Current and future public health is characterized by the increase of chronic and degenerative diseases, corresponding to the worldwide ageing of the population. The increasing prevalence of these conditions together with the long incubation period of the chronic diseases and the continual technological innovations, offer new opportunities to develop strategies for early diagnosis.
Public Health has an important mandate to critically assess the promises and the pitfalls of disease screening strategies. This MOOC will help you understand important concepts for screening programs that will be explored through a series of examples that are the most relevant to public health today. We will conclude with expert interviews that explore future topics that will be important for screening.
By the end of this MOOC, students should have the competency needed to be involved in the scientific field of screening, and understand the public health perspective in screening programs.
This MOOC has been designed by the University of Geneva and the University of Lausanne.
This MOOC has been prepared under the auspices of the Ecole romande de santé publique (www.ersp.ch) by Prof. Fred Paccaud, MD, MSc, Head of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne (www.iumsp.ch), in collaboration with Professor Antoine Flahault, MD, PhD, head of the Institute of Global Health, Geneva (https://www.unige.ch/medecine/isg/en/) and Prof. Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant (McGill University, Quebec/ Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne).
This module will provide a brief welcome by Dr. Fred Paccaud and Dr. Antoine Flahault. An overview of screening and an introduction on how the course is organized and evaluated will be provided by Dr. Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant. Dr. Idris Guessous, a Senior Lecturer in the Population Epidemiology Unit in the Department of Community Medicine, Primary Care and Emergency Medicine (Geneva), and in the Department of Ambulatory Care and Community Medicine (PMU Lausanne) & Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (Lausanne) will provide lectures on definitions of screening. Natural history of diseases and the characteristics of subclinical conditions allowing early diagnosis will be presented. A quiz on the key concepts for screening will complete this module.
What's included
9 videos9 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
9 videos•Total 51 minutes
Welcome Message & General Introduction_ new video•13 minutes
Definition of Screening•5 minutes
Definition of a Screening Program•4 minutes
Natural History of Diseases•4 minutes
Lead Time, Diagnosis and Treatment•5 minutes
Risk of Overdiagnosis•4 minutes
Screening Tests and Biomarkers•4 minutes
The Prevention Paradox•7 minutes
Target Populations for Screening•5 minutes
9 readings•Total 135 minutes
Course Instructors•10 minutes
Development Team•10 minutes
Course Description: Modules & Themes•10 minutes
Course design•10 minutes
Grading policy•5 minutes
Discussion Forum Guidelines•10 minutes
Getting started: Break the ice !•30 minutes
Suggested discussion•45 minutes
Reading List for Concepts•5 minutes
1 assignment•Total 40 minutes
Introduction to Key Concepts in Screening•40 minutes
Screening Metrics
Module 2•2 hours to complete
Module details
The second module, provided by Dr. Idris Guessous, will address the metrics of screening with concepts related to robustness, validity and impact. A quiz on screening metrics will complete this module.
What's included
10 videos2 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
10 videos•Total 56 minutes
Module 2 Introduction_new video•2 minutes
Robustness of Tests•5 minutes
Validity•6 minutes
Sensitivity and Specificity•6 minutes
Predictive Values•6 minutes
Outcomes and Study Design•5 minutes
Number Needed to Screen•6 minutes
Presentation of the 2-by-2 Table•3 minutes
Ethics•5 minutes
Shared Decison Making_ new video•11 minutes
2 readings•Total 55 minutes
Suggested discussion•45 minutes
Metrics•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
Screening Metrics•30 minutes
Screening in Pregnancy and Newborns
Module 3•3 hours to complete
Module details
This module on screening in the prenatal (pregnancy) and perinatal (newborn) stage of life is given by Professor Murielle Bochud, MD, PhD, head of the Institute of social and preventive medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland. A quiz will complete this module.
What's included
6 videos3 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
6 videos•Total 42 minutes
Module 3_Introduction_new video•3 minutes
Key Concepts for Genetic Screening Tests•8 minutes
Overview of Prenatal and Perinatal Screening•8 minutes
Example of an Improved Screening Test: Down Syndrome•7 minutes
Example of Screening to Improve Prognosis: Congenital Hearing Loss•7 minutes
Example of Genetic Screening: Cystic Fibrosis•9 minutes
3 readings•Total 95 minutes
Suggested discussion•45 minutes
Genetic conditions•30 minutes
Prenatal and perinatal conditions•20 minutes
1 assignment•Total 40 minutes
Screening in Pregnancy and Newborns•40 minutes
Screening for Cardiometabolic Conditions
Module 4•2 hours to complete
Module details
Senior lecturer Arnaud Chiolero, MD, PhD, from the Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne will be presenting three case studies related to the increasingly prevalent condition of cardiometabolic disease. Three different diseases will be explored in terms of burden of disease, benefits and harms, evidence and issues followed by recommendations about whether screening should be implemented. A quiz will complete this module.
