This course belongs to the public health block of courses. The aim of the course is to put future public health professionals in touch with “western epidemiology” -- a study of distribution, trends, and preventive/risk factors for diseases and other health-related states, and ways to control them. The main emphasis of the course is on acquiring a methodology for studying all abovementioned things, in order to be able properly and independently search for, critically read and use the base of evidence in public health.
We expect that after completing a course, students will reach three learning outcomes: (1) intellectual - understand basic terms and concepts of epidemiology; (2) cognitive - critically assess study results in the area of public health; and (3) emotional - be guided in decision-making as public health professionals by available evidence.

Within the course, students of Health care management master program develop their knowledge and skills on research proposal development. The key principles of social research are overviews and special attention is paid to the research design and its implementation. During the course, such topics as the structure and elements of the research project; types of research designs; sampling methods; modes of data collection and analysis; ethical requirements of scientific research are discussed. During the course students have to develop – step by step – a research design of empirical study.