M.Sc. Thesis Epidemiology
Students will study the foundations and principles of epidemiology and applied biostatistics, in order to design, conduct, and analyze clinical, population-based, environmental, policy, and methodological health-related research. Graduates will be prepared to engage in scientific collaboration, and communicate results to other scientists and diverse audiences.
For eligible clinicians: there is the possibility of completing the program in one year. Please see "M.Sc. intensive for clinicians" tab.
Program Requirements
Thesis Course (21 credits)
EPIB 690
M.Sc. Thesis
21 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Thesis research under supervision.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022 academic year
Required Courses (21 credits)
Students exempted from any of the courses listed below must replace them with additional complementary course credits.
EPIB 601
Fundamentals of Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to epidemiologic concepts and corresponding terms. After an introduction to the history, definition, and purposes of epidemiology, "core" concepts that are relevant in several areas of investigation (e.g., etiologic research, health care research, and community medicine practice) will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- Instructors
- Alissa Koski, Stephen Kutcher, Emmalin Buajitti, Leah K Flatman
EPIB 603
Intermediate Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Concepts and methods for epidemiology at the intermediate level, including causation, measures of disease occurrence and effect, study designs, biases in epidemiologic research, interaction, and data analysis for categorical and survival data using statistical software.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 605
Critical Appraisal in Epid
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course provides the opportunity to develop skills to critically evaluate evidence presented in the biomedical and health sciences literature, based on the concepts acquired in the epidemiology introductory courses.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 607
Inferential Statistics
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to the basic principles of statistical inference used in clinical and epidemiologic research. Topics include variability; methods of processing and describing data; sampling and sampling distributions; inferences regarding means and proportions, non-parametric methods, regression and correlation.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): A first year course in undergraduate differential and integral calculus.
EPIB 613
Intro to Statistical Software
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to statistical software and data management; including basics of entering, manipulating data and elementary statistical analysis, SAS software, with reference to other packages of potential interest to students (R, Stata, SPSS).
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite: Enrolment in Epidemiology stream program or permission of instructor.
EPIB 621
Data Analysis in Health Sci
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques for continuous categorical and survival data. Topics include generalized linear models, multiple linear and logistic regression, introductory survival analysis, model selection. Maximum likelihood and Bayesean approaches will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PPHS 602
Foundations of Population Hlth
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Population&Pub Health Sciences: Introduction to population health and the conceptual basis of the population health approach to measuring disease occurrence and to prevention. Fundamentals of, and methods for, studying burden of disease in population, and how these differ across time, space, and groups. Topics include population dynamics, denominators, occurrence of events, time, person and place, health indicators, standardization, life tables, age, cohort and period effects, disease surveillance and vital statistics. Introduction to the concepts and principles of measurement including measurement error, validity, reliability, and accuracy.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Complementary Course (3 credits)
3 credits of coursework, at the 500 level or higher, chosen in consultation with the student's academic adviser or supervisor.
Core learning objectives
The general objective of the core teaching program in epidemiology is to introduce students to the principles and methods of epidemiologic research in order to enable them to design, conduct, analyze, and interpret epidemiologic research. Upon the completion of their MSc degree, students should have acquired an understanding of the following broad topics:
- the contribution of epidemiology and biostatistics to health research
- design, conduct, and analysis of epidemiologic studies
- critical appraisal of epidemiologic studies, synthesis and integration of epidemiologic research, and causal inference in epidemiologic research
- communication of scientific results
In addition, students should have acquired a basic knowledge of some substantive epidemiology, including a general appreciation of broad public health problems in Canada and internationally.
Students in the thesis program complete 24 credits of coursework and submit a thesis (21 credits). A thesis for the Master's degree must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to carry out research and to organize results. The thesis must be expressed in good literate style. An exhaustive review of work in the particular field of study is not necessarily required, nor is original scholarship necessarily expected. As an alternative to the traditional thesis format, the thesis can consist of one or more manuscripts. The student must be the first author in at least one of the manuscripts describing the major contribution of the thesis research. If this option is chosen, all components must be integrated into a cohesive unit with a logical progression from one chapter to the next; connecting text that provides logical bridges preceding and following each manuscript is mandatory.
