Taught course

Veterinary Epidemiology

Institution
University of Edinburgh · College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Qualifications
MScPGDipPGCert

Entry requirements

A UK 2:1 honours degree, or its international equivalent, in veterinary, biological or physical science.

We may also consider your application if you have relevant work experience; please contact the Programme Team to check before you apply. You may be admitted to certificate level only in the first instance.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Veterinary epidemiology is a key component in a number of the global grand challenges relating to disease control, food security and climate change. Consequently, there is a need to improve our ability to understand, predict and respond to patterns and dynamics of disease and to control outbreaks.

The R(D)SVS and SRUC partnership creates the greatest concentration of research power in veterinary and agricultural sciences in the UK. The MSc draws on this wealth of experience and research activity to provide scientific knowledge of the fundamental biological processes (e.g. behaviour, physiology, immunology, ecology) and environmental and farming management practices (e.g. husbandry, nutrition, livestock trade) driving disease transmission, persistence, prevalence and spread in livestock production systems. This enables in-depth understanding of complex environmental patterns of disease, which facilitates prediction of disease risk and control. This multidisciplinary systems approach will provide you with the skills to make significant contributions to tackling food security, climate change and disease control in your role as an animal health professional.

By the end of the programme you will not only have a detailed understanding of the biology driving disease persistence and prevalence, but also how the biology scales up from individuals to populations. You will understand how this interacts with agricultural management practices to determine the efficacy of disease control strategies and livestock production (i.e. interdisciplinary systems thinking and communication). Furthermore, the systems approach offers a way to frame disease challenges and problem solve disease risk at a range of scales (e.g. from veterinarians tackling specific outbreaks to the consequences of climate change on disease risk). To this end the programme provides training in methodological skills for the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation and communication of epidemiological studies, disease surveillance and disease control in animal populations and wider host communities.

Courses are delivered by active researchers presenting their own research, which is placed into context with global grand challenges. As such, you will be exposed to and taught skills appropriate for developing a research career.

Qualification, course duration and attendance options

  • MSc
    part time
    36-72 months
    • Online learningis available for this qualification
  • PGDip
    part time
    24-48 months
    • Online learningis available for this qualification
  • PGCert
    part time
    12-24 months
    • Online learningis available for this qualification

Part-time intermittent study.

Course contact details

Name
Angela Harding
Email
vetepi@ed.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0)131 651 7363