Courses

Inhalte:

Sie lernen ein übergeordnetes Konzept («Discovery & Evaluation Coil») zur Einordnung von Fragestellungen und der Auswahl von geeigneten Studiendesigns basierend auf der aktuellen Evidenz kennen und dieses anzuwenden.

Sie durchlaufen den kompletten Kreislauf am Beispiel einer randomisiert-kontrollierten Studie und erlernen anhand dieses praxisnahen Beispiels die Anwendung essenzieller epidemiologischer Forschungsmethoden.

• Sie lernen eine konkrete Forschungsfrage zu formulieren.
• Sie können die Konzepte der internen und externen Validität erläutern und anwenden.
• Sie kennen Vor- und Nachteile diverser klinischer Endpunkte.
• Sie erhalten einen Einblick in die Humanforschung Schweiz und kennen relevante regulatorische Prozesse und zentrale Stakeholder im Bereich Humanforschung.
• Sie können zentrale epidemiologische Konzepte wie z.B. systematische Fehler («Bias») anhand von Beispielen erläutern und kennen Herangehensweisen, um systematische Fehler bei der Studienplanung und -durchführung zu vermeiden.
• Sie erhalten einen Einblick in klinische Datenbanken (REDCap).
• Sie können Studienergebnisse kritisch interpretieren.

Course Description:

The theme of the 2025 edition of the SDG Summer School is “Planetary Health” with a focus on the impact of climate change on human health. The school lasts four weeks, from Monday 1 to Friday 26 July. The format is hybrid, with teams working locally in the SDG Solution Space, an innovation space for students in the heart of International Geneva, while collaborating online with other SDG Summer Schools that are part of a global SDG Olympiad.

The 4-week program of the SDG Summer School focuses on team-based problem-solving. The agile development of practical prototypes, including weekly pitching sessions to a diverse jury, is inspired by concrete challenges formulated by experts from the International Organizations in Geneva.

Examples of previous editions include:

• Smartphone-based self-monitoring to help tuberculosis patients ensure that they take their medication regularly. (challenge mentored by the Global Fund for the Fight Against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis).
• Using Machine Learning to adapt physical education curricula in African schools to available resources, teacher competencies and student interests and abilities (challenge mentored by UNESCO and supported by the International Olympic Committee)

Course Description:

The worsening climate, food, economic and political crises, disrupt our lives in new ways and further expose and increase societal vulnerabilities. Policymakers must skill up to navigate complex ecosystems characterized by poly-crises, rising inequities and a degrading environment.

As a result, new ways of understanding and working in global health policy, advocacy and diplomacy are needed by those who work in health or those who work in fields that will be affected by decisions or impacts from the health sector.

It is a key year for health governance, given all countries are discussing a possible legally binding pandemic treaty, a new set of commitments for Universal Health Coverage and reviewing progress at the halfway point of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This course focuses on the practice of global health policy, advocacy, and diplomacy at the global level and its interrelated impact at the regional and national levels. It will:

• Give a general introduction to policy and decision-making processes
• Examine the political and policy environment that surrounds the current global health ecosystem
• Outline decision-making structures in the global health diplomatic space including the World Health Assembly, G20, the UN General Assembly and more
• Show how to interpret and navigate health governance processes
• Interrogate advocacy work to understand the steps to success and how to draw lessons from failure
• Employ case studies to illustrate current issues and their related political and policy dynamics
• Build practical experience with role-playing diplomatic negotiations
• Introduce participants to major organizations with on-site visits and receive up-to-date learnings from key staff

Description:

Missing data are common in real datasets. Most often data are not missing randomly. Also, non-participation and loss to follow-up are in fact (not-random) missing data problems, which can severely compromise a study's validity. Another form of not-random missing data are measurement values which are below the detection limit of a measurement device or diagnostic tool, which results in censored observations of low values. Failure to adequately deal with missing data produces biased results. The aim of the course is to provide participants with an understanding of the basic concepts and general techniques for dealing with missing data. The course software will be R. Main concepts to be covered include: 

• imputation techniques for missing data
• dealing with selection bias and lost to follow-up from the perspective of "missing data" censoring of data
• analysis of data with measurements below the detection limit
• regression and statistical tests with censored data

Objectives of the module:

Participants:

• know the sex-specific pathophysiology and vascular biology in coronary artery disease (e.g. non-obstructive versus obstructive coronary heart disease, microvascular dysfunction, plaque rupture versus plaque erosion) as well as its differential diagnoses (vasospasm, coronary dissection, Takotsubo syndrome).
• are familiar with sex and gender differences in clinical manifestation and treatment of coronary artery disease (Yentl syndrome) and are able to perform a benefit-risk assessment prior to percutaneous coronary interventions in men and women.
• know the different pharmacodynamics and kinetics of cardiovascular drugs in men and women (e.g. anticoagulants, platelet inhibitors, antiarrhythmics, heart failure therapies).
• know about the gender neglect in cardiovascular research (bikini medicine) and the resulting knowledge gaps as well as the consequences for everyday clinical practice.
• know the sensitivity/specificity of non-invasive cardiac stress testing and cardiac imaging in men and women (e.g. breast attenuation artefacts, sex-differences in exercise tolerance, effects of estrogen and testosterone on exercise electrocardiograms)
• know gender differences in heart failure (e.g. heart failure with preserved [HFpEF] versus reduced [HFrEF] ejection fraction), in sudden cardiac death and cardiac arrythmias.

Description:

The aim of this course is to provide the students with state of the art econometric methods for evaluation of public policy.
The course deals with theoretical literature on causal inference in lectures, but emphasis is given to empirical applications using
micro data. The course therefore includes also practical computer assignments using Stata.