What's included
4 videos2 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
4 videos•Total 32 minutes
Module 4 Introduction_new video•4 minutes
Case 1: Hypertension•7 minutes
Case 2: Diabetes•10 minutes
Case 3: Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Children•11 minutes
2 readings•Total 55 minutes
Suggested discussion•45 minutes
Cardiometabolic conditions•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 20 minutes
Screening for Cardiometabolic Conditions•20 minutes
Cancer Screening
Module 5•3 hours to complete
Module details
Cancer is a classical field for screening because of both the improvement of the prognosis for most cancers and the usually long incubation period. This part of the MOOC will present current data, evidence and policies regarding the most important cancer sites that include colorectum, prostate, lung, cervix, breast and skin. This module is given by several experts including Elisabetta Rapiti from the Geneva Cancer Registry at the Institute of Global Health in Geneva; Professor Antoine Flahault, who is the Head of the Institute of Global Health in Geneva; and Jean-Luc Buillard who is a Senior Lecturer in the Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne. A quiz will complete this module.
What's included
8 videos2 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
8 videos•Total 89 minutes
Module 5 Introduction_new video•3 minutes
Colorectal Cancer•13 minutes
Prostate Cancer•13 minutes
Cervical Cancer•12 minutes
Lung Cancer•10 minutes
Skin_Cancer_Part I _new video•11 minutes
Skin_Cancer_Part II_new video•12 minutes
Breast_Cancer_new video•16 minutes
2 readings•Total 40 minutes
Suggested discussion•10 minutes
Cancer•30 minutes
1 assignment•Total 40 minutes
Cancer Screening•40 minutes
Public Mental Health and Screening in Ageing
Module 6•3 hours to complete
Module details
This module explores the topics of public mental health and screening in the ageing population for neuropsychiatric conditions and physical impairments such as hearing loss. This module is given by several experts including Emiliano Albanese, assistant professor in public mental health in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Geneva and the Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in mental health at the University of Geneva; Professor Christophe Bula who is the head of the geriatric and geriatric rehabilitation service at the Vaudois University Hospital Centre; Professor Armin von Gunten who is the head of the university service for geriatric psychiatry at the Vaudois University Hospital Service. A quiz will complete this module.
What's included
6 videos2 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
6 videos•Total 59 minutes
Module 6 Introduction_new video•5 minutes
Introduction to Public Mental Health•9 minutes
Public Mental Health and Disabilities•8 minutes
Dementia and Related Disorders•11 minutes
Old-Age Depression_new video•13 minutes
General Screening in the Elderly_new video•13 minutes
2 readings•Total 55 minutes
Suggested discussion•45 minutes
Neuropsychiatric conditions•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 40 minutes
Public Mental Health and Screening in Ageing•40 minutes
Screening in Low and Middle-Income Countries and Migrants
Module 7•3 hours to complete
Module details
The globalization of non-communicable diseases is a major challenge in low and middle income countries (LMIC). At the same time, migration is occurring between these countries and high income countries. Screening for cardiovascular diseases and for cancer in low and middle income countries will be presented and discussed. In addition, the special consideration of screening of migrants from these countries will be addressed. This module is given by: Professor Pascal Bovet from the Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne; Dr. Catherine Sauvaget from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France; and Professor Patrick Bodenmann from the Polimedical University Clinic and head of the Centre for Vulnerable Populations. A quiz will complete this module.
What's included
8 videos3 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
8 videos•Total 82 minutes
Module 7 Introduction_new video•4 minutes
Screening of Noncommunicable Disease in LMIC•6 minutes
Optimal Strategy for Screening in LMIC•11 minutes
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Screening in LMIC•11 minutes
Focus on Hypertension for CVD Screening in LMIC•12 minutes
Cancer Screening in LMIC•8 minutes
Cross Cultural Competencies- Part I _new video•13 minutes
Cross Cultural Competencies- Part II_new video•17 minutes
3 readings•Total 40 minutes
Suggested discussion•10 minutes
Screening in low and middle-income countries•10 minutes
Screening of noncommunicable diseases in low and middle-income countries•20 minutes
1 assignment•Total 60 minutes
Screening in Low and Middle-Income Countries and Migrants•60 minutes
Evaluation, Planning, Implementation and the Future of Screening Programs
Module 8•3 hours to complete
Module details
In this final module, important aspects of for the evaluation, planning and decision making about the implementation or stopping of screening programs will be presented. This material is given by Senior lecturer Jean-Luc Bulliard who is an epidemiologist in the Division of Chronic Diseases at the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine in Lausanne. The conclusion of the module will be a series of interviews with experts on the future of disease screening in public health conducted by Dr. Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant, a visiting professor at the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine at Lausanne. A quiz will close this module.
What's included
9 videos2 readings1 assignment
Show info about module content
9 videos•Total 92 minutes
Module 8 introduction_new video•4 minutes
Major Controversies with Screening Programs•13 minutes
Founded in 1559, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) is one of Europe's leading universities. Devoted to research, education and dialogue, the UNIGE shares the international calling of its host city, Geneva, a centre of international and multicultural activities with a venerable cosmopolitan tradition.
The University of Lausanne is a Swiss state university founded in 1537. It is focused on Medicine, Life Sciences, Geosciences, Environmental Sciences, Business, Humanities, Social Sciences and Sport Sciences. UNIL is a research-intensive university which encourages interdisciplinarity. It is also renowned for its innovative teaching methods.
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