This instructor's resource guide, one in a series of products from a project to develop an associate degree program for paraprofessional rural family health promoters, deals with teaching a course in introductory epidemiology. Covered in the first section of the guide are the role of epidemiology in rural health promotional training, general objectives and recommendations for instructors, and references and suggested course texts. A series of unit overviews dealing with the following topics is provided: an introduction to epidemiology; disease causation; agent, host, and environmental factors; vital statistics; experimental design, sampling, and data; patterns of individual disease occurrence; time and location patterns of disease occurrence; epidemiological research; the practice of epidemiology; bacteria; viruses; fungi; protozoa; and helminths. Each unit contains general and specific objectives, a list of instructional materials, suggested activities, specific activities to complete individual objectives, and a student assignment. Concluding the guide are a discussion of methods and materials for student evaluation and a description of other materials in the Family Home Health Training Program series. (MN)