M.Sc. thesis research involving human participants, animal subjects, microorganisms, living cells, biohazards, and/or radioactive materials, must have the appropriate compliance certification. Students must apply for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval themselves or, if appropriate, have IRB approval to be included under the supervisor's IRB approval. In addition, all students must complete the on-line tutorial on research ethics at www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/ in order to graduate. Supervisors may add students directly to their existing approved IRB protocols. IRB approval (or a waiver from a McGill IRB committee) is required for graduation.
Program Milestones
Nomination of Supervisor
Students will need to identify an academic supervisor and thesis committee no later than 15 February of their first year of study. The supervisor should be a faculty member in the department who has primary supervisory privileges. If the supervisor and student determine that a co-supervisor is beneficial, this co-supervisor can be either from the department or from outside the department. There must be a minimum of two McGill-affiliated faculty members on the thesis committee.
Forms
Graduate Student Research Progress Tracking
Completed tracking forms are required to demonstrate a student’s satisfactory progress in the MSc program as of May 15 of their first year of study. Tracking forms must be submitted to the gradcoord1.eboh [at] mcgill.ca by November 15 and May 15 each year until thesis submission.
Forms
Research proposal
Students must submit a research proposal to the SAO no later than June 30th of their first year of study.
Research Proposal Guide
Research Proposal - cover page template
M.Sc. theses will be read and evaluated by an external examiners and will be given a pass-fail grade. If the examiner has given a failing grade to the M.Sc. thesis, full instructions on how to proceed will be sent to the candidate, the supervisor and the unit head by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
A public presentation of the M.Sc. thesis work (at a scientific conference or at a seminar at McGill or elsewhere) is strongly recommended for all M.Sc. thesis students.
MSc Epidemiology Program Guidelines
Program Director:
Nicole.basta [at] mcgill.ca (Nicole Basta)
Program Advisor:
scott.weichenthal [at] mcgill.ca (Scott Weichenthal)
M.Sc. Intensive for Clinicians
Students will study the foundations and principles of epidemiology and applied biostatistics, in order to design, conduct, and analyze clinical, population-based, environmental, policy, and methodological health-related research. Graduates will be prepared to engage in scientific collaboration, and communicate results to other scientists and diverse audiences.
Thesis Course (21 credits)
EPIB 690
M.Sc. Thesis
21 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Thesis research under supervision.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022 academic year
Required Courses (21 credits)
Students exempted from any of the courses listed below must replace them with additional complementary course credits.
EPIB 601
Fundamentals of Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to epidemiologic concepts and corresponding terms. After an introduction to the history, definition, and purposes of epidemiology, "core" concepts that are relevant in several areas of investigation (e.g., etiologic research, health care research, and community medicine practice) will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- Instructors
- Alissa Koski, Stephen Kutcher, Emmalin Buajitti, Leah K Flatman
EPIB 603
Intermediate Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Concepts and methods for epidemiology at the intermediate level, including causation, measures of disease occurrence and effect, study designs, biases in epidemiologic research, interaction, and data analysis for categorical and survival data using statistical software.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 605
Critical Appraisal in Epid
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course provides the opportunity to develop skills to critically evaluate evidence presented in the biomedical and health sciences literature, based on the concepts acquired in the epidemiology introductory courses.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 607
Inferential Statistics
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to the basic principles of statistical inference used in clinical and epidemiologic research. Topics include variability; methods of processing and describing data; sampling and sampling distributions; inferences regarding means and proportions, non-parametric methods, regression and correlation.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): A first year course in undergraduate differential and integral calculus.
EPIB 613
Intro to Statistical Software
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to statistical software and data management; including basics of entering, manipulating data and elementary statistical analysis, SAS software, with reference to other packages of potential interest to students (R, Stata, SPSS).
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite: Enrolment in Epidemiology stream program or permission of instructor.
