Overview
This capstone course requires students to independently design and complete a substantial epidemiologic, evaluative, or applied public health project addressing a clearly defined sexually transmitted infection problem. Projects may include secondary data analysis, surveillance assessment, outbreak investigation, systematic or scoping review, qualitative research, program evaluation, intervention design, implementation study, or development of a decision-support product.
Students formulate answerable questions, synthesize evidence, select appropriate conceptual and methodological frameworks, address feasibility and ethics, and obtain required institutional or organizational approvals before commencing data collection or analysis. Technical work may include data management, reproducible analytic workflows, descriptive and inferential analysis, qualitative coding, triangulation, uncertainty assessment, and sensitivity analysis.
The course emphasizes health equity, community relevance, confidentiality, non-stigmatizing language, transparent reporting, and appropriate interpretation of limitations. Required outputs include a proposal, literature review, methods and analysis plan, project report or manuscript, and presentation or policy briefing tailored to a defined scientific, policy, clinical, or community audience.
Learning Outcomes
- Formulate an answerable sexually transmitted infection epidemiology, evaluation, or applied public health question.
- Critically evaluate and synthesize relevant epidemiologic, clinical, social, and public health evidence.
- Select and justify appropriate conceptual frameworks, study designs, data sources, and analytic methods.
- Develop a feasible project protocol that addresses ethics, confidentiality, equity, stakeholder relevance, and required approvals.
- Execute a rigorous project using documented, reproducible, and methodologically appropriate procedures.
- Analyze quantitative or qualitative data and assess uncertainty, bias, validity, sensitivity, and limitations.
- Interpret findings appropriately without overstating causal, clinical, policy, or community implications.
- Develop feasible, evidence-informed recommendations for defined public health or clinical stakeholders.
- Communicate project methods, findings, limitations, and recommendations through a scholarly report and an audience-appropriate presentation or policy briefing.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seminar | 2 hours | Weekly | First term |
| Practicum | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Weekly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Project proposal and feasibility plan | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Literature review and conceptual framework | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Methods and analysis plan | 20.00% |
| Capstone | Project report or manuscript | 30.00% |
| Deliverable | Presentation or policy briefing | 10.00% |
| Attendance | Supervised project progress and professional practice | 10.00% |
Prerequisites
- STDE203 Public Health Interventions for STI Control
- Requirement Completion of an approved research methods or biostatistics course at 200 level or above
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
