The Future of Teaching Epidemiology.

The rapid pace of technological advancements and the corresponding societal innovations and adaptations make it difficult to predict how teaching epidemiology will look in the coming decades. We discuss changes in the teaching of epidemiology that are currently unfolding. First, typical epidemiology curricula often lack formal instruction in important components of causal thinking, such as the formulation of well-defined research questions. We address gaps related to causal thinking, communication about our science, and interpretation of study results, and we make suggestions of specific content to close such gaps. Second, digital technology increasingly influences epidemiology instruction. We discuss classroom and online teaching modalities in terms of challenges and advantages.