From cowpox to sars: a history of epidemiology curriculum for a PHD program in epidemiology

Abstract

Purpose As in any field, current practitioners of epidemiology stand upon the shoulders of those who came before. In designing a new doctoral program in epidemiology, we felt it was critical that students learn about challenges and ethical issues that have faced epidemiologists in the past, as well as the successes of the greats of epidemiology. Methods The chief of epidemiology (PhD) and a faculty member (MD, MPH, with a BA in history) wrote the course syllabus with assistance from the chair of the History department at the University of Rochester, whose major focus is the history of the U.S. health care system. We delivered most of the lectures with supplementation by guest speakers. This 3-hour-per-week class included 1 hour of student-led discussion. Results This semester course covered the history of epidemiology from antiquity to the modern era of molecular epidemiology in three parts. The Golden Age of Epidemiology (1700s to 1870) covered the great names and achievements of its beginnings, such as William Farr, John Snow, and Pierre Louis and the cowpox vaccine. The Bacteriology Revolution and the Professionalization of Epidemiology (1870–1950) focused on the effects on epidemiology of groundbreaking discoveries in the other medical sciences and of the development of epidemiology and medicine into distinct professions. The Era of Chronic Disease Epidemiology (1950–present) discussed the epidemiologic transition, seminal studies of chronic disease, the expansion of the government's role in medical research since World War II, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, and the reemergence of infectious disease with HIV/AIDS. We emphasized throughout the interaction between epidemiology and the entire society, and how this interplay affected both public policy and the practice of epidemiology. Conclusion By studying the history of their field, students developed a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing epidemiology, today and in the future.