Biostatistics

The MPH degree in Biostatistics is designed to enhance the quantitative skills of public health practitioners who use statistics frequently in their work.

To receive the MPH degree in biostatistics, students are required to complete 45 credits of course work, which include School-wide core courses as well as required courses in biostatistics, a one-term practicum, and the capstone experience. In addition to gaining the School-wide MPH competencies, biostatistics MPH students will achieve biostatistics-specific competencies that focus on the areas of data analysis and computing, public health and collaborative research, teaching biostatistics, and biostatistical research outlined below.

Upon satisfactory completion of the MPH degree in Biostatistics, graduates will be able to:

Data Analysis and Computing

• Formulate and produce graphical displays of quantitative information (e.g., scatter plots, box plots, line graphs) that effectively communicate analytic findings;
• Explain general principles of study design in attempting to identify risk factors for disease, isolate targets for prevention, and assess the effectiveness of one or more interventions;
• Select and perform appropriate hypothesis tests for comparing two or more independent exposure groups, or two or more groups of matched/clustered subjects, with respect to a discrete or continuous response measurement of interest;
• Interpret associations estimated via linear regression, logistic regression, and Cox models for survival data;
• Interpret quantitative findings in accurate, accessible language for colleagues outside of biostatistics, as well as for broader dissemination to the public and other public health professionals;
• Apply the basic tenets of research design and analysis for the purpose of critically reviewing research and programs in disciplines outside of biostatistics;
• Differentiate between quantitative problems that can be addressed with standard methods and those requiring input from a professional biostatistician;

Public Health and Collaborative Research

• Describe the foundations of public health, including the biological, environmental, behavioral, and policy factors that affect the health of populations;
• Translate research objectives into testable hypotheses;
• Compare and contrast different study designs and their implications for inference in medical/public health research;
• Describe basic principles and the practical importance of key concepts from probability and inference (including random variation, systematic error, sampling error, measurement error, hypothesis testing, type I and type II errors, confounding bias, and effect modification) to colleagues without extensive statistical training;
• Develop and execute power and sample size calculations for research studies utilizing simple random sampling;
• Formulate and prepare written plans for statistical analysis of research data from medicine and public health that clearly reflect the research hypotheses of the proposal in a manner that resonates with both co-investigators and grant reviewers;
• Describe the roles biostatistics serves in the discipline of public health:
• Identify and apply preferred methodological alternatives to commonly used statistical methods when assumptions are not met;
• Develop written and oral presentations on the basis of statistical analyses for both public health professionals and educated lay audiences.

Teaching Biostatistics

• Review and illustrate selected principles of study design, probability theory, estimation, hypothesis testing, and data analytic techniques to public health students enrolled in first and second level graduate public health courses; and
• Describe how the public health information infrastructure is used to collect, process, maintain, and disseminate data.

Biostatistical Research

• Apply probabilistic and statistical reasoning to structure thinking and solve a wide range of problems in public health.
• Use information technology to access, evaluate, and interpret public health data.

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