EPIB 621
Data Analysis in Health Sci
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques for continuous categorical and survival data. Topics include generalized linear models, multiple linear and logistic regression, introductory survival analysis, model selection. Maximum likelihood and Bayesean approaches will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PPHS 602
Foundations of Population Hlth
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Population&Pub Health Sciences: Introduction to population health and the conceptual basis of the population health approach to measuring disease occurrence and to prevention. Fundamentals of, and methods for, studying burden of disease in population, and how these differ across time, space, and groups. Topics include population dynamics, denominators, occurrence of events, time, person and place, health indicators, standardization, life tables, age, cohort and period effects, disease surveillance and vital statistics. Introduction to the concepts and principles of measurement including measurement error, validity, reliability, and accuracy.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Complementary Course (3 credits)
3 credits of coursework, at the 500 level or higher, chosen in consultation with the student's academic adviser or supervisor.
Core learning objectives
This document Core Learning Objectives MSc Epidemiology [.pdf] outlines objectives of the core program for all M.Sc. students registered in the epidemiology program. The document was designed to facilitate the planning of courses and other learning activities, and to help students identify learning objectives. The objectives presented here may be met in a variety of ways: course work, the conduct of the thesis or non-thesis M.Sc. project, other research and participation in other academic activities such as departmental seminars.
Students in the thesis program complete 24 credits of coursework and submit a thesis (21 credits). A thesis for the Master's degree must show familiarity with previous work in the field and must demonstrate ability to carry out research and to organize results. The thesis must be expressed in good literate style. An exhaustive review of work in the particular field of study is not necessarily required, nor is original scholarship necessarily expected. As an alternative to the traditional thesis format, the thesis can consist of one or more papers of which the student is an author or co-author. If this option is chosen, all components must be integrated into a cohesive unit with a logical progression from one chapter to the next; connecting text that provides logical bridges preceding and following each manuscript is mandatory.
To be considered for admission, students interested in the intensive M.Sc. for clinicians option must have identified a Departmental supervisor or co-supervisor as well as a thesis topic at the time of application. The proposed thesis must use data already collected to allow for the completion of all the requirements for the M.Sc. by the end of August of the year after admission to the program. It is also expected that successful applicants will not be required to have any clinical duties during the 12 month period of study.
Applicants to the intensive M.Sc. for clinicians option must contact Dr. Pierre Ernst (see contact details below) for further information and to assure that the planned research program meets all requirements of the M.Sc. thesis program.
M.Sc. theses involving human participants, animal subjects, microorganisms, living cells, biohazards, and/or radioactive materials, must include the appropriate compliance certification. Supervisors may add students directly to their existing approved IRB protocols. IRB approval (or a waiver from a McGill IRB committee) is required for graduation.
Completed progress and tracking forms are required to demonstrate satisfactory progress in the M.Sc. program (see website for details: https://www.mcgill.ca/epi-biostat-occh/student-affairs/academic-information/policies
M.Sc. theses will be read and evaluated by an external examiners and will be given a pass-fail grade. If the examiner has given a failing grade to the M.Sc. thesis, full instructions on how to proceed will be sent to the candidate, the supervisor and the unit head by Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
A public presentation of the M.Sc. thesis work (at a scientific conference or at a seminar at McGill or elsewhere) is strongly recommended for all M.Sc. thesis students.
M.Sc. Intensive Advisor:
pierre.ernst [at] mcgill.ca (subject: M.Sc.%20Epidemiology%20Intensive%20Program%20for%20Clinicians%20inquiry) (Pierre Ernst )
Program Advisor:
scottandrew.weichenthal [at] mcgill.ca (Scott Weichenthal)
Program Director:
nicole.basta [at] mcgill.ca (Nicole Basta)
M.Sc. in Epidemiology; Non-Thesis – Pharmacoepidemiology
Not accepting applications for 2023-2024
This program may be phased out.
This program provides in-depth training for graduate students on pharmacoepidemiologic methods and the application of these methods to study the population effects (benefits and harm) of pharmaceutical products. Students will develop knowledge and capacity to critically evaluate pharmacoepidemiologic studies, learn how to apply specific methods and understand how to apply research results for knowledge translation or policy purpose. Career opportunities for graduates are multiple and include work in industry, government, or academia. Students will be required to participate in the Pharmacoepidemiology Journal Club. Research topics must be related to pharmacoepidemiology and approved by the program coordinating committee.
