles and core concepts of epidemiology
• about different research designs
• about advanced statistical methods used in epidemiology
• to critically approach the appraisal of research work
• to prepare research proposals and research manuscripts and deliver effective oral presentations
• to develop communication skills that are relevant to the workplace

Improve your research skills

In this program, you’ll focus on building professional research skills such as:

• research design and implementation
• statistical analysis
• preparing a research proposal
• evaluating and reporting of your own epidemiological research and interventions
• peer reviewing and critically assessing scientific publications and reports on public health and patient-bound research

You’ll also put these skills into practice and will have the opportunity to play an active role in faculty research, thanks to the program's close ties with our research institutes. This will give you the skills you need to jump-start your scientific career.

Master’s thesis

During the second half of the program, you will actively participate in epidemiological research and complete a master’s thesis under the close supervision of the academic staff. Past topics have included:

• composition of breast milk and asthma, atopic and infectious outcomes in childhood
• alcohol drinking, genetic variation and risk of breast cancer
• school absence in children aged 13-14 years
• light physical activity and health-related quality of life
• prevalence and early screening of ADHD
• body composition and risk of metabolic or cardiovascular disease

Spend time abroad

The Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences gives you the opportunity to study abroad in a work placement program. Imagine skiing down a slope in Switzerland, wandering the streets of Cape Town or taking a weekend hike through the Scottish Highlands, all while studying at a top university. The faculty has approximately 130 partner institutions in more than 40 different countries all over the world. Students return having had the experience of a lifetime: traveling the world, meeting new friends, learning about different cultures, and working to complete their studies.

Small groups = big advantages

As with many Maastricht University programs, the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences programs are taught using Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In small tutorial groups of 10 to 12 students, you seek solutions to ‘problems’ taken from real-world situations. Instructors act as facilitators, giving help as it’s needed. This allows you to build independence and develop problem-solving skills that you’ll need in the field. This active, dynamic and collaborative learning method has one of the highest knowledge retention rates of any instructional method.

Our differences are our greatest strength

At Maastricht University, we're focused on the development of our international classroom, a place where our differences become our strengths. In this program, you will not only develop knowledge and skills, but also international accessibility and understanding. From day one, you’ll be challenged with differing viewpoints and experiences as you interact with staff and students from all over the world. Your worldview will be enhanced by this interaction. Roughly 40% of the students in this master’s program come from outside the Netherlands. Such diversity creates an international atmosphere that is strengthened by the international orientation of the program.

The Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences started on 1 January 2007. The faculty was the result of a merger between the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine.

Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine was the first faculty to be established at Maastricht University. The University was officially established on the 9th of January 1976, although the first medical students began their studies in September 1974. The Faculty of Medicine was the second in the world that applied the Problem-Based Learning method. The other faculties of Maastricht University , i.e. Arts and Culture, Economics and Business Administration, General Sciences, Health Sciences, Law, and Psychology adopted educational systems and research organisations akin to that of the Faculty of Medicine.

The Faculty developed into a community with a staff of around 1200 (academics, administrative and support staff), and approximately 1950 medical students. Since 1992 staff and students are based at the complex of buildings of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, and the University Hospital (Academisch Ziekenhuis Maastricht) which opened in 1991.

Health Sciences

The Faculty of Health Sciences offered a broad range of disciplines that made the faculty unique, not only in the Netherlands but also in Europe. The format allowed students to integrate their discipline and research work into all areas related to society, sickness and health. By way of research and specific (undergraduate and postgraduate) education, the Faculty of Health Sciences contributed to the quality improvement in healthcare.

At the moment the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences has some 2,500 students enrolled in its broad spectrum of educational programmes leading to a Bachelor's and/or Master's degree. Health Sciences examines the relationship between health, lifestyle, disease prevention, care and cure. The Health Sciences curriculum covers the entire field of health sciences: biological, behavioural and social health sciences. Three questions take centre stage throughout the course:

1) What is health? 2) Which factors influence health? 3) How can we influence these factors?

To ensure a good quality of health care not only doctors are needed, but nurses and paramedics are also important, too. But also the expertise of other professionals is essential: the health scientists.