Overdiagnosis. Sick, healthy, or in-between (2025) - Mandatory for Clinical and Pharmacological Medicine

Welcome to Overdiagnosis. Sick, healthy, or in-between

PhD Programme: Clinical and Pharmacological Medicine (CPM) 

Description: 

Medical technology is vastly expanding, and self-assessment has become a big part of being healthy. Alongside, population screening is emerging, and diagnostic thresholds change, which means that even small deviations from “the normal” will be categorized as diseases. At the same time, new diseases emerge, and owing to this, increased numbers of treatments and check-ups will be needed.

This PhD course provides an overview of overdiagnosis, overdetection, misdiagnosis, and overtreatment, and following that, causes, drivers, mechanisms, and incentives to overdiagnosis.

The topics will include:

•                    Overdiagnosis. What it is and what it isn´t.

•                    Health culture and the quest for avoiding diseases and death

•                    What is the diagnostic accuracy of a test when overdiagnosis occurs?

•                    Self-monitoring and” digital health”

The course will be based on short lectures, group discussions, cases from epidemiological and qualitative studies, and analyzing and scrutinizing study designs.

The attendees will gain competences into the design and interpretation of clinical research beyond the Baysian diagnostic paradigm of a simple 2x2 table. In addition, they will get a perspective on how digital self-monitoring will change the culture and concept of health and disease.

The PhD course will be of interest to any researcher working with clinical research, digital health, diagnostics, screening, population-based research, and epidemiology.

Prerequisites: 

None

Form of evaluation:

Key literature: 

Not required - only recommended: Snart er vi alle patienter. Overdiagnostik i medicinske og samfundsfaglige perspektiver. Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson og John Brandt Brodersen.

Organizer: Professor Anne Estrup Olesen, aneso@dcm.aau.dk

Lecturers: Associate Professor Alexandra Brandt Ryborg Jønsson & Professor John Brandt Brodersen

ECTS: 1.5

Time: 31 October 2025

Place: Room 11.00.035, Selma Lagerløfsvej 249, 9260 Gistrup - Aalborg University

Zip code: 9220

City: Aalborg

Maximal number of participants: 25

Deadline: 10 October 2025

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

To attend courses at the Doctoral School in Medicine, Biomedical Science and Technology you must be enrolled as a PhD student.

For inquiries regarding registration, cancellation or waiting list, please contact the PhD administration at aauphd@adm.aau.dk When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.