This course is part of the International Classroom and is therefore open to different students, which is why this course will be taught in English. Prevention has different foci: primary prevention aims to remove risk factors for diseases (e.g. stop smoking); secondary prevention is aimed at early disease detection (e.g. breast cancer screening); and tertiary prevention is aimed at timely detection and control of complications when living with disease.

Specifically, this module will address the following: 

- Primary prevention of infectious and chronic diseases: you will study the primary prevention of  emerging and re-emerging infections (with a focus on risk communication), tuberculosis (with a focus on disease characteristics and outbreak investigation), and the topic of vaccination (with special attention for the role of social media); you will also study cardiovascular disease, including risk management for individuals. 

- Genetic screening and diagnosis in the reproductive context: you will study different forms of genetic screening and ethical considerations in the reproductive context (carrier screening, (preimplantation) genetic diagnosing, and prenatal screening and diagnosis). 

- Screening for chronic diseases: detecting disease in an early stage may prevent full-blown disease, mortality, and/or rapid progression; this module covers screening for different types of cancer and early stages of dementia. 

- Living with disease: you will study diabetes self-management, living with colorectal cancer, and chronic low back pain; the number of people living with these chronic diseases is high and growing. Life-threatening or disabling chronic diseases requires support and guidance in order to maintain or regain quality of life, prevent recurrence or complications of the disease, and continue participation in society.

- Group project ‘disease and prevention: opt for an intervention’: students will study a specific disease focusing on its characteristics as these will, in part, dictate which possibilities for prevention exist; there will be a field contact with a disease expert in the Netherlands to gain more in-depth knowledge on the disease, possibilities for prevention, and the issues involved. Products are a group paper and a group presentation. Part of the preparation for the group presentation (in English) will be following the Training English Presentation skills which will be in the form of a workshop.  

Please note that PGZ2024 must always be followed in combination with PGZ2224 (practical skills). It is not possible to enroll for either one of these courses separately; the total of 10 ECTS credits for PGZ2024 (9 ECTS) and PGZ2224 (1 ECTS) will only be awarded after passing both courses.

Knowledge and insight- 

Students acquire knowledge and understanding about: the occurrence, causes, diagnosis, treatment and consequences of a selection of major somatic diseases and mental disorders; the importance of disease characteristics with regard to the choice and contents of measures of disease prevention; the main types of prevention (primary, secondary and tertiary prevention as well as non-selective, selective, indicated and care-related prevention) in the public health context, with emphasis on preventive interventions such as vaccination, screening, shared decision making and informed choice; and the possibilities and impossibilities of disease prevention in the public health context.

Application of knowledge and insight- 

After this module the student will be able to apply the obtained knowledge and insight in different situations and different levels, especially with regard to: critical appraisal of the efficacy and suitability of different types of prevention in the public health context; application of the basic principles of epidemiology and prevention to evaluate the probability that preventive activities will be effective; and analyze a disease or disorder on disease characteristics and formulate an advice about the prevention possibilities for this disease or disorder.

Forming opinions-

After this module the students are capable to critically appraise and judge:· different types of preventive interventions;· the choice for a preventive intervention based on disease characteristics;· ethical aspects of disease prevention in the public health context; ethical aspects of different types of preventive interventions.

Learning skills- 

You will have skills to: communicate in academic English · collaborate with other students and public health officials · identify the conflicts that can occur while working in teams · deal with conflicts while working in teams.