There is no single ideal way to teach epidemiology. Teaching takes place in different situations, and its techniques and content differ. A good teaching programme is one that is geared to its students' needs, capacity, interests and preferences, and which utilizes the available situations and techniques to provide learning opportunities that will achieve its objectives. This chapter reviews some features of the teaching of epidemiology inside and outside the classroom. It starts with discussions of teaching objectives and other factors that affect the choice of teaching methods, and then deals in turn with conventional classroom methods, laboratory teaching (problem-solving and other exercises), self-instruction, problem-oriented projects, distance learning, and combined methods of teaching. Separate consideration is then given to teaching in the hospital and in the field (with special attention to teaching in a community health centre).