After the course, students will:

• Get an in-depth understanding of the data and methods used to describe and explain variation in healthcare utilization;
• Be able to conduct basic analysis of healthcare variation, from data exploration and hypothesis generation to more advanced analytical methods;
• Know how to interpret variation data from both a clinical and policy perspective;
• Know how to monitor quality of care and tools to reduce low value care;
• Discuss interventions and policies aimed at reducing unwarranted variation and improving quality of care, at various levels (i.e., provider, health system, area).

Description: This 12-week online course is designed for beginners and intermediate R users in the life sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences. You'll gain a solid foundation in R programming, focusing on the tidyverse packages (including dplyr,ggplot2, and Rmarkdown). The course emphasizes hands-on learning through weekly live workshops, personalized feedback, and a capstone project. You'll build a portfolio of data projects and learn to use AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance your coding.

Description: This 12-week online course provides a comprehensive introduction to Python for data analysis, suitable for professionals and students in various fields. No prior programming experience is required. You'll learn the fundamentals of Python programming, data visualization with Plotly, data manipulation with Pandas, collaboration with Git & GitHub, and the creation of reproducible reports and dashboards using Quarto. The course includes live workshops, personalized code reviews, and a capstone project, with a focus on using AI tools in Python projects.

Many problems related to healthcare quality and safety are the consequences of poorly managed medicines and medical supplies. This module introduces all elements of the supply chain cycle for medicines and other health commodities, including selection of medicines, procurement, distribution and use. Central to this is the management of the whole supply chain system, which comprises quality assurance, human resources, financing, relevant policies and regulations, and monitoring and evaluation. This module emphasizes the importance of integrating supply chain activities into overall health system management.

This course is equivalent to the official Biosafety level I course.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Work as a biosafety officer on level I
• Instruct lab workers on biosafety issues
• Manage contagious waste
• Manage contagious lab spills

Description:

To achieve effective results, global health leaders need to integrate evidence into their decision-making processes. To do this, they should to be able to apply basic analytical skills including science-informed information retrieval, analysis and the design and implementation of small and applied empirical research projects aimed at a specific, contextualized research questions. The skill set acquired in this course should assist global health practitioners in general and MBA students in the development of the Master thesis of the MBA programme in particular

Le cours contient:

• Qualité des soins - état des lieux en Suisse et à l’étranger
• Cadre juridique de l’exercice des professions de la santé (formation et autorisation)
• Cadre juridique de l’exploitation d’établissements de soins
• Règlementation des médecines complémentaires
• Sécurité des patients, responsabilité médico-hospitalière
• Exercices / responsabilité et sécurité des patient-e-s

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Critically evaluate nutritional research papers and understand methodologies used in dietary studies;
• Explain the connections between dietary habits and the development or prevention of NCDs;
• Apply diverse dietary assessment tools and interpret their results with regard to their validity;
• Recognize and address malnutrition in diverse settings, including understanding its prevalence, consequences, and appropriate management strategies.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Understand the theory underlying the methods and tools of project management (Project Charter, SMART goals, OKRs, WBS,CPM, EVM, RM, and Agile);
• Be able to apply Project Management methods and tools in real cases, and understand their limitations;
• Have learned from each other through class discussions and workshop assignments.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Be able to describe key concepts, terminology, and classifications in digital health;
• Understand implications, constraints, and opportunities in the application of digital health in health systems, and know how to plan for and/or overcome them;
• Understand the quality and strength of evidence on specific digital health tools, such as clinical decision support systems, and remote monitoring and self-management solutions;
• Be able to critically assess digital health solutions;
• Have essential knowledge to inform decision-making about digital health planning and implementation in health systems.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a basic understanding of key concepts and central tenets of the impact framework;
• Be able to define and distinguish between research and program/intervention impact;
• Be able to describe key questions in Impact Evaluation;
• Be able to apply and embed the 7 central tenets of the impact evaluation framework into their own research/ program;
• Be able to critically appraise how researchers and program managers respond to impact demands;
• List the advantages of embedding Impact-aware methods in research or interventions, including impact as an accountability and sustainability tool.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Have an understanding of how to align digital methods with core principles of Epidemiology and Public Health;
• Gain an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of large language models;
• Be able to critically reflect on the usefulness of novel technologies for Public Health and health care;
• Have acquired approaches to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

• Be familiar with the steps in conducting various types of review;
• Understand the most important study designs like randomized controlled trials and how to evaluate them;
• Explain the basic methods of the meta-analytic toolkit;
• Describe and interpret the result of meta-analyses:
• Perform a meta-analysis using a freely-available software;
• Conduct and critically appraise systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Recognize a Systemic Problem;
• Draw a Causal Loop Diagram;
• Build a System Dynamics model of a Public Health Issue;
• Perform an economic evaluation of proposed interventions;
• Explain Complex Systemic problems to others in a transparent and convincing manner.

Description: 

Every year, in August, the SPINE summer school is hosted by either the University of Lausanne or the University of Basel. The Summer school brings together international scholars and introduces new scientific methodologies andapproaches to gain research competencies. It is designed for PhD students in nursing sciences and other healthcare-related disciplines, while postdoctoral fellows can also benefit and engage in the summer school. Each year, the SPINE summer school has an agenda-specific theme and usually lasts for four days to foster interactive teaching and learning, as well as networking. During this time, participants have the opportunity to discuss how the taught principles can be applied to their own research projects. Teaching is in English.

