The objective of this online medical course is to provide you with insights into the principles of cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemiology and the important issues that are involved – plus a lot more besides. Unlike many other courses that only go into one particular topic in depth, this course will enable you to ‘zoom out’ from your own direct research in order to look at the bigger picture. By doing so, you will be able to see your own work or research from a broader perspective. Furthermore, this is an essential course to follow if you want to gain a broader understanding of cardiovascular epidemiology than you would in your own specialty.
During this course, you will learn about atherosclerosis, worldwide trends in CVD morbidity and mortality, the role of factors triggering the occurrence of a cardiovascular event, risk factors for CVD, and prevention strategies.
In addition, we will present the latest developments in CVD epidemiology. We will discuss gender differences, the role of HDL cholesterol, the importance of genes, the exposome, chronic kidney disease and cardio-oncology. If you wish to further your medical education in the field of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, this is an excellent course for you.
This is one of the online medical courses offered through the MSc Epidemiology program of the UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University, and as such is highly relevant for anyone participating in a medical education or working in healthcare. It will also provide you with a good basis for further research into specialized areas of epidemiology.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
This Cardiovascular Epidemiology course includes a multiple choice exam. By default, due to the online nature of the programme, the examinations are digitally administered by using online proctoring. It is, however, possible to sit the exams at the UMC Utrecht. If you wish to take your examinations at the UMC Utrecht, you need to indicate this with the e-moderator of the course before the end of the first week.
The exam is not compulsory. However, if you want to receive the Course Certificate and the credits, it is obligatory to take the exam. You are allowed to redo the exam once if you score a minimum grade of 4/10.
The exam takes place on the last Friday of the course at 14:15-16:15 CET.
Exam edition May 2025
The exam will take place on May 23th, 2025 from 14:15 – 16:15 CET. The re-examination will take place on July 11th, 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 exam option and -automatically- enroll in the second (re-sit) exam. Unauthorized absence during the first exam period results in no longer being able to finish the course that college year.
To enrol in this course, you need:
• A Bachelor’s degree in life sciences (or the equivalent)
• Sufficient proficiency in English reading and writing
• Access to PubMed
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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