Disease Detectives B/C

[Reema.panini]

Can anyone recommend a good source to study? I’ve used the handouts my school gave me and this 500 page WHO textbook, but the former doesn’t go that deep, and the latter is going really deep.

[Unome]

Can anyone recommend a good source to study? I’ve used the handouts my school gave me and this 500 page WHO textbook, but the former doesn’t go that deep, and the latter is going really deep.

Use that textbook, or the CDC Epidemiology one once you've gotten past the basic stuff. Read it carefully so you fully understand what it's saying, and then apply it to practice tests.

[gl10086]

Can anyone tell me what a good resource is to learn about the 5 steps of surveillance?

[amk578]

Can anyone tell me what a good resource is to learn about the 5 steps of surveillance?

It should be on the CDC site, along with almost every topic in the rules. I'm pretty sure it's data collection > data analysis > data interpretation > data dissemination > link to action.

[febflower]

I'm going in with a draft (someone who doesn't do the event)...
any tips?

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

I'm going in with a draft (someone who doesn't do the event)...
any tips?

You could have the person copy definitions off the notesheet while you do the case studies (depending on how the test is structured)

[jimmy-bond]

I'm going in with a draft (someone who doesn't do the event)...
any tips?

Have them do all the ratios and calculations

[Birdmusic]

I'm going in with a draft (someone who doesn't do the event)...
any tips?

If you have history on the note sheet and history on the test, make them do the history portion.
Or have them go to Wikipedia and study random diseases (if they are willing to put a bit of effort in, I'd say start with all the big vaccine-preventable ones, then ebola, cholera, and malaria), you never know if your proctors love that stuff

[Qu€€nMon€y]

I always seem to get like below half in the rankings for this event. I feel like my cheat sheet has everything. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I also feel like I need help with calculations. Can anyone provide notes on calculations? Thanks

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

I always seem to get like below half in the rankings for this event. I feel like my cheat sheet has everything. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I also feel like I need help with calculations. Can anyone provide notes on calculations? Thanks

Have you gotten any tests back?

[Rossyspsce]

I always seem to get like below half in the rankings for this event. I feel like my cheat sheet has everything. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I also feel like I need help with calculations. Can anyone provide notes on calculations? Thanks

Grind a big amount of tests, for me it was at least 1 a day. Do each test as if it's a competition, 50 minutes, but do it solo. After check to see what you missed, and if you are missing something add it to your notes. Rinse, Wash, Repeat

[jimmy-bond]

I always seem to get like below half in the rankings for this event. I feel like my cheat sheet has everything. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I also feel like I need help with calculations. Can anyone provide notes on calculations? Thanks

I know for calculations in particular, birdmusic has a very helpful section in her ssss disease notes that covers the most common calculations.

[Birdmusic]

I always seem to get like below half in the rankings for this event. I feel like my cheat sheet has everything. I dont know what I am doing wrong. I also feel like I need help with calculations. Can anyone provide notes on calculations? Thanks

Calculations:
One of the biggest mistakes with calculations is having the wrong study type and therefore making the wrong calculations. Learn some more about cohort (which uses risk ratio/relative risk) and case-control (which uses odds ratio), and when to apply them from the WHO textbook (on soinc, chapter 3) or other places online. Also, check your odds ratio formula on your cheat sheet, it's a small thing, but I had the wrong formula on my cheat sheet for half a year once. (caught before regionals tho, so that was good)

Make sure you understand the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value equations, and their differences. It's really easy to confuse them.

There's a chapter (3) in the CDC textbook on difference calculations, have them somewhere just in case.

Other:
If you have any leftover space on your cheat sheet, fill it with diseases. If you go to a competition where parents write the tests (Regionals), they will probably write a ton of really random diseases that don't have anything to do with current epidemiology onto their test. If you don't have space, at lease have measles, Ebola, and e. Coli on there. (large recent/ongoing epidemics)

Make sure you understand the 13/10 steps to investigating an outbreak, not just have it copied on your notes. Really read the textbook (6 in CDC) about the steps and what each looks like.

Print a glossary (or 2!) a week before the competition and memorize everything on there that is not on your notes.

If you can tell me your division, I can go into more details for you on PM, hope this helps!

[Tailsfan101]

Is it relevant to study more advanced math like ANOVA and Chi-squares in Disease Detectives B?

[Birdmusic]

Is it relevant to study more advanced math like ANOVA and Chi-squares in Disease Detectives B?

I think actual math is not important, just the theory behind it (i.e. what does p-value and z-value mean and how to interpret them) and even then I've never encountered them in regionals, states, or on past Div B Nats tests from the test packets. (also I think ESs know middle school people don't usually do stats and expecting them to be able to is kind of ridiculous)