Description:
Thématiques abordées:

• Organisation et qualité des systèmes de santé 
• Assurance maladie et impact sur la consommation des soins
• Financement du système de soins et impact sur la production des soins
• Accès aux soins et coordination des soins
• Utilisation inappropriée des ressources dans le système de santé et dans votre secteur

Objectives of the module:

Participants:

• know the influence of sex on the regulation of metabolism and energy balance.
• are familiar with sex-specific differences in metabolic diseases (e.g. diabetes, obesity, fatty liver diseases).
• know the influence of sex and gender on surgical procedures (obesity surgery, pregnancy surgery).
• know the basics of sex development and disorders of sex differentiation.
• know the influence of sex on the physiology and pathology of the liver, gastrointestinal tract and organs of the pelvic floor.
• are familiar with sex and gender differences in microbiomes.
• know the various examination methods for diagnosing osteoporosis and can interpret their findings.

Description:

This course will provide an introduction on the challenges and opportunities of tracking expenditures in the health sector, measuring the efficiency and equity of a health system, and using providers payment systems to achieve strategic health sector objectives. The course will introduce basic economic concepts, indicators, and methodological considerations, while keeping a pragmatic lens on the implications for informing policy dialogue and health sector reforms. The course will draw from practices and experiences in low- and middle-income countries that are fully relevant for high income countries as well. International experts will present case studies providing real world experiences from different regions/countries on concepts learned during the course. Participants are invited to actively contribute to the discussion by sharing experiences from their own countries, to help fill the mission of mutual learning for change.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Understand the key building blocks of health systems;
• Have an overview of different challenges facing health systems with regards to NCDs;
• Explore different solutions to existing challenges for health systems responses.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand the fundamental concepts of health and migration, underscoring their importance to the global health agenda;
• Understand the role of migration as a determinant of health and its impact on health systems;
• Recognize evidence-informed and best-practice interventions to address the health of migrants;
• Understand the principles of bridging research, policy and practice for health and migration.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Know the principles and the process of the Design Thinking method for solving complex problems that focus on people’s needs;
• Value the human-centered approach of Design Thinking to face complex Public Health issues;
• Have applied the method to use cases;
• Be able to use Design Thinking tools in their work.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Understand the importance of designing public health interventions with a social behavioural insights lens;
• Understand how the communication ecosystem, including misinformation, can influence public health behaviours;
• Be able to develop effective, context-specific, behaviorally-informed SBC communications to encourage vaccine acceptance and demand;
• Apply learnings to a use case of psychological inoculation against misinformation;
• Understand the potential impact of effective interpersonal communication;
• Develop a plan for a behaviorally-designed program to increase vaccine uptake.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course participants will:

• Conceptualize planetary and one health challenges in social ecological systems;
• Experience participatory modelling with causal loop diagrams;
• Identify leverage points and interventions in social ecological systems;
• Reflect on personal and societal challenges when implementing complex social interventions.

By the end of the course participants will:

• Understand different types of research waste and be able to argue the role of implementation science in reducing research waste and enhance effectiveness of the research pipeline;
• Be able to discuss stakeholder involvement in implementation science projects;
• Be able to highlight the role and types of theories, models and frameworks in supporting implementation research;
• Have the capacity to argue the need for contextual analysis in implementation science projects and describe how to perform a contextual analysis;
• Understand the evidence base of implementation strategies;
• Know different types of implementation outcomes and their measurement;
• Be able to recognize and critically evaluate common implementation science study designs;
• Be able to apply reporting guidelines (e.g., StaRI) for implementation science research studies;
• Be able to apply learned theoretical knowledge in the discussions and learning groups and participate actively in discussions and project works.

Objectifs:

• S’approprier les domaines de la conduite d’une structure de soins tels que la gouvernance et la conduite opérationnelle, les ressources humaines, l’organisation clinique, le support logistique et financier
• Appréhender ces domaines à la lumière des grandes tendances sociétales telles que la durabilité, l’innovation, la numérisation, l’évolution des attentes et des besoins de la population, le développement du cadre juridique et éthique
• Maîtriser les outils et développer les compétences nécessaires à la conduite d’une structure de soins telles que l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique, la gestion de la qualité/sécurité, la conduite de projet, les principes de leadership, l’évaluation des risques, la gestion des collaboratrices et collaborateurs, le renforcement d’une culture d’entreprise

Course Description:

Following the success of the University of Geneva Terra Submersa expedition in 2014, the summer school offers an intensive course on a new, multidisciplinary scientific field: Continental Shelf Prehistoric Research (CSPR).

The course aims at educating postgraduate students and young scientists to move across the boundaries of marine geosciences and archaeology, in order to shed light on the interaction between our ancestors with the dynamically changing environment.

Practically, the summer school will take place in Porto Cheli (Greece) and include field trips to the prehistoric site of Franchthi Cave and the surrounding area. Its objective is to give the opportunity for young archaeologists and geoscientists to:

• Learn about marine geophysical (multibeam, side scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler), marine geological methodologies as well as data acquisition, post-processing and interpretation
• Understand paleoclimate and sea-level changes and their interaction with isostatic and tectonic vertical movements
• Link climate, sea level and environmental changes to the archaeology of people who lived on and migrated across the continental shelf
• Familiarize with key themes in coastal prehistory

Course Description:

2024 was a landmark year for children's rights, marking the 35th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the centenary of the Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the first international document to recognize children's rights. Despite these significant milestones and numerous positive developments, children still face many challenges in fully realizing their rights.

During the Summer School "Children at the Heart of Human Rights" you will learn about children's rights with an interdisciplinary perspective and analyse different international legal instruments such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other standard-setting instruments pertaining to children's rights.

