Teaching Epidemic Simulation and Policy-Making to Novice Researchers

Abstract:- Ever since the November 2002—July 2003 SARS outbreak, epidemiologists have worked to refine the use of computer simulations to help public policy decision-makers understand the real world dynamics of epidemic transmission and to assess the potential efficacies of various public health policies. Here we describe our attempt to help novice researchers understand epidemic dynamics with the help of Huang et al.’s (2004) epidemiological simulation system. We tested our assumptions using three sets of experiments designed to achieve four learning goals a) simulating epidemic transmission dynamics and public health policies; b) understanding the properties and efficacies of various public health policies; c) constructing an effective, low-cost (social and financial) and executable suite of epidemic prevention strategies; and d) reducing the difficulties and costs associated with learning epidemiological concepts. According to our approach, learners must gather materials and identify essential knowledge in a manner that creates scenarios conducive to learner training. Key-Words:- Learning through simulation, epidemiological model, public health policy, small-world network.