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Studies & Degrees in Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of how health and disease are distributed in populations and of what determines them, with the aim of controlling health problems. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define it as the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to the control of health problems.

Clinical and psychosocial epidemiology applies these methods to two kinds of questions. The clinical side asks which diagnosis, treatment or form of care gives patients the best outcome. The psychosocial side asks how behaviour, mental health, work, family and living conditions affect who falls ill and who recovers. Students learn to design studies, to work with large data sets and patient cohorts, and to analyse results with statistics. Chronic disease, mental health, ageing and inequalities in health are typical research topics.

Qualifications and levels

Epidemiology is mainly a postgraduate subject. Students usually come to it after a first degree in medicine, health sciences, biology, psychology or a social science.

  • Research master's degree. The University of Groningen taught a research master's programme under the name Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology. Its current programme, Interdisciplinary Research in Health Dynamics, builds on it according to the university. It is a research master's degree of 24 months and 120 ECTS credits, taught in English at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, with a start in September. The first year covers research methods, statistics and academic skills, followed by courses in one of two tracks: Mechanisms of Lifecourse Health or Strategies for Population Health. The second year centres on the student's own research and the master's thesis, in research groups such as epidemiology and biostatistics, health psychology, psychiatry and public health. The university states that graduates meet the criteria to register as an epidemiologist.
  • Master's degree in public health. In the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a master's degree in public health with an emphasis in epidemiology is a common route.
  • Medical degree and doctorate. Epidemiology is also part of medical training, and those who direct research projects often have a PhD or a medical degree.

Admission

Requirements depend on the university. The Groningen programme admits holders of a bachelor's degree in fields such as biomedical sciences, biology, health sciences, human movement sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, psychology, sociology, economics or econometrics. Selection includes an entrance examination on statistics and, for those who pass it, an interview. The tuition fee listed for 2026-27 is €2,694 for EU/EEA students and €24,900 for students from other countries, and applicants with a non-Dutch bachelor's degree pay an application fee.

Where to study it

SpainExchange lists 3 active schools for this subject, one each in the Netherlands, Ukraine and Russia: the University of Groningen, Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi and Rostov State Medical University in Rostov-on-Don. The last two are state medical universities, where epidemiology is studied as part of medical and postgraduate training. Bukovinian State Medical University states that it teaches in Ukrainian and, for foreign students, in English, and that it trains students in Medicine at master's and doctoral level.

When comparing programmes, check the language of instruction, the amount of statistics and data analysis, the patient or population data that students may use for their thesis, and whether the degree leads to a professional registration in the country where you want to work.

Careers

Epidemiologists work in public health agencies, hospitals, universities, research institutes, health insurers and the pharmaceutical industry. The University of Groningen reports that about 40 percent of its students stay in academia after graduation, while the others move to the public health sector, policy or industry. The roles it lists include PhD researcher, public health analyst, policy adviser, registered epidemiologist and data scientist.

In the United States, epidemiologists typically need at least a master's degree to enter the occupation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They held about 12,800 jobs in 2025; state governments employed 33 percent of them and local governments 22 percent. The Bureau projects employment of epidemiologists to grow 19 percent from 2025 to 2035.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a medical degree to study epidemiology?

No. The Groningen research master's programme, for example, also admits graduates in biology, health sciences, psychology, sociology, economics and other fields. A good basis in statistics is expected.

How long does a research master's degree in this field take?

The research master's programme at the University of Groningen takes 24 months and has 120 ECTS credits.

Is the Groningen programme still called Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology?

The university now presents it as Interdisciplinary Research in Health Dynamics, a programme that builds on the earlier research master's degree in Clinical and Psychosocial Epidemiology.

Where do epidemiologists work?

Mostly in public health agencies, hospitals, universities and research institutes. In the United States, state and local governments together employed more than half of all epidemiologists in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.