This program offers to discover:

• the interplay between theory and practice in the field of children's rights,
• the international perspective promoted by the lecturers from different regions of the world,

The Summer School "Children at the Heart of Human Rights" offers students and young professionals a unique opportunity to engage with leading academics and field experts in an interdisciplinary setting. Located in Geneva, at the international hub for human and children's rights, the program provides access to numerous international human rights organizations.

Objectives:

By the end of the course, students will be able to run a typical Python project: import data from text or Excel files, perform data manipulation (including use of labels), save manipulated data, perform statistical analysis, graphical representation of the data. Students will also be able to execute a script with basic examples of type of data classification.

Occupational hygiene specialists should understand human risk perception and risk behavior, legal boundary conditions for chemicals handling, and risk management. This course will introduce students to human risk perception, the applications of Swiss legal framework in work and health, and the training of workers in the application of safety rules.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply current national and international regulatory systems (e.g. REACH, MSDS)
• Apply OEL values and substance documentation for further interpretation of measurement data
• Write risk assessment reports according to recipients’ expectations and regulations
• Communicate critical results to organizations and community («breaking bad news»)

Ziel: In diesem Einführungsmodul werden grundlegende Begriffe, Konzepte, Sichtweisen und Werte aus der Public-Health-Perspektive behandelt und vermittelt.

Inhalte:
Einführung in Definitionen und Konzepte von Public Health
Einblick in die Versicherungssysteme im schweizerischen Gesundheitswesen
Überblick über Finanzierung und Kosten des Gesundheitswesens in der Schweiz
Einführung in Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention
Überblick und das Spektrum der möglichen Massnahmen im Kontext Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention
Einführung in relevante Werte und Theorien der Public-Health-Ethik
Ask the expert zu einem Public Health relevanten Thema

Description:

Submitting, reviewing, and publishing papers is a key part of research, but it can be frustrating due to its complexity and time demands. This course offers a practical guide on how to navigate these steps effectively. It covers everything from formatting your paper to understanding publication fees and agreements. The goal is to equip you with the skills to format your papers efficiently, making revisions and resubmissions easier, and focused but not unique in Public Health.

Objectifs:

• S’approprier les domaines de la conduite d’une structure de soins tels que la gouvernance et la conduite opérationnelle, les ressources humaines, l’organisation clinique, le support logistique et financier
• Appréhender ces domaines à la lumière des grandes tendances sociétales telles que la durabilité, l’innovation, la numérisation, l’évolution des attentes et des besoins de la population, le développement du cadre juridique et éthique
• Maîtriser les outils et développer les compétences nécessaires à la conduite d’une structure de soins telles que l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique, la gestion de la qualité/sécurité, la conduite de projet, les principes de leadership, l’évaluation des risques, la gestion des collaboratrices et collaborateurs, le renforcement d’une culture d’entreprise

Learning objectives:

• Understand the main elements of the Swiss health system and health policy context.
• Discuss specific current issues in Swiss health policy, including the situation of health care
• professionals and sustainability in the healthcare system, and potential policy proposals to address these issues.
• Analyse how the specific political context in Switzerland, such as federalism and direct democracy, affects health policy-making and health policy reforms.

Objectives:

After the course participants will have a solid basic understanding of:

• Key theoretical and empirical approaches of health economics as well as policy and health technology assessment.
• Economic intuition and theory which helps students understand physician and patient behaviour, the organization of health insurance and hospital markets, and government policy related to healthcare provision and financing.
• Empirical strategies used by economists (econometrics, causal inference, machine learning, experiments, etc.), as well as health technology assessment (cost-effectiveness analysis, decision- analytic modelling, etc.).
• How to judge and constructively criticize empirical evidence in economics and related fields.
• The topics researchers currently work on in the field of health economics.

In this module, the history and foundations of One Health will be introduced. The currently accepted definition of One Health, its relationship to related concepts and its meaningful use are presented. A panel of experts will share their respective perceptions of One Health in theory and practice. Participants will engage with systems thinking through exercises, while case studies at the environment-animal-human interface will be integrated into a systemic approach.

Description:

This three-day course explores the intersection of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), family planning, and the impact of migration on women’s health in displaced populations. SRH is a fundamental human right and a key component of well-being, yet asylum-seeking, refugee, and undocumented migrant women often face significant barriers to accessing essential services. Challenges such as forced displacement, limited health literacy, structural barriers, and increased exposure to sexual violence contribute to poor health outcomes for both women and their children. Additionally, the course will not only address the challenges faced by women but also explore the perspectives of young adolescents and men regarding SRH and family planning. Through expert-led discussions, case studies and interactive group sessions, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the factors shaping SRH access and utilization among migrant populations. The course also offers opportunities for networking and practical application of knowledge, equipping participants with insights and strategies to better address the unique needs of these vulnerable groups. Additionally, the course introduces the use of PhotoVoice in this context, allowing participants to actively engage with the method through a hands-on project.

In this module, students use case studies and decision-analytic modelling approaches to design a health programme: conducting a situation analysis and setting priorities for interventions that are consistent with existing national health policies in resource constraint countries. It covers salient topics such as analysing the problem, developing log frames, setting indicators and monitoring and evaluation.

