This course offers an introduction to causal epidemiological research from a modern perspective. We begin by covering a framework and language that enables us to make a large variety of causal research goals explicit. These include goals relating to mediation, effect modification, interaction, and the effects of time-fixed or time-varying treatments.
With the foundations in place, we turn to the key obstacles on the path to reaching such research goals. Emphasis is placed on confounding and selection bias. Other sources of bias, notably missing data and measurement error are not addressed in detail. You are also introduced to directed acyclic graphs as tools to identify structural sources of bias and guide analysis.
Having described key obstacles, we address ways (other than classical multivariable regression) to overcome them, incl. propensity score analysis, inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable analysis.
At the end of the course, you should be able to:
To successfully complete this course, you need to actively participate in the discussion forums and complete the final exam. You are allowed to redo the final exam once. The exams are, by default, online using online proctoring. If you wish to take the exam on-site in Utrecht, the Netherlands, this is possible as well.
Exam edition April 2025
The exam will take place on April 25th, 2025 from 14:15 – 16:15 CET. The re-examination will take place on June 13th, 2025 from 14:15 – 16:15 CET. Note: these times might be subject to change. The exact time and place will be announced as soon as possible in the learning environment and any changes announced there will overrule the information here.
It might be that, due to a force majeure situation, you cannot be present during the first exam moment.
• MSc Epidemiology Postgraduate students must then, preferably prior to the first exam option, ask the academic counsellor for permission to be absent. Please note that the academic counsellor can ask for some form of proof of your absence (e.g. in case of illness) to establish if you are applicable for authorized absence. Jaco de Fockert-Koefoed, MSc is the academic counsellor you need to turn to through adviseurs@umcutrecht.nl.
• All other participants should contact the MSc Epidemiology Office instead, through MSc-Epidemiology@umcutrecht.nl.
In short, as of now, it is no longer possible to skip the first deadline option and -automatically- enroll in the second (re-sit) exam. Missing the first deadline results in no longer being able to finish the course that college year.
We offer discounts for participants from Low- and Lower-middle-income Countries. Utrecht University and UMC Utrecht employees and students are eligible for a 10% discount. Unfortunately, we don’t offer any scholarships.
No, there aren’t any set times you should be online as it is an asynchronous course. All the web lectures are already pre-recorded. However there will be deadlines each week (during the week as well on weekends). Each week consists of approximately 14 study hours. To experience maximum interaction, we advise you to log in several times per week. Furthermore, you should be aware that the teacher and the e-moderator are off on weekends.
No, this is not possible because the course contains group assignments, so you can’t work ahead. Each week, a new learning unit will be made available. This means that not all the learning units are open simultaneously. Additionally, you can’t catch up on the course because there are deadlines to meet every week.
After enrollment, you will receive a confirmation email. A week before the course officially starts, you will receive an email with more detailed information and planning.
If you have ordered a course and paid immediately, you will receive an email with your login details. Sometimes, this email ends up in your spam folder. If you already have an existing account, simply log in to our learning environment. The course you just ordered will be visible in your account.
If you paid by invoice, you will receive your login credentials as soon as the invoice is paid. If the course is starting soon and you haven’t received your login details, please reach out to us at info@elevatehealth.eu to inquire about the payment status.
When you have completed all the assignments or have finished the exam with a good grade, you will receive an official certificate from Utrecht University. All academic certificates issued by Utrecht University will be sent by mail to the address registered in your account. Since these certificates are official documents, they cannot be sent by email.
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