Registration as Epidemiologist (A or B)
Our Health Sciences (research) master programmes aim to train students in epidemiologic research. If they wish to do so, our graduates can in most cases apply for registration as epidemiologist with the Dutch Society of Epidemiology (Vereniging voor Epidemiologie, VvE).
One of the VvE prerequisites for being registered as epidemiologist is that the research supervisor during the Master programme is a skilled epidemiologist. This is not automatically part of all programmes, as mentioned below on page 2 and 3. Students also need to fulfil the VvE requirement of pre-training with sufficient content concerning disease and health to be entitled to registration as Epidemiologist. More information about the registration process can be found here.
Our recognized educators in Epidemiology are Prof. H.F. Lingsma (Department of Public Health) and Prof. M.A. Ikram (Department of Epidemiology). We advise students who want to apply for registration to first e-mail Prof. M.A. Ikram (m.a.ikram@erasmusmc.nl).
After graduation, students can apply by contacting the VvE. Visit this link if you want to apply for registration as an Epidemiologist A and this link for Epidemiolgist B. Use the form for “recognised pathway”.
Registration as Epidemiologist A
1. Direct registration (provided you fulfil the VvE requirement of pre-training with sufficient content concerning disease and health)
1.1 Current students and graduates who started from the academic year 2021-2022 or later in one of the Health Sciences programmes (70 or 120 EC) can apply for registration directly with the VvE upon graduation, except for students in the Clinical Research major. We will make sure that all other students starting as of 2021-2022 will have a suitable supervisor. If the first supervisor is not a skilled epidemiologist, a second researcher who is, will be assigned to review the design and methodology described in the research proposal and answer questions. This second person will not be directly involved in the research project and will also act as second assessor for the Master thesis.
1.2 Current student and graduates who started in 2020 or earlier in the Health Sciences programmes (70 or 120 EC) who are still working on their research project in the majors:
- Epidemiology
- Clinical Epidemiology
- Genomic & Molecular Epidemiology
- Public Health Epidemiology
- Health Decision Sciences
can apply directly with the VvE upon graduation. These students will be assigned a second assessor who is a skilled epidemiologist if their supervisor is not. This will be arranged by the programme, no action from the student is required.
For students who have completed their research project, the procedure for graduates applies (see below).
2. Registration with extra conditions (taking into account the VvE requirement of pre-training with sufficient content concerning disease and health)
2.1 Current students and graduates who started as of 2020 or earlier in the Health Sciences programmes (70 or 120 EC) in the majors:
- Biostatistics
- Medical Psychology
- Health Economic Analysis
2.2 Current students in the Clinical Research programme or in the Clinical Research major of the Health Sciences programme
Students in the majors or programmes as described under 2.1 and 2.2 need to follow all of the following instructions to demonstrate their competence, before consulting Prof. M.A. Ikram:
1. find yourself a supervisor who is a skilled epidemiologist (only relevant if you have not finished your research project yet; contact the programme for advice)
2. pass the Core Competences Exam (available from 2022 as part of the Master curriculum, two times per year)
3. attend a minimum of 20 research seminars at the Department of Epidemiology (secretariat.epi@erasmusmc.nl) and/or Department of Public Health (secretariaat.mgz@erasmusmc.nl) and register the speaker name, title of the presentation, date and take-home message of each seminar
2.3 Graduates from the Health Sciences programmes (all majors except Clinical Research) who started their programme in 2020 or earlier
1. consult Prof. M.A. Ikram to see if their research project and supervisor qualifies for registration, and if so, follow step 2 and 3 below.
2. pass the Core Competences test (available from 2022 as part of the Master curriculum, two times per year; exam fee €75 for participants without registration as Master student, registration via 'Courses' on this page)
3. attend a minimum of 20 research seminars at the Department of Epidemiology (secretariat.epi@erasmusmc.nl) and/or Department of Public Health (secretariaat.mgz@erasmusmc.nl) and register the speaker name, title of the presentation, date and take-home message of each seminar
Flowchart (Epidemiologist A, click to enlarge)
Registration as Epidemiologist B
For registration as Epidemiologist B is additionally required:
1. A PhD title in the field of epidemiology
2. Scientific publications in the field of epidemiology
3. Supervision by a registered Epidemiologist B
4. Epidemiologic portfolio
For details and procedure please visit this website.