In this module, students learn to manage work and health activities and define key health indicators.Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Select and implement an absence and case management system
• Design and implement a health campaign/event to foster individual health behavior change
• Write a health report for an organization
• Integrate organizational health as a central value in the culture of an organization

Der Besuch dieses Moduls befähigt Sie, Entstehungs- und Verlaufsprozesse von Gesundheit und Krankheit in der Bevölkerung unter Berücksichtigung kultureller, sozialer und psychologischer Einflussfaktoren zu beschreiben. Hierbei wenden Sie gesundheits- und sozialwissenschaftliche Theorien und Konzepte an. Dazu

• formulieren Sie Public-Health-Fragestellungen zu Entstehung und Verlauf von Gesundheit und Krankheit
• ziehen Sie relevante gesundheits- und sozialwissenschaftliche Theorien und Konzepte zur Beschreibung und Erklärung von Problem- und Aufgabenstellungen im Bereich Public Health bei
• verstehen und analysieren Sie das Zusammenwirken verschiedener Faktoren, die die Entstehung und den Verlauf von Gesundheit und Krankheit beeinflussen
• verbinden Sie erkenntnisleitend Public-Health-Fragestellungen mit gesundheits- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorien und Konzepten.

Inhalte

• Gesundheits- und sozialwissenschaftliche Paradigmen, Modelle, Theorien und Konzepte von Gesundheit und Krankheit, ihre Entstehung und ihre Bedingungen (Salutogenese, biopsychosoziales Modell, Theorien der sozialen Ungleichheit, soziokulturelle Einflussfaktoren)
• Sozialepidemiologische Grundlagen zur (sozial-)räumlichen und zeitlichen Verteilung von Gesundheit und Krankheit (Altersdemografie, Schichtzugehörigkeit)
• Soziale und personale Bedingungen von Gesundheit und Krankheit (gesundheitsrelevante Lebensstile, soziales und kulturelles Kapital, Gesundheitskompetenz, Gesundheitsverhalten)

Description:

This 5-day in-person course, comprising a mix of lectures and hands-on practicals, is designed for students who wish to learn about strategies for epidemiological data analyses. The course will cover framing the research question and translating this into an appropriate study design, the principles of statistical modelling including the choice of model and interpreting the output, model building strategies, and key concepts of confounding and effect modification. We will guide the learning through real-life examples. The focus will be on analysis strategies, not the execution of the analysis. However, the course will cover interpretation of results from statistical models in order to consolidate students’ understanding of the models, inform their choices in analysis strategies, and gain experience in reporting model results. No particular statistical analysis software will be required, but practical examples will be demonstrated using software such as Stata or R.

Description:
Thématiques abordées:

• Comprendre et analyser une problématique
• Recherche de causes
• S’appuyer sur les données de la littérature
• Notion de benchmark
• Formuler des objectifs et proposer des variantes de solution
• Rôles et responsabilités des parties prenantes
• Travail en équipe
• Outils de créativité et d’intelligence collective
• Notion d’accompagnement au changement dans les projets

Description:

• Acquérir les bases conceptuelles de la promotion de la santé et de son application concrète
• Aborder les problématiques prioritaires actuelles de promotion de la santé ainsi que les stratégies et actions mises en place dans différents domaines
• S’approprier les outils de base pour évaluer les interventions en santé

Description:

• Protocole de recherche
• Principaux designs d’étude
• Revue de la littérature
• Statistiques descriptives
• Estimation statistique
• Introduction à l’utilisation du logiciel STATA

In most organisations, financial management skills tend to be concentrated in a small core of financial experts. In many small organisations and in the public sector, employees are given responsibilities in financial management for which they have not been trained. This module addresses the basics of the financial cycle from budgeting, implementing and recording, trough to financial reporting. Students will get an in-depth look at the workings of bookkeeping, reporting, internal controlling, financial management of physical assets and stocks, and auditing. They will also learn to extract and use relevant information from the financial management system to make key decisions.

Students will:

• understand the setting for which causal inference is warranted and the framework for potential outcomes 
• understand the difference between causal estimands, estimators, and estimates
• understand how to generate and interpret a directed acyclic graph
• understand hypotheses underlying the identification of causal effects,
• identify the most suitable methods to answer different research questions,
• run basic analyses with the methods presented

You will investigate and work on a real-practice problem together with your colleagues from the other two DAS Work+Health specializations and the company’s project owner. In this module, you will apply all you have learned so far, incorporating it into your interdisciplinary project. You will establish roles and responsibilities in your project group, and make your project a success for you and the company concerned.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Translate customer needs and orders into a structured workplace analysis
• Foster interdisciplinary cooperation and teamwork among occupational health specialists
• Communicate assessment results and recommendations to different target groups and
individuals

Objectifs

• S’approprier les domaines de la conduite d’une structure de soins tels que la gouvernance et la conduite opérationnelle, les ressources humaines, l’organisation clinique, le support logistique et financier
• Appréhender ces domaines à la lumière des grandes tendances sociétales telles que la durabilité, l’innovation, la numérisation, l’évolution des attentes et des besoins de la population, le développement du cadre juridique et éthique
• Maîtriser les outils et développer les compétences nécessaires à la conduite d’une structure de soins telles que l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique, la gestion de la qualité/sécurité, la conduite de projet, les principes de leadership, l’évaluation des risques, la gestion des collaboratrices et collaborateurs, le renforcement d’une culture d’entreprise

Ziel:

Systematische Reviews und Meta-Analysen geben für die Einschätzung von Risiken und der erwünschten und unerwünschten Wirkungen von Interventionen oft die bessere Evidenz als Einzelstudien. In diesem Modul lernen Sie, die methodischen Grundlagen von systematischen Reviews und Meta-Analysen kritisch zu beurteilen und ihre Anwendung zu diskutieren.

