Public Health

This course is designed to introduce the basic tenets, applications, and focus of public health. It will provide an introduction to public health terminology, history, core disciplines, professional roles and services, current public health challenges and the impact of public health efforts on population health.

This course provides students with an overview and practical knowledge of public health law and ethics. Students will gain an understanding of the responsibility of government to protect the public health in the context of upholding individual rights. By the end of the course, students will be able to apply this knowledge to real-world applications of ethical decision making and gain a critical understanding of their own ethical opinions.

This course provides students with an understanding of epidemiology and the philosophy and methods for health-related research. The course explores a wide range of topics, such as, research paradigms, research ethics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, descriptive and inferential statistics, hypothesis testing and writing research proposals.

In today's information driven age, access to healthcare information is vital. In both healthcare and public health, there are numerous systems that track disease outbreaks, environmental risks, and vital statistics. This course seeks to train students in the use of traditional health information systems and electronic health records. This course will describe health information systems, management of these systems, data integrity and standards, functionality, privacy, security, and decision-making. Additionally, the course will discuss the use of these systems as it relates to population health.

This course introduces the student to theory and practice in the field of global health dealing with not only the health issues of developing countries but the threats to health extending beyond borders and affecting the global population. Students will explore the determinants and disparities of health at the global level including poverty and health beliefs and behaviors; surveillance and intervention measures; global health policies; and the governmental and nongovernmental agencies and collaborative efforts and obstacles in play to resolve global health issues. Case studies and examples of current global health challenges and outcomes will be discussed with a focus on factors contributing to the issues and collaborative approaches to delivering solutions.

This course provides an overview of the health communication field and examines effective communication approaches. Students will learn how media can impact the health and well-being of populations at the personal, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy level. Communication tools and technologies and strategies will be explored, as well as the importance of communication in advocacy for health promotion policies and programs. Students will develop a public health education piece addressing a current or emerging health information, prevention or emergency preparedness issue.

This course provides students with an understanding of the issues involved with the organization, management, and administration of U.S. public health services.

This course is designed to provide students with an in-depth analysis of emerging and important issues and topics in the field of public health.

This course will examine the ways in which diverse personal, socio-cultural and institutional factors impact health, including race/ethnicity/culture, socioeconomic class, migration status, disability, gender, sexual orientation, sexism, place, age and spirituality. Strategies to reduce disparities and promote equity, cultural competency and advocacy will be examined.

This course provides students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the program courses to a real-world public health experience by identifying, assessing and addressing current issues in public health. Students will demonstrate their ability to integrate and adapt the competencies developed during the course of study to a comprehensive analysis of a public health problem that incorporates communication with working public health professionals and the opportunity to develop professional skills, practical experience and exploration of public health careers. Student must receive a grade of C or higher to pass this course.

The course provides an overview of social and behavioral issues related to public health practice. An examination of theories, concepts and models from various social and behavioral disciplines used in public health research and practice will be explored. Students will also gain an understanding of the areas of cultural competence, levels of prevention, and core competencies of public health throughout this course.

This course examines the organization, delivery, and financing of the U.S. Healthcare system. Students will also explore healthcare systems of select countries and compare them to the system found within the United States. Utilizing health services research, students will identify principles for application in various public health settings.

This course is a study of the major environmental and occupational factors that contribute to the development of health problems in industrialized and developed countries.

This course is a study of epidemiological methods to evaluate the patterns and determinants of health and diseases in populations.

This course provides a problem-based understanding and application of parametric statistical assessments in the area of public health practice, as well as exposure to more advanced methodologies such as ANOVA, linear and multiple regression methods, and categorical response variable analysis. Students will utilize statistical software to perform basic and advanced analyses.

This course is an analysis of current research in health policy including the history of issues, arguments for various positions, and the development of frameworks to enable development of positions on the issues.

This course provides a foundation for program planning and evaluation in public health. It provides basic planning principles, processes, and methods, and encourages a multi-disciplinary approach integrating the use of theory and practice.

Topics may include informatics content applicable to administrative and clinical systems used in public health. Students will analyze the application of information science and technology to public health practice.

This course provides skills and strategies for the development and implementation of health promotion and health education programs in various environments. Emphasis will be placed on how identification of risk factors, lifestyle, and behavior changes can promote positive healthy behaviors and prevent disease among individuals, groups, and communities.

Strategies will be presented for locating and utilizing scientific evidence to make programmatic and health policy decisions. Application of principles of scientific reasoning and systematic uses of data and information systems will be emphasized.

Ecological approaches frame how prevention, control, health promotion, protection and emergency measures protect the public's health. Current topics may include health disparity, cultural competence, genomics, workforce planning, credentialing, and media communication.

The course explores the basic legal and ethical foundations of the public health legal system and examines the relationships among public health, the constitution, economics and human rights.

This course examines the strategies and execution of grant and proposal writing as well as contract administration in the public health sectors. Topics may include research into funding sources, use of prospectus documents, preparation competitive proposals for grants and contracts, and peer review. Students will engage in all aspects of grant and proposal writing, including how to efficiently and effectively describe research and program design, outcomes, objectives and methodology, data management, evaluation, and budget development applied to the preparation of an actual proposal. Students will also examine the contract administrative responsibilities resulting from successful grants and contracts, including monitoring and reporting program and fiscal data.

This course is a practical application of program knowledge, skills, and abilities to a real-world public health setting. The practicum involves placement of the student in a non-academic setting in the area where the student lives. The placement cannot be in the same department in which the student currently works and cannot assume the same role as the student currently works. Government agencies, community organizations, businesses, public health organizations, and social service agencies are all examples of the kinds of placements that would be appropriate. The student is expected to work with the agency/organization a minimum of twelve (12) hours a week for a minimum of 10 weeks and a minimum of 120 contact hours. In addition, the student is expected to maintain close contact with his/her faculty member as well as a preceptor from the agency/organization. The student is to write a report of his/her experience, describing the nature and operation of the placement setting, detailing his/her activities, responsibilities, and interactions with other individuals, and any public health insights gained from the experience. Where the student is given an issue or problem by the placement supervisor, its nature and outcome should also be included in the report, along with the methods used to address the issue or problem.