8 ECTS credits
210 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1023693ANR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
Scientific thought
The history of scientific thought is highlighted from the perspective of the medical sciences. Development of the sciences from its classical roots in ancient Greece, via the middle ages until the modern developments will be treated with emphasis upon the breakthroughs in the natural sciences and their effects upon (bio)medical thinking, understanding and handling. Illustrations and practical examples are given throughout the course, in order to bring these developments and notions as close as possible to the reality of medical research and the biomedical sciences of today. In this way, the student will learn that scientific breakthroughs in the basic sciences often became of supreme relevance for developments in the biomedical sciences later on.
Scientific developments have also been very important for the philosophical ideas about knowledge of the world around us and the challenges of the unknown. As an introduction to the scientific method, the student is introduced to the concept of the empirical cycle as a model to develop scientific knowledge. Concepts such as induction, deduction, verification and evaluation are highlighted. The student is also introduced to the ideas of Karl Popper and the method of research in which elucidation of errors is more important than the confirmation of hypothetical ideas. The development of scientific positivism is associated with a critical attitude towards dogmatic thinking, which is discussed in its contemporary context and via its historic angle of Poincarré and Comte. Cases in which scientific thought was compromised by dogmatic thinking and by politics are discussed, such as the Lysenko case, the N-ray affair, but also the more modern cases of scientific failure and -fraud. The meaning of science is also discussed with respect to its place in society and as a social phenomenon, according to the work of Thomas Kuhn. The importance of scientific progress and the public debate about the impact of science upon society and upon our reflections about values are discussed. Finally, the student will also learn how the scientific literature is organised and what methods are available to navigate this literature efficiently. Several of these course chapters are actively discussed with the students rather than brought up passively by ex-cathedra teaching. During practical training sessions, the students will learn how to find articles by practical exercises. Computer classes are also given to train how to express the most current forms of quantitative scientific information, such as graphs, histograms, tables, curves. This practical part is started in the second half of the semester, since a basic practical understanding of computer handling is needed to carry out these exercises.
The aim of the part medical informatics is to introduce the student to the modern world of moderne informatics tools, that they can utilize as student, as research and as medical doctor. This part starts from the most important basic concepts of informatics, to subsequently study the most important applications and also practice their use (hands-on), including the use of medical electronic resources.
IIn the epidemiology lectures the student will receive a thorough introduction to the main principles and concepts of epidemiology, illustrated with examples from practice. There is a brief discussion of the background and history of epidemiology. Epidemiology is defined and its specific approach to health and illness is explained .More extensive attention is paid to the various basic concepts and common epidemiological measures such as mortality, morbidity, incidence, prevalence, epidemiological fracture, standardization, ... A separate section discusses the reliability and validity of measurements and screening. Next several epidemiological research designs are discussed, observational designs, such as cross-sectional, case-control studies, longitudinal, cohort studies, environmental studies, as well as experimental designs, such as randomized controlled clinical, field and community studies. Finally, the difference between causality and associations is clearly explained. Throughout the whole course concretel applications and examples are used to clarify the epidemiological theory, concepts and methods and save the link with the daily practice.
After studying the part Scientific Thought, the student:
- knows the historic basis of scientific thought in the western world
- knows the logical framework of the scientific research process (empiric cycle) and also is able to see science as a social phenomenon
- knows what scientific failure is and can identify the various forms of scientific failure.
- can find scientific literature using modern informatics tools
- has a basic knowledge of the visual expression of quantitative information using various types of graphs.
After studying the part of medical informatics, the student:
- can describe the (historic and predicted speed of the) evolution of the informatics world
- can describe the basic concepts of informatics such as the three layer model and the client server model,
- can smoothly handle the units of informatics and convert these
- can search for the most suitable informatics applications, choose them for (life long) learning purposes, research and medical practice,
- can appreciate the most relevant medical information sources and make use of them in an adequate manner
- can differentiate between various types of software licences, especially freeware, non-freeware and cloud-based software.
- Can apply best practice for safety and privacy aspects of informatics use
After studying the part of epidemiology
-The student may describe important historical and current developments in epidemiology
-The student can give a definition of epidemiology in terms of object and method
-The student can give examples of applications of epidemiology
-The student can explain the key epidemiological concepts (mortality, morbidity, prevalence, incidence, reliability, validity, bias, confounding, causality, association, ..)
-The student is able to calculate measures of frequency and association in simple situations (prevalence, incidence, incidence density, data on mortality, relative risk, attributable risk, odds ratio, ...)
-The student can explain the different research designs and the advantages and disadvantages and demonstrate its applicability.
-The student can indicate what is meant by 'empirical research cycle "
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 85% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 15% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:
No reference material allowed for the exam, part Scientific Thought.
Open book exam, part computer science.
The course "scientific thought and computer science" (abbreviated WD/INF) will always yield one single mark. This implies that both the written and oral examination is co-ordinated as one entity; the written exam consists of a part "scientific thought" and a part "computer science".
The written part mainly examines the theoretical courses.For "scientific thought" it consists of multiple choice questions and (half)-open questions.The computer science exam is of the 'open book' type.
The interactive course chapters are evaluated with a small assignment in the form of a one- or two-page paper. For the practical training, students can choose a topic from a list and then search literature references using Medline (PubMed) and then write a short summary based upon the abstracts.
The course Epidemiology is a closed book written exam consisting of predominantly multiple choice questions and some open questions..
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences: Initial track (only offered in Dutch)