Dazu:

• lernen Sie, die wichtigsten Quellen für Public Health relevante Reviews zu nutzen
• beschreiben Sie die Bedeutung und Problematik von systematischen Reviews und Meta-Analysen
• lernen Sie systematische Literatursuchen in Medline und anderen Datenbanken
• entwickeln Sie ein Protokoll für einen systematischen Review mit Meta-Analyse
• führen Sie eine Meta-Analyse durch
• beurteilen Sie kritisch die Qualität von Reviews

Description:

This course is a practical introduction to R, a free open-source software environment for statistical computing. Besides an introduction into the software, the following topics will be covered: data import and export, data manipulation, statistical analysis, graphical representation and advanced programming concepts as conditional branching and loops. Students should bring their own laptop for the practical work. In contrast to other statistical software solutions, R is designed around a true computer language. This has the implication that R is characterized by an enormous flexibility that enables the user to perform sophisticated statistical procedures or simulations. R might be less intuitive to scientists without prior programming skills. However, there are some tools available to make the user’s life easier as graphical user interfaces and editors with syntax highlighting. Participants should have basic statistical knowledge. Programming skills are not required. The first 2 days are mainly lectures and practical courses. The 3rd day is a workshop and participants are divided into groups to apply the new knowledge to their own data. Note: the 3rd day is optional. First year PhD students or other participants without own data can alternatively complete a homework assignment to get the credit points.

Description:

Thématiques abordées:

• Management par la qualité
• Outils de la qualité
• Modèle d’amélioration de la qualité
• Recommandations de pratique clinique
• Processus et amélioration
• Systèmes de management de la qualité (ISO, accréditation, TQM/EFQM)
• Conduite du changement
• Reengineering, benchmarking
• Lean-six sigma
• Breakthrough Collaboratives
• Transformation des organisations
• Implementation Science

Goals of the module:

Participants

• have an overview on sex differences in oncology and the scientific, clinical and societal implications of sex differences for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
• are familiar with the combined impact of sexual hormones and sex chromosomes on cancer susceptibility with a focus on intrinsic control of cancer initiating cell populations, tumor microenvironment and systemic determinants of cancer development.

With this module, students will learn how to design a research project to address a public health issue. The major stages of the research process - ie research design, data collection and data analysis - will be examined, through concrete examples and personal work. Upon completion of the module, students will be able to:

• Formulate a relevant research question
• Select an appropriate data collection method
• Define an appropriate sample
• Plan data collection
• Select an appropriate data analysis method

Content:

• Characteristics of good research questions
• Quantitative and qualitative social science research methods
• Sampling issues (types of sampling, recruitment of participants)
• Ethical issues related to field work
• Data collection methods (individual interviews and focus groups, questionnaire)
• Data analysis methods (statistical analysis, content analysis)
• Feasibility of a planned project with respect to available resources (time, staffing, budget)

Objectives:

Learn and employ strategies and tools (including AI tools for translation and writing) to structure your paper-writing process from beginning to end. Depending on your starting point, you will produce a first or second draft of a manuscript and receive individualized help and critique.

Comprendre l’organisation et le fonctionnement du système de santé suisse et se familiariser avec ses acteurs ainsi qu’avec les cadres politiques et légaux cantonaux et fédéraux.

This course is designed to equip participants with the fundamental concepts and techniques necessary for the analysis of clustered data. In many research fields and study designs, including epidemiology and clinical trials, data are often collected in clustered or hierarchical structures. Examples include repeated measurements of the same subject over time, data grouped by family or school or other type of units, and cluster randomized trials. Ignoring clustering can lead to incorrect standard errors and overly precise confidence intervals, thereby compromising the validity of the conclusions of the study.

Le cours contient:

• Gestion des données personnelles dans le domaine médical
• Biobanques (Big Data)
• Statut du corps humain, des échantillons biologiques
• Exercices
• Cadre juridique de la recherche avec l’être humain
• PI, brevetabilité du vivant et benefice sharing

In this module, social and human sciences will reflect on knowledge generation, problem formulation and identification, and collaboration across disciplines and sectors. Participants will be encouraged to question their own systems of thinking. Collaboration tools are presented and put into practice. The ethical values and philosophical concepts of One Health will be illustrated and discussed. The concept of common pool resources management is presented from a socio-anthropological angle, and an excursion to a village in Wallis will demonstrate its practical application for sustainability.

In diesem Modul analysieren Sie komplexe Problemstellungen aus dem Themenbereich Umwelt und Gesundheit aus der Public-Health-Perspektive und setzen sich mit den besonderen Schwierigkeiten bei der entsprechenden Forschung auseinander. Dazu

• interpretieren Sie die umweltepidemiologische Forschung und bewerten diese hinsichtlich ihrer gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen aus individueller und aus Public-Health-Sicht
• führen Sie eine Gesundheitsrisikoabschätzung zu einem bestimmten Umweltthema durch
• diskutieren und erfahren Sie, wie Sie sich als Public-Health-Experte hinsichtlich der Prävention oder Begrenzung von gesundheitlichen Umweltschäden einbringen können

Inhalte

• Gesundheit und Lärm, Luftschadstoffe, Radon, ionisierende und nicht-ionisierende Strahlung
• Gesundheit und Klimawandel
• Umweltepidemiologische Studiendesigns
• Kausalität bei beobachtenden Studien
• Methoden zur Einschätzung von Umweltexpositionen in der Bevölkerung
• nationale und internationale Datenquellen im Bereich Umwelt und Gesundheit
• Gesundheitsrisikoabschätzung (Impact Assessment): Methoden zur Quantifizierung gesundheitlicher Auswirkungen von Umweltschadstoffen auf individueller und gesellschaftlicher Ebene

Description:

