Master of Science Program in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Services Research

The objective of this weekly course is to take students through each step of formulating and designing their own research projects. The students discuss each others' ideas, progress and proposed research designs to gain a better understanding of the process, and use this structured opportunity to discuss their work. At each of these meetings, two of the students report on the status of their projects. The primary and secondary mentors for the students presenting at the session also participate in the discussion.

This course gives an overview of the methods used in measuring psychosocial and clinical variables, such as depression, stress, social support, anxiety, comorbidity, and disease severity. It will also review widely used measures of function and quality of life. In addition, students also learn the basic rules required for creating new measures for variables that are not adequately captured with existing measures. Students learn how to collect the data and ensure that it is high quality using standardized procedures.

The objective of this course is to provide an overview of theories of behavioral and social science and their roles in health services research and clinical research. The course also covers the development and evaluation of theory-based health education approaches used in medicine. As a final project, students develop a behavioral health intervention drawing on models taught in didactic sessions in order to address key patient problems. By the end of the course, students are able to identify behavioral theories most applicable to addressing a given question.

The course emphasizes the use of multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance and related techniques to analyze data in a variety of situations. Topics include least squares estimation, multiple regression, model selection techniques, detection of influential points and goodness-of-fit criteria. Practical applications are implemented using a modern, widely available statistical package (JMP). Students gain an understanding of statistical concepts and models.

This objective of this course is to convey basic concepts underlying multivariate analysis, with an emphasis on the handling of dimensional data. Considerations in dealing with survival analysis, odds ratios and risk ratios are also covered in the course. At the end students are able to evaluate data using appropriate regression techniques and interpret the computer program output correctly.

The objective of this course is to teach techniques for oral and written dissemination of data. Topics include abstract writing, graphic presentation of data, use of slides and overheads, oral presentation skills, and manuscript preparation and submission. At the end of the course, students are able to organize the results and to write an abstract, prepare a poster and an oral presentation.

This objective of this new course is to introduce students to the principles of community-based participatory research as a methodology. It teaches students the key principles, the processes used in such studies and how they can be used to address health disparities. At the end of the course, students will know how to determine the key community partners, build community buy-in, establish a coalition of community partners, prioritize concerns, develop research initiatives and disseminate key findings.

The objective of this course is to provide students with an understanding of the analytic methods and data resources and the main methods used in comparative effectiveness, including observational studies, risk adjustment, propensity score matching, instrumental variables, systematic reviews, and the use of clinical registries and Medicare claims data. By the end of the course, students will design a comparative effectiveness project.

The objective of this course is to teach the basics of probabilistic thinking and the concept of heuristics. Students learn the five-step process, specifically the structuring of the problem, the application of probabilities, the application of values, the calculation of expected utilities and the sensitivity analysis. By the end of the class, students are able to ask and answer questions using decision analytic models.

This session reviews ethical expectations for the student’s coursework and assignments during the Summer Intensive and MS Program. The objective of this course is to convey the critical issues in the ethical conduct of research. It focuses on informed consent, preserving confidentiality, data management, misconduct, human subjects, and animal subjects. Students are introduced to basic issues in credit and responsibility in science including criteria for authorship, conflict of interest, accountability of authors and reviewers, and data integrity.

This course introduces students to critical issues in health care organization, financing and policy, which constitute the core of health services research topics including: access and equity issues, costs of care, health care markets, health care quality and medical outcomes, health insurance and managed care effects on patient and physician behavior, and the evaluation of health care technologies and innovations. Models for understanding institutional behavior and behavior within organizations are reviewed. By the end of the course, students are able to use the concepts to develop approaches to solving health care problems.

The objective of this course is to teach basic architecture of clinical and health services research with an emphasis on three critical components: the population, interventions and outcomes. Students also learn about different study designs, specific challenges in both observational and interventional studies, and methods of addressing potential biases. Basic principles of measurement for categorical and continuous data, including the sources of variance for such data are emphasized. Students learn how to evaluate validity and reliability of data and critical appraisal of the published literature to illustrate threats to validity. By the end of the course, students are able to read the literature critically and develop detailed proposals for their own projects.

This course is designed to introduce students to grant writing and peer review. In the first two weeks, sessions cover study design, writing abstracts, specific aims, background, preliminary studies and methods. Other sessions include budget and justification development, how to select funding agencies and types of applications. Students write an R01 grant application and then serve as "study section" to provide primary and secondary reviews for each proposal. By the end of the course, students can write a grant.

