Master of Public Health

A competitive international Master of Public Health in Comparative Effectiveness Research offered in English in Paris by internationally renowned Professors from Europe.

A Master for students interested in acquiring strong skills in methods, comparative effectiveness research, epidemiology and biostatistics for competitive annual tuition fees (about €256)!

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

Learn about comparative effectiveness research

Clinical research has generated tremendous knowledge on diagnosis and treatment. However, it does not provide sufficient information to determine what treatment works best, for whom, and under which conditions. Comparative Effectiveness Research addresses these issues by identifying the most effective interventions for specific patient groups. It is a growing area of cutting-edge research that is elevated to the level of national initiative in the USA.

Indeed, comparative effectiveness research can fill evidence gaps created by missing or incomplete evidence. It has clearly become a major field aimed at helping clinical decision-making, supporting evidence-based medicine and improving the healthcare system.

Our programme tackles several topics, including:

• Innovative designs in randomized controlled trials
• Causality in observational studies
• Diagnostic tests, biomarkers, and screening
• Stratified or precision medicine
• Big data & routinely collected data
• Meta-analysis of randomised trials
• Meta-analysis of diagnostic studies
• Network meta-analysis
• Evidence synthesis

Top-level professors

The teachings of the Master of Public Health in Comparative Effectiveness Research are offered by Paris Descartes University that encompasses all the fields of knowledge of human and health sciences. Its health department is renowned in Europe and in the whole world for the high quality of its training and the excellence of its research.

This is a unique opportunity to get a specialised Master in Comparative Effectiveness Research, a first of its kind in Europe, offered by top-level professors coming from Paris Descartes University, Paris Diderot University but also from the best European universities such as Amsterdam University, Danube University Krems, the University of Bern, Oxford University, Queen’s University Belfast, Manchester University, and York University.

Students’ stories

Emmanuelle Kempf (France), 2015 – 2016

I planned to apply for the Master of Comparative Effectiveness Research at Paris Descartes two years before it started. I was performing my Medical Oncology residency in Paris and Sevilla and had graduated with an MSc in Ethics of medical research. I felt that I lacked the methodological skills needed to accurately appraise issues related to clinical research in oncology. To me, this is a fascinating branch of cancer research and I wanted to learn about the broader aspects of clinical research, the reliability of different methods, and their relevance according to different clinical settings.

I was very fortunate that there were only a limited number of students, coming from all around the world. Only a few of us were medical doctors, providing a varied scientific background. The 1-week sessions focused on the predominant issues related to the methodology of clinical research in all the biomedical areas. Each week we had to perform a small project under the supervision of international researchers. Those projects and presentations taught us how to work quickly and effectively in a group.

My internship took place at the Center for Statistics in Medicine (Oxford, UK). I really enjoyed my time there and feel I developed a lot, being surrounded by international methodologists, statisticians. This experience helped broaden my horizons and give me different perspectives. My exceptional supervisor, Gary Collins, offered me a project on ethics of scientific publication, which is a major issue in my medical field. This work involved ten international co-investigators and it was displayed in two international congresses of methodology and medical oncology. Once that was completed I had enough time to perform a second project focusing more on statistics, which has translated into a second publication.

I am currently performing a fellowship at the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) in Brussels, which is the Mecca of methodology in cancer clinical research. What I learned during my MSc of CER helps me greatly in my daily professional life…

Tất Thắng Võ (Vietnam), 2015 – 2016

Before this Master, I graduated from the Hanoi University of Pharmacy as one of three valedictorians. Being a pharmacist specialized in clinical pharmacy, I had long been interested in the important role of evidence-based medicine, which is itself largely supported by Comparative Effectiveness Research findings of which drug, or more generally which treatment, works best. Thanks to the generous support of Prof. Isabelle Boutron, I was awarded a scholarship from the Ile-de-France region to enroll in this master, which has greatly helped me to widen and sharpen my knowledge regarding this new and interesting branch of public health.

During the courses, what I enjoyed the most was how often we were taught to think outside of the box when preparing a protocol for different scenarios when evaluating different drugs, medical devices, tests, surgeries, or ways to deliver health care. I also very much appreciated the chance to interact and to collaborate with my international colleagues who come from all over the world. Every week, we had to discuss together one topic given by the professors and come up with a nice presentation at the end of the week. This time restriction, as well as weekly changes of the members of each group, not only forced us to adapt quickly with a new multicultural working group, but also allowed us to improve our ability to work under high pressure and to always be ready to deal with new challenges. We all agreed that this teaching method helped us form essential skills to work as professional researchers in the future.

Personally, I think that the understanding of high-level concepts of Comparative Effectiveness Research acquired throughout this Master will be a good foundation for me to go deep into clinical research methodology. In the near future, I would like to complete a PhD in CER. As for the distant future, I hope that I can return to my country to work as a lecturer and researcher and contribute to the development of this new domain in Vietnam.

Where is it located?

Located in the heart of Paris, students of the Master of Public Health in Comparative Effectiveness Research will have class at Reid Hall, the French Columbia Global Center.

Tuition Fees

Annual tuition rates at French public institutions are set. The rate for master’s programmes in 2017/2018 was €256. Tuition fees are the same for all students regardless of their country (EU or non-EU). Please note that this amount does not include accommodation fees, monthly living expenses, educational materials, health insurance, travel expenses and visa fees.