Digital technologies are fundamentally and rapidly changing the delivery of healthcare services. The Digital Health Management course provides an introduction to the field and shows participants ways to navigate the evolving landscape of healthcare technology and digital solutions, including AI applications. Participants will explore the intersection of healthcare, information technology and business management, gain an understanding of the challenges and opportunities, immerse themselves in concrete cases and domains, and learn a

Contents:

This module is divided into four main components:

• An introduction to the concept of health interventions and their initial evaluation, including the «development pipeline» for new interventions; followed by a systematic comparison of randomised controlled trials and alternative study designs
• A case study on the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets for malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa: from the very first studies in the field to policy formulation at national and international levels, and finally large-scale implementation and its evaluation
• A case study on the monitoring and evaluation of the national malaria control programme in Papua New Guinea, including a discussion on the use of routine surveillance
• A case study from Switzerland on the monitoring and evaluation of a health system programme

Objectifs

• S’approprier les domaines de la conduite d’une structure de soins tels que la gouvernance et la conduite opérationnelle, les ressources humaines, l’organisation clinique, le support logistique et financier
• Appréhender ces domaines à la lumière des grandes tendances sociétales telles que la durabilité, l’innovation, la numérisation, l’évolution des attentes et des besoins de la population, le développement du cadre juridique et éthique
• Maîtriser les outils et développer les compétences nécessaires à la conduite d’une structure de soins telles que l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique, la gestion de la qualité/sécurité, la conduite de projet, les principes de leadership, l’évaluation des risques, la gestion des collaboratrices et collaborateurs, le renforcement d’une culture d’entreprise

Description:

Thématiques abordées:

• Processus: description, optimisation, maîtrise
• Run chart, control chart
• Indicateurs, variabilité
• Modèles: Lean, six-sigma…
• Exemples pratiques d’application

This module presents concrete examples of One Health applications, including transdisciplinary project management, integrated health prevention, surveillance and control, and cross-sectoral data management. Theories of change are used to illustrate and apply the impact of health changes on stakeholders. The session also explores the benefits and challenges of cross-sectoral data collection, management, sharing, presentation, and protection.

Course Structure:

• Introduction to health and labor economics, with a focus on the interplay of both
• Discussion of applied papers at the research frontier
• Introduction to data available for research
• Self-study time to develop a research project idea and Q&A sessions
• Student presentations of their research project ideas

Description

• Acquérir les notions fondamentales en épidémiologie et statistiques
• S’approprier différents outils et méthodes de collecte d’informations sur internet ou auprès d’un groupe cible particulier
• Réaliser une revue de littérature et lire un article scientifique de manière critique

Description:

Within public health, there is a growing interest to study and understand human behavior, representations, and individual experiences of those taking part in a studied phenomenon. Qualitative designs are the method of choice to address those issues.

Objectives of the module:

Participants

• know similiarities and differences in the healthy brain and in the development of gender identiy
• know sex and gender differences in healthy and disturbed sleep
• are aware of sex and gender differences in neurological and psychiatric diseases and their consequences for the treatment

Description:

The physical and social environment that surrounds us plays an important part in our health and wellbeing. The geography concept of ‘place’ thus cannot be ignored in public health. Whether investigating the level of environmental pollution, access to recreation or health services, or the patterns or spread of disease, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide the standard platform for exploring spatial attributes and relationships between our environment and health. This course offers an introduction to GIS and how it is used in public health and epidemiological research, with a focus on exposure assessment. It will introduce students to the basics including: working with and integrating spatial and non-spatial data; geographic scale and spatial precision; projections; geocoding; visualisation; thematic mapping; and understanding spatial relationships. Specific skills and tools will also be introduced in relation to methods for route analysis and for spatial linkage of exposure, contextual and confounder information for epidemiological or health risk assessment studies. Students will apply their new skills in a case study based either on their own data or on available datasets for defined topics.

This course includes plenty of practical time for hands-on data analysis in industry standard GIS from ESRI, QGIS, R (with an emphasis on ArcGIS Pro), interspersed with a mix of short lectures and demonstrations. No prior knowledge of GIS is required, though completion of pre-course work is essential preparation for this intensive course.

Description:

Qualitative health research helps grasp behaviors and practices of patients and populations, combined with the meaning health professionals and stakeholders give to their practices and actions, both are known to underlie and influence health practices. By giving particular attention to the context of an intervention, qualitative research is particularly effective for evaluating programs and practices in the public health field. It allows to reflect on the broader health care context, with its socio-cultural and historical features.

Inhalte

• Literatursuche
• Vor- und Nachteile verschiedener Studiendesigns (ökologische Studien, Vorher-Nachher-Studien, Fallkontrollstudien, Kohortenstudien, randomisierte und nicht-randomisierte Interventionsstudien, Meta-Analysen)
• Studienqualität und Critical Appraisal (Levels of evidence, Lücken in der Evidenz, Kriterien der Kausalität, Darstellung und Interpretation der Resultate: absolute und relative Risiken, numbers needed to treat/harm/screen)
• Grundlagen von GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation)

The current global, European, and Swiss governance of the One Health approach is presented in BM4. The concept of operationalisation is illustrated, and methods for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the benefits of One Health are explored and applied. Demonstrating the added value of One Health provides a foundation for advocating its adoption and developing evidence-based policy orientations. Communication strategies to promote One Health to various audiences, including decision-makers, are discussed.

