Board Review Course 2026: Epidemiology (Video & Slides)-BRC 2026_Epidemiology

BRC 2026_Epidemiology_Slides
Pdf Summary
This document is a board review overview of core epidemiology concepts. It covers measures of disease frequency, including counts, rates, cumulative incidence, incidence density, prevalence, mortality, case fatality, proportional mortality, and years of potential life lost (YPLL). It also explains relationships among incidence, prevalence, duration, mortality, survival, and lifetime risk.<br /><br />The document reviews descriptive epidemiology: how person, place, and time patterns help generate hypotheses, guide screening, support diagnosis, and inform health planning. It highlights data sources such as vital records, registries, medical records, and surveys, and notes cohort effects and other temporal patterns.<br /><br />A major section addresses measures of excess risk, including relative risk, odds ratio, attributable risk, number needed to treat/harm, population attributable risk, and population attributable risk percent. These measures are used to estimate the impact of exposures in prevention, diagnosis, and management.<br /><br />Study design is a large focus. The text contrasts descriptive, observational, and experimental studies, including case reports, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, pragmatic trials, natural experiments, group randomized trials, and quasi-experimental designs. It emphasizes internal validity, bias, confounding, matching, randomization, follow-up, and intent-to-treat analysis.<br /><br />The document then explains causal inference using Bradford Hill-style criteria and discusses confounding versus effect modification, along with methods of adjustment such as stratification, Mantel-Haenszel methods, and direct/indirect standardization.<br /><br />A screening section reviews criteria for screening programs, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, prevalence effects, cutoff selection, and biases such as lead-time and length-time bias. It also compares parallel versus serial testing strategies.<br /><br />Finally, it summarizes infectious disease epidemiology: host-agent interactions, transmissibility, reservoirs, vectors, incubation and generation time, herd immunity, R0, outbreak patterns, and control methods such as isolation, quarantine, contact tracing, ring vaccination, and vaccine efficacy.
Keywords
epidemiology
incidence
prevalence
relative risk
odds ratio
study design
confounding
screening
herd immunity
outbreak