This course will cover the rationale for, and requirements of, population screening programmes to detect individuals at high risk of particular conditions, who can then be offered diagnostic investigations. Students will work in groups to investigate and report on, a screening programme of their choice from any country.

Semester 2

None

Examination (50%): 60 minutes critical evaluation of screening programme data.

Group presentation: Students will work in groups to present a critical overview of a selected screening programme. Each student will take part in the presentation, with a grade for the overall group scientific analysis and communication (25%), and individual presentation quality (25%).

The aims of this course are to:

■ explore the criteria for introducing screening programmes and methods used to evaluate screening programmes;

■ provide opportunity for students to work in groups to investigate and report upon a current or proposed screening programme.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ critically discuss the criteria required to be met before a screening programme can be introduced;

■ evaluate the effectiveness of a screening programme based on data analysis (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, etc), and, where appropriate, suggest strategies for improvement;

■ work as part of a team to investigate a current or proposed screening programme and, with reference to the literature, orally present a critical overview of that programme.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.