Objectives of the module:

Participants

• understand how connections between sex, sex hormones and age affect drug actions and they will be able to explain how sex differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics modulate drug effects.
• know the central aspects of pharmaceutical therapy in pregnancy and during breastfeeding.
• know about sex and gender differences in the effects and side effects of important cardiovascular drugs.
• know about sex- and gender-specific therapy with propofol, morphine, muscle relaxants and opioids.
• are familiar with the gender-specific management of patients in intensive care, general aspects, including multimorbidity, and the most common intensive care disorders in women and men.
• are familiar with gender-specific guidelines in drug development and are aware of the gaps in knowledge.

Objectifs

• S’approprier les domaines de la conduite d’une structure de soins tels que la gouvernance et la conduite opérationnelle, les ressources humaines, l’organisation clinique, le support logistique et financier
• Appréhender ces domaines à la lumière des grandes tendances sociétales telles que la durabilité, l’innovation, la numérisation, l’évolution des attentes et des besoins de la population, le développement du cadre juridique et éthique
• Maîtriser les outils et développer les compétences nécessaires à la conduite d’une structure de soins telles que l’élaboration d’un plan stratégique, la gestion de la qualité/sécurité, la conduite de projet, les principes de leadership, l’évaluation des risques, la gestion des collaboratrices et collaborateurs, le renforcement d’une culture d’entreprise

Thématiques abordées:

• Modèles de partenariat patient-e – professionnel-le dans le domaine des soins
• Différents rôles de patient-es dans des partenariats
• Aspects médico-légaux et éthiques du partenariat patient-e – professionnel-le dans le domaine des soins
• Décision partagée et outils d’aide à la décision
• Éducation thérapeutique et soutien à l’autogestion
• Implication des proches
• Évaluation de l’expérience patient-e au long de la trajectoire des soins
• Espace patient-e et proches: doléances et médiation
• Stratégies politiques internationales, nationales et cantonales
• Associations de patient-es et réseaux de soutien

Description:

Preserved ecosystems are the foundation for the health of species in the broadest sense, but also for the food security of our societies. Climate change and the over-exploitation of resources such as water and soil threaten these systems. In TM1, we will explore the impact of climate change and resource degradation on population health. We will also present examples of strategies for mitigating and managing tensions over resources in rural and urban environments.

In diesem Modul setzen Sie sich vertieft mit der Frage auseinander, wann und warum ein aktuelles Gesundheitsproblem überhaupt ein Public-Health-Problem ist, welche Überlegungen für die Wahl einer geeigneten Lösungsstrategie relevant sind und mit welchen Massnahmen das Problem gelöst werden kann.

Inhalte

• Wann ist ein Gesundheitsproblem ein Public-Health-Problem?
• aktuelle Prinzipien der Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention
• Strategieentwicklung
• Spektrum der möglichen Massnahmen in Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention
• Normen und Werte in Public Health
• Instrumente der Qualitätssicherung und Evaluation

In diesem Modul lernen Sie Erklärungsansätze zu den Zusammenhängen zwischen soziokulturellen Kontexten und gesundheitlicher Chancengleichheit kennen und nutzen diese bei der Entwicklung von Policies, Programmen und Projekten im Bereich Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention.

Inhalte

• Gesundheitliche Ungleichheit: Erklärungen zu Entstehung und Reproduktion
• Nationale Policies in der Schweiz und im Ausland
• Erklärungsansätze für die Bedeutung des soziokulturellen Kontextes in Interventionen
• Rahmenbedingungen für Policies, Programme und Projekte, die Chancengleichheit verbessern
• Konzepte für Interventionen mit Chancengleichheit im Zentrum
• Beispiele ausgewählter Interventionen
• Barrieren und Erfolgsfaktoren für nachhaltige Interventionen

Although many zoonoses have been eliminated in most European countries, emerging pathogens represent a constant risk to the health of humans, wildlife and domestic animals. Living in a densely populated and highly mobile world allows pathogens to spread, adapt and emerge. TM2 presents concrete examples of the prevention and control of infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on zoonoses. The impact of the collapse of biodiversity and biosecurity needs are also addressed.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is considered one of the greatest threats to plant, animal and human health and food security. It exemplifies the need for an integrated One Health approach, given the horizontal transmission of resistance genes between organisms and the necessity for intersectoral interventions. In this module, the complexity of AMR is explored, with a focus on antibiotic use in hospitals and on farms, the challenges associated with the development of new antimicrobial treatments, and AMR-related policy actions and their implementation within the Swiss context.

In Switzerland, there are several positive examples of cross-sector collaboration at national, cantonal and community levels from which lessons can be learned. In this module, such examples are presented by those involved first-hand. They will share the difficulties and solutions generated while co-creating strategies or co-developing projects. They will discuss the results of evaluating these initiatives in terms of health and socio-economic added value. This module will help participants to successfully plan and implement One Health projects in the public sector.

Biosafety and biosecurity are disciplines that developed tools to prevent health hazards for humans, animals and plants. In this module, the theoretical principles of biosecurity and biosafety are introduced, followed by a discussion on their application within a One Health approach, supported by concrete case studies. Participants will visit the Spiez Laboratory, which specialises in highly infectious diseases and engage in real-life, hands-on exercises. The module is taught in collaboration with the Swiss Biosecurity Network (SBNet).

Vector-borne diseases (VBDs), transmitted by midges, mosquitoes, or ticks, are emerging across many European countries due to the spread of their vector hosts. Factors such as warmer temperatures, globalised transport, and the management of water and wetlands in both rural and urban environments contribute to this trend. Integrated solutions are essential to mitigate the impact of these diseases. In this module, the complexity of VBD emergence is illustrated through examples in humans and animals. Integrated and community-based surveillance and control strategies are presented, along with practical field exercises. This module is taught in collaboration with SUPSI and will take place in Mendrisio in June when the vectors are active.