EPI Challenge For You

An Authentic Science Research Experience for High School Students

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Epi Club by Michelle Zuluaga, 8th grade student at CJR Public School #9. From the Cougar Times, Volume 3, Issue 1, November 2010.

Epidemiology. You’ve probably never heard of this word. What does it mean? Epidemiology is the study of people and their patterns of health and illness. It researches public health. Epidemiologists are like investigators. They conduct surveys to learn more about people’s health. Once they calculate their results into a percentage they try to find a pattern. Once they find a pattern they find a solution to the problem and educate the rest of the country. For example, recently there was a salmonella outbreak in a specific brand of eggs. Epidemiologists were called to the scene to investigate and track where the eggs came from and what happened at the farm that caused the salmonella outbreak.

At CJR #9, 8th graders were selected to participate in the Epidemiology Club. Currently, we are learning more about epidemiology and learning how to conduct surveys and write them up. Heads up 7th graders, this might be something you can do next year!


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Epidemiology for Homeschoolers. By Sarah Mahmoud, Homeschooling Student, Clonlara School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Epidemiology is the study of illnesses, epidemics, and the general health of the human population, yet it goes far beyond that. Epidemiologists are science detectives, trying to see connections between causes and effects in illnesses. Epidemiology is also a science that relies upon many other disciplines, such as psychology, statistics, and biology. In short, epidemiology is a science that utilizes many disciplines and without it, epidemics and illnesses would be much harder to understand and bring under control.

Studying the science is fascinating. However, it is a unique experience to study it as a homeschooler. Homeschooling ensures that my experiences studying any subject are inter-esting. In our house, when undertaking a new subject, I use textbooks, trade books, and online resources to form a basic curriculum. For epidemiology, I have been using text books to get a basic understanding of the material, and then have used other books to make it more interesting. For example, instead of just reading dry facts, I have read several books that chronicle epidemics throughout history and how cures were found. This has helped bring epidemiology to life for me, because I am able to see how it helps to save lives.

I have used Epidemiology for Public Health Practice, by Robert H. Friis and Thomas A. Sellers, Epidemiology for the Health Sciences, by Donald F. Austin and S. Benson Werner, and A Dictionary of Epidemiology by John M. Last. I started my studies by reading Epidemiology for the Health Sciences, and then moved on to Epidemiology for Public Health Practice. While reading this book, I answered study questions to prove my knowledge. If there was a term I didn’t completely com¬prehend, I used A Dictionary of Epidemiology to make sure I understood.

To make things more interesting, I used trade books docu¬menting epidemics and virus outbreaks. I read about Ebola, Hanta virus, yellow fever, and also modern medical innova-tions in epidemic control and epidemiological practices.

What’s good about being able to assemble my own curricu¬lum is that if the book is too dry, or isn’t making a connection, I can find something else to make sure I get it.

The best part, though, is that with homeschooling, I learn mastery - if something doesn’t make sense, I keep trying until it does. I am currently in the beginning stages of a research paper for my final project.

I have so far combined the history of epidemics and illnesses with the contemporary procedures. It gives me an interesting standpoint, since I get both sides of epidemiology: the past and the present.

Epidemiology is an engaging study, and by homeschool¬ing, I have been able to understand and enjoy it more than I probably would have otherwise.


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It is Arush from your Epidemiology class. I am emailing you my thoughts on what I have learned. First, I’d like to present once again what I wrote previously about Epi.

I now understand much more completely the concept of descriptive epidemiology as it applies to people on a broad scale. The simple activity of the “DZ” signs representing sick people in a classroom can be easily extrapolated to a statewide or even nationwide level. The plain fact is that certain people get sick while others do not, and descriptive epidemiology helps to pinpoint the specific reasons for this occurrence. By looking at distribution in terms of person, place, and time, a comprehensive profile of the afflicted people can be developed and then used to help combat the further spread of the disease. Similarly, a profile can be developed of those who smoke cigarettes, marijuana, or other ‘harder’ drugs with the use of a simple survey. Once the profiles are completed, epidemiologists can determine which specific groups of people are at a higher or lesser risk to begin or continue using drugs. We also mentioned AIDS in our classes, and we were shown the exponential growth of the virus precisely at the time when people did not fully understand it. Even today we do not fully understand the virus, but we have a much better grasp on it than in previous years. Thus, with the ongoing help of descriptive epidemiology, we have slowed the new incidents of AIDS cases and are slowly curtailing the number of deaths due to the virus. Hence, above all, I have learned that descriptive epidemiology is an invaluable tool in understanding and effectively combating the multitude of health-related conditions impacting our society today.

Since that time, I have also learned many practical aspects about how a disease can interact with a population. I believe the most relevant observation I have made is that an association does not mean causation. Time and time again in the news new ‘linked’ or ‘associated with’ phrases are cropping up; I can now better understand these studies as (1) being inherently flawed and (2) not meaning anything if not compared to something else. Besides the typical ‘other’ causes of an association, such as confounding, bias, and reverse time order, a specific relative risk must be included in the study for it to hold any weight. This new insight will help me to approach these studies in a critical and pensive manner without losing sight of the big picture. Also, I now know that the implementation of ‘fixes’ to the obvious problems are not so simple. Many social, political, governmental, and ethical considerations must be taken into account before an effective remedy can be put into place, not even to mention cost! I have learned that an epidemiologist’s purpose is crucial in solving these vast and often complex problems. I am sure that sometimes implementation of a fix can be more cumbersome than actually procuring the vaccine. If one has a vaccine, how are they going to distribute it to 50 million people while avoiding as many of the aforementioned roadblocks as possible? An epidemiologist’s role is crucial in just this type of current problem – the distribution of polio vaccine to millions in overpopulated Indonesia. Ultimately from this class I have gained a broader insight into the minutiae of exactly what makes this science so simple and yet so complex, and thus fascinating.

Arush Singh
Cedar Grove High School, Cedar Grove NJ
February 2005