A method of teaching epidemiology in the clinical setting

It is important to provide an epidemiological presence when teaching clinical medicine to undergraduate medical students in order to supply the underlying facts about disease. A series of pictorial or tabular presentations which together make up a 'master set' of Data Boards has been designed to give the medical student a visual picture of epidemiology. Each Data Board is constructed in such a way that it can be readily interpreted by a medical student at the bedside or in similar situations to those where he is expected to interpret clinical signs and symptoms of disease. The present use of Data Boards in clinical teaching is described and suggestions for future applications are made.