This course focuses on policy issues that affect all health care practitioners. How is the health care system organized? Who pays the health care bill? Why have efforts to enact national health insurance failed? What role does government now play in the U.S. health care system and how do the different levels of government share these tasks? How can government encourage good quality care? By the end of the course, students have an understanding of how the current health care system has evolved and major forces in its evolution.

The objective of this new course is to focus on the special methodological challenges in quality and effectiveness research. Systems approaches will be emphasized. Students will learn about developing quality metrics, collaborative improvement strategies and major new innovations in the field. Special strategies for the collection and ongoing tracking of data relevant to safety and quality will be reviewed. Students will be introduced to approaches to reduce medical errors. By the end of the course, students will be able to add value to the New York Presbyterian Hospital quality improvement teams.

This course provides techniques for finding relevant information from a variety of online resources through group activities and customized tutorials. It is taught in two sessions in the summer and eight sessions in the fall. By the end of the class, students can: find and track health-related information from the Internet, know how to broaden or narrow searches, critically evaluate and quality filter the results, and manage their references.

This course provides an introduction to methods and concepts of biostatistical analysis. Topics include: statistical computing, descriptive statistics in tables and graphics, probability and distributions, sampling distributions, hypothesis testing and statistical comparison, types of error, significance and confidence levels, sample size and nonparametric methods. By the end of the course, students have an understanding of basic statistical concepts and models.

This course will explore how mobile technology (e.g. phones and lightweight sensors) and social media can be employed in research as tools for intervention and data collection. Mobile devices afford the opportunity to reach subjects nearly anytime to deliver persuasive messages or measure behavior. Social media provides a platform for utilizing the positive effects of social influence in interventions. By the end of the course, students will understand how mobile technology can be utilized in clinical research.

This course provides an overview of cultural diversity and its impact on the development and implementation of health promotion policies, programs and health services research. Students learn how to recognize human differences, identify their own biases, and foster the development of awareness, sensitivity, knowledge and skills required to implement effective health promotion and disease prevention care for culturally diverse populations. By the end of the course, students are able to understand how cultural differences may impact their research.

The objective of this course is to provide an approach to computer technologies, which facilitate the design, implementation and analysis of quantitative data. It includes methods of primary data collection, data coding and error checking, as well as an introduction to data analysis using statistical programs. Students learn to create computer-based data collection tools. The course is taught in a computer laboratory. At the end of the course, students are able to develop a primary data collection instrument, set up a database and perform simple descriptive analysis of their data.

The objective of this course is to enable students to gain a basic fluency with qualitative research methods, and understand the importance of formative methods with data from key informant surveys, focus groups or face-to-face interviews. Students learn how to ask open-ended questions and how concepts, categories and themes are developed using grounded theory. They learn how to analyze qualitative data. By the end of the course, students are able to conduct qualitative interviews using a script and use open coding to identify concepts, categories and themes.

The purpose of this seminar is to review and critically evaluate the philosophical underpinnings of current guidelines and regulations for the responsible conduct of research. It considers different aspects of doing research where moral decision-making is necessary. Investigators’ responsibilities as members of the scientific community and gatekeepers of public trust in science are discussed. Topics include ethical questions related to the research process, professional integrity, authorship, and respect for human subjects. Case studies are used. By the end of the course, students should be able to rigorously follow principles of responsible conduct of research.

The RCR course is open to all members of the Tri-Institutional (Tri-I) and WCMC Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) communities. Successful completion of the course is required for all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through NIH or NSF Institutional Research Training Grants, Individual Fellowship Awards, Career Development Awards (Institutional and Individual), Research Education Grants, Dissertation Research Grants, or other grant programs with a training component that requires instruction in responsible conduct of research as noted in the Funding Opportunity Announcement. The responsible conduct of research is the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. Training in this area is an essential component of research training; awareness and application of established professional norms and ethical principles is required in the performance of all activities related to scientific research. Weill Cornell Medical College is committed to fostering an environment that promotes the practice of scientific investigation with integrity. This course is intended to help fulfill that commitment. 

Practical applications are implemented using a modern, widely available statistical package (STATA) and students gain an understanding of basic statistical concepts and models. This course will provide direct instruction on the use of Stata for statistical analysis, using a small data set provided to all the students. By the end of the course, they will be able to display data, recode data, and do univariate analyses and basic linear regression.

This course is based on the curriculum designed by Dr. Kelly Skeff at Stanford University and is designed to impart practical skills useful to teachers. At the end of the course, students learn effective communication skills that can be employed in teaching, as well as patient care.