Research (12 credits)
EPIB 691
Research Project:Epidemiology
12 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Students will critically assess research and summarize the findings in a research paper on a health related topic from an epidemiologic perspective. Topic to be approved by faculty member who will direct student and evaluate the paper.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Restriction(s): Limited to non-thesis M.Sc. students who have completed requirements.
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022 academic year
Required Courses (25 credits)
Students exempted from any of the courses listed below must replace them with additional complementary course credits at the 500 level or higher.
EPIB 601
Fundamentals of Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to epidemiologic concepts and corresponding terms. After an introduction to the history, definition, and purposes of epidemiology, "core" concepts that are relevant in several areas of investigation (e.g., etiologic research, health care research, and community medicine practice) will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- Instructors
- Alissa Koski, Stephen Kutcher, Emmalin Buajitti, Leah K Flatman
EPIB 603
Intermediate Epidemiology
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Concepts and methods for epidemiology at the intermediate level, including causation, measures of disease occurrence and effect, study designs, biases in epidemiologic research, interaction, and data analysis for categorical and survival data using statistical software.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 605
Critical Appraisal in Epid
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: This course provides the opportunity to develop skills to critically evaluate evidence presented in the biomedical and health sciences literature, based on the concepts acquired in the epidemiology introductory courses.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 607
Inferential Statistics
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to the basic principles of statistical inference used in clinical and epidemiologic research. Topics include variability; methods of processing and describing data; sampling and sampling distributions; inferences regarding means and proportions, non-parametric methods, regression and correlation.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite (Undergraduate): A first year course in undergraduate differential and integral calculus.
EPIB 613
Intro to Statistical Software
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Introduction to statistical software and data management; including basics of entering, manipulating data and elementary statistical analysis, SAS software, with reference to other packages of potential interest to students (R, Stata, SPSS).
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite: Enrolment in Epidemiology stream program or permission of instructor.
EPIB 621
Data Analysis in Health Sci
4 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques for continuous categorical and survival data. Topics include generalized linear models, multiple linear and logistic regression, introductory survival analysis, model selection. Maximum likelihood and Bayesean approaches will be presented.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
EPIB 634
Fundamentals of Pharmacoepidem
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: The objective of this course is for students to develop an understanding of the design and analysis of pharmacoepidiologic studies. It includes didactic lectures, group discussions, and the examination of examples from the medical literature. Topics covered including an overview of commonly used study designs, exposure and outcome assessment, new-user designs, healthy-user effects, non-traditional study designs, and the role of confounding and methods used to minimize it. Biases particularly relevant to pharmacoepidemiology are also discussed.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Terms
- This course is not scheduled for the 2022 academic year
- Instructors
- There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022 academic year
EPIB 662
Pharma Basis of Pharmacoepidem
1 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Epidemiology & Biostatistics: The objective of this course is to provide students with an indepth review of the principles of pharmacology which are essential for the design, analysis and critical appraisal of studies in pharmacoepidemiology.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Prerequisite(s): EPIB 633, or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.
PPHS 602
Foundations of Population Hlth
3 Credits
Offered in the:
- Fall
- Winter
- Summer
Population&Pub Health Sciences: Introduction to population health and the conceptual basis of the population health approach to measuring disease occurrence and to prevention. Fundamentals of, and methods for, studying burden of disease in population, and how these differ across time, space, and groups. Topics include population dynamics, denominators, occurrence of events, time, person and place, health indicators, standardization, life tables, age, cohort and period effects, disease surveillance and vital statistics. Introduction to the concepts and principles of measurement including measurement error, validity, reliability, and accuracy.
Offered by: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Complementary Course (11 credits)
11 credits of coursework, at the 500 level or higher, chosen in consultation with the student's academic adviser or supervisor. Courses must be approved by the program's academic adviser.
Applicants should select the MSc Epidemiology Non-Thesis - Pharmacoepidemiology Concentration in uApply when applying and discuss their interest in their personal statement.
PE Advisor:
Robert.platt [at] mcgill.ca (subject: M.Sc.%20Pharmacoepidemiology%20Option%20inquiry) (Robert Platt)
Program Director:
laurent.azoulay [at] mcgill.ca (subject: M.Sc.%20Epidemiology%20inquiry) (Laurent Azoulay)
Research Proposal Guide
Research Proposal - cover page template