Introduction to Free Epidemiology Resources
Thursday, June 24, 2010, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, Alaska time

 

Public health practitioners  and others working in health care and health education are frequently called upon to use epidemiological methods in support of health programs and practice.  Sometimes a fully trained epidemiologist is not available and other public health practitioners or members of the health care workforce may be called upon to apply epidemiological methods to identify health problems or address current health needs.

 

Dr. Janet Johnston, the instructor for this webinar, will highlight free, reliable sources of training materials and tools that are available to assist epidemiologists and other health professionals in the use of data and evidence for identifying health issues, setting priorities, and planning and evaluating programs. Specifically she will cover:

 

• OpenEpi – Open Source Epidemiologic Statistics for Public Health
• CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) and Health Data Interactive
• Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
• Free training courses from the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice; the Supercourse – Epidemiology, the Internet and Global Health; and Program Development and Evaluation, University of Wisconsin - Extension

 

The webinar will wrap-up with a discussion of participants’ perception of epidemiology workforce development needs and possible future training and technical support opportunities.

 

Presenter:  Dr. Johnston is an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  Prior to joining the faculty at UAA, Dr. Johnston served as a Senior Epidemiologist with the Alaska Native Epidemiology Center, as a Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, and as a Research Epidemiologist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown, WV.