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HLTH 333Principles of Epidemiology

Units
0.50
Faculty
Health
Subject
Public Health Sciences

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course will introduce students to basic principles and methods used in epidemiology. The course will focus on both experimental and observational research designs, estimating outcome measures, principles for establishing cause and effect relationships, and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent and cure disease.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • HLTH204 - Quantitative Approaches to Health Science (0.50)
      • KIN232 - Research Design and Statistics (0.50)
      • STAT202 - Introductory Statistics for Scientists (0.50)
      • STAT221 - Statistics (Non-Specialist Level) (0.50)
      • STAT231 - Statistics (0.50)
    • Students must be in level 3A or higher

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0012841278 / 275M 14:30–16:20
LAB 101305527 / 25T 14:30–15:20
LAB 102305626 / 25F 11:30–12:20
LAB 103305725 / 25F 10:30–11:20
LAB 104305826 / 25F 09:30–10:20
LAB 105305925 / 25F 14:30–15:20
LAB 106306026 / 25Th 11:30–12:20
LAB 107306121 / 25F 16:30–17:20
LAB 108306225 / 25F 15:30–16:20
LAB 109306325 / 25F 14:30–15:20
LAB 110306427 / 25W 08:30–09:20
LAB 111784425 / 25T 16:30–17:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

50% liked it70% easy74% useful

From 60 ratings and 24 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • Prof was super sweet and encouraging but class is so boring. You don't need to come to class as lecture slides are quite dense and prof doesn't really mention additional important material in class. Assignments are straight forward. Not difficult to do really well in this course.

    Dec 2023 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • TA is essentially god in this course. Agree with others if the TA is not helpful you need to re evaluate... prof is good he seems very genuine and wants you to succeed. Very very easy to do well as long as you submit the assignments with effort.

    Dec 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Class was on Friday mornings and prof read slides, so did not need to attend class to do well. Class was broken up with 2 assignments each worth 17.5% that were not super challenging as long as you understood the lecture and tutorial content, a online final worth 20% and a term paper worth 30%. The rest of the marks came from mandatory tutorials. Content was interesting overall, wish it was presented better to encourage wanting to learn and participate in content.

    Dec 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Not a fan of this course and pretty much didn't attend the lectures for majority of the term. Dr. Ferro reads directly from the slides, and the slides' content is copy-pasted from the textbook. Not a great idea for this format to be used at a 3 hour lecture on Friday afternoons if you want students to attend.
    10% discussions, 10% health measures assignment, 40% for 2 quizzes (in-class, open book), and 40% term paper.

    Dec 2022 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Don't recommend taking this course with Dr. Butt, he's not a bad person or anything, but the amount of student issues and complaints was justified and the course was a very poor overall experience. Online learning may have contributed to this, but I think the class issues speak more to the professor than the actual content or online circumstances.

    Nov 2020 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

23 posts and comments in 19 threads mention HLTH 333, August 2015 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

Spring 2024

health sci 3a term advice 2 points, 2 comments

u/cherryblossom_ruby: “… Meyer (Ik this is 2nd year course my sequence had to be changed up so I'm taking it 3a) HLTH 333 with Mark Oremus HLTH 340 with Trevor Manning HLTH 380 with Elena Neiterman 3b: HLTH 230, HLTH 310, HLTH 370”

u/DerangedCuckooClock: “Had HLTH 333, 380, 230, and 370. 333 with mark oremus should be quite straight forward, when I took it it was a couple of online MC and T/F unit tests and a couple of assignments. Its an intro course for epidemiology so the assignments mostly consisted of math word problems. …”

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HLTH 333 Lab 1 point, 2 comments

u/radiantanomaly: “Does anyone have insight on the HLTH 333 lab? Is it a necessary component, do you do lab work, etc., or is it just a "lab" where the TA is there to answer questions? I can't find anything online that points to the lab being an actual class”

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Fall 2023

HLTH 352 and HLTH 380/280 textbooks 5 points, 0 comments

“Wondering if anybody here has taken these courses recently and can share the textbook for these courses These are the books: 1. …”

u/Ill-Annual2838: “Did HLTH 380 have in person tests?”

u/Ill-Annual2838: “Oh ok. Did you happen to take HLTH 333, HLTH 341, HLTH 303 or HLTH 304 by any chance? If so did those have any in-person tests/quizzes/exams?”

u/LmaoImAPotato: “Hey by any chance, was there a textbook for HLTH 333?”

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Spring 2023

Undergrad thesis 3 points, 5 comments

“Hi I’m a health sci student planning to write an undergraduate thesis. It’s my understanding that you have to have a faculty supervisor - but none of the Waterloo prof’s research align with my goals. …”

u/Dimtar_: “… It requires an application, a stats course, HLTH 333, a 75-80 average and a faculty supervisor. …”

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Fall 2022

Fall 2021

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar