Archives
Epidemiology for Non-Epidemiologists?
Posted on November 22, 2018
Epidemiology is the basis for much of the work that goes into public health. From the research that gives us the evidence we need to conduct good public health policy, to the work that is done investigating outbreaks, we use epidemiology to help us understand what we are seeing. It’s a scientific branch (or a […]
Surprise! Cops Are People Too!
Posted on November 13, 2018 3 Comments
If I tell you that I want to do something to save the lives of cops, am I in some way offending the people who want justice when it comes to police-involved shootings/homicides?
What’s the Best Language to Use When Addressing the Public About Public Health and Healthcare?
Posted on November 12, 2018 3 Comments
I’m at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in San Diego, California. I generally don’t like to go to conferences because they sometimes devolve into “look at me” sessions of people just blowing their own horn. What I do like, however, is the ability to see what people are putting out […]
What Are We Selling in Public Health?
Posted on October 23, 2018
There isn’t a week that goes by where someone doesn’t call me a “Pharma Shill.” They claim that I must be getting paid by “Big Pharma” because I dare say that vaccines say lives and counter the claims of antivaxxers on social media. (“Claims” is a gentler way of saying “outright lies.”) As of the writing […]
Which Is Better? A False Positive? A False Negative? A True Positive? Or a True Negative?
Posted on August 28, 2018
When dealing with screening tests that are susceptible to giving false positives and false negatives, you need to take into account a number of different things. Most importantly, you need to put your findings into context.
The Sadness of It All
Posted on May 10, 2018
When I was in high school, I participated in a magnet school program called Health Occupations Students of America. The program was aimed at attracting high school students who were looking for a career in, you guessed it, health occupations. Of course, most of the kids in the program wanted to be physicians or nurses. […]
EpiRen’s Journal Club: Firearm-Related Hospitalization and Risk of Bad Stuff Thereafter, in Washington State, Between 2006 and 2011
Posted on May 9, 2018 2 Comments
This study is pretty interesting… Researchers in Washington State took hospital records from 2006 and 2007 and found all the firearm-related hospitalizations (FRH) through diagnosis codes. They then matched those cases with hospitalized patients who were not hospitalized for FRH. They used frequency matching, which is one of the various types of matching you do when conducting […]
Guns and Suicide
Posted on May 7, 2018
This is going to be about suicide. Please click here to be taken to something lighter if you don’t feel like reading this today. It will always be here for you to read. I won’t get offended if you go check out puppies. I’m not really surprised when I hear that firearms are the preferred […]
How Do Anti-Vaccine Advocates React to a Vaccine Bill in New Jersey? Hint: Not Very Well
Posted on April 6, 2018
I won’t bore you with the details because the video is quite good on its own. Basically, NJ legislators in a committee voted to advance a bill for a vote. The bill would require parents seeking a vaccine exemption for attending school to do one of several things. They can get a physician to write […]
Domestic Threats to Public Health in the United States
Posted on April 1, 2018
If you’ve been watching the news, you might have noticed that something interesting is going in Italy. They just had a general election, and their results were very interesting. This is from The Atlantic: “Anyone who’s spent more than a vacation in Italy knows it’s a country with deep reserves of discontent, economic stagnation, and […]
EpidemioLogical 