Episkills: Learn to Code in Python for Epidemiology

Teaching epidemiologists to code

Newly updated for 2020!

This course is for epidemiologists to learn how to write code. Whether you are a complete beginner or you are switching from SAS or R, this course will get you comfortable writing Python to analyze your data. Learning to code will make your data analysis pipeline faster and more reliable, freeing you up to focus on improving the public's health. It will also teach you new ways to think about and interact with your data, making you more effective at uncovering the stories hidden within.

We will cover absolutely everything you need to get started, from installing Python to opening up the software and writing your first line of code. Topics include data cleaning and manipulation; summary and stratified statistics, visualization, and more.

Epidemiology began when John Snow went door to door looking for cholera cases in the 18th century. Public health has made a lot of progress since then, but our methods haven't changed much. We can do better! This course is a resource for epidemiologists to learn programming for data analysis, data management, and data sharing.

Questions? Email me at [email protected]

New for 2020: Did you see there is now a problem set that accompanies this course? See all the options here.


Need a little practice? You can now apply what you have learned with the Episkills Problem Set. New for 2020.

 

Your Instructor


Caitlin Rivers
Caitlin Rivers

Caitlin Rivers is the author of the package epipy, Python tools for epidemiology. She has a PhD in computational epidemiology and an MPH in infectious disease. She has worked as an epidemiologist in public health practice and is now a university professor.


Course Curriculum


  Motivation
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  Getting started
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  Warming up
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  Data analysis, part 1
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  Data analysis, part 2
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  Special operations
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  Visualization
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  Closing
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Frequently Asked Questions


Why should I learn to code?
I taught myself to code during my MPH and it was the absolute best thing I have done for my work. It didn't just add a tool to my toolkit, it added an entire workshop. Coding will dramatically improve your productivity and analytical skills.. It's also fun, and not nearly as hard to learn as you may fear. Try it and I promise you'll never see epidemiology the same way again.
Why Python and not SAS or R?
There are so many reasons! Python is friendly to beginners (it is the most widely taught programming language in computer science classes), but it's also extremely powerful. It is widely used in the sciences, from sociology to computational physics. Python is a complete programming language, so it's not just for doing data analysis. You can also use it to build websites, software, or anything it all! If you want to branch out to build a surveillance system, or create an app that allows your colleagues to visualize their data, you can do it all from Python. Plus it's free!
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.

Get started now!