PH - Public Health

This course provides an introduction to public health with the goal of promoting and preserving the health of communities or populations. Students will examine the history and philosophy of public health as well as its core values, concepts and functions across communities, populations and the globe. Topics include an overview of the history, philosophy, core functions and essential services and settings of public health, global health, cultural diversity, health disparities, health equity, epidemiology, evidence-based practice, communicable and chronic disease prevention and control, environmental health, health promotion and risk reduction, community assessment and planning, community/population health program implementation and evaluation, advocacy and policy making, disaster preparedness and response, health of aggregates and underserved populations.

This course provides an introduction to the U.S. Health Care System, including structure, economics and delivery. Students will examine the fundamental characteristics and organizational structure of the U.S. health system as well as the differences in systems in other countries.

Prerequisite: PH 101 or permission of instructor

This course provides an introduction to the study design, methods, and data collection associated with public health research, evaluation, and services. Topics include: measuring health outcomes; qualitative, quantitative and mixed method designs; clinical trials construction and design; questionnaire construction and semi-structured interviews; and evaluation of health initiatives. The ethical issues and limitations associated with various research methods are addressed.

Prerequisite: PH 201 or Permission of Instructor

Introduction to basic principles and methods of biostatistics associated with public health practice. Descriptive and inferential statistics are covered including probability, descriptive statistics, inference for means/proportions and regression. Introduction to SPSS software for data entry and analysis. Possible topics associated with data analysis include epidemiology, health promotion and program evaluation. Emphasis is on application of statistical methods (versus calculations/formulas). This course meets the Core Curriculum Quantitative Literacy requirement.

Prerequisite: PH 101 or Permission of Instructor

Examines health issues, scientific understanding of causes, and possible future approaches to control of the major environmental health problems in industrialized and developing countries.

Prerequisites: PH 101 and BIOL 112 or Permission of Instructor

Examines health issues, scientific understanding of causes, and possible future approaches to control of the major environmental health problems in industrialized and developing countries.

Prerequisite: PH 202 or Permission of Instructor

The course will help students gain a broad understanding of the overarching principles of population health, and the role of public health professionals in improving health, disease prevention, and reducing health inequalities. An introduction to population health sciences and concepts of disease and disease prevention will be provided. Basic processes, approaches, and interventions that help public health professionals use to identify and address major health-related needs and concerns of populations will be emphasized.

Prerequisite: PH 204 or Permission of Instructor

This course will focus on multilevel communication strategies and interventions, such as tailored messages at the individual level, targeted messages at the group level, social marketing at the community level, media advocacy at the policy level, and media campaigns at the population level. From a marketing standpoint, public health communication strategies will be studied in combination with other intervention efforts, such as community organizing or coalition building, to produce multilevel public health interventions. This course builds upon the core college competencies of written and oral communication in the context of public health.

Prerequisite: PH 205 (can be taken simultaneously) or Permission of Instructor

Epidemiology is the basic science of public health. It is a tool used identify the determinants of defects, disease and injury in human populations and provide a means of assessing the magnitude of public health problems and the success of interventions designed to control them. Epidemiology is universally regarded as a discipline that is essential for understanding and solving public health problems. It requires students to develop the capacity to organize, analyze, interpret and communicate knowledge (and data) in an applied manner. It also requires an understanding of the biological, behavioral, sociocultural and environmental factors associated with the etiology and distribution of health and disease. Topics covered in this course include: basic principles of epidemiology; measures of disease frequency; epidemiologic study designs: experimental and observational; bias; confounding; outbreak investigations; screening; causality; and ethical issues in epidemiologic research. In addition, students will develop skills to read, interpret and evaluate health information from published epidemiologic studies.

Prerequisites: PH 203 and PH 204 or Permission of Instructor

This course begins with an exploration of ethics, the moral relevance of health and the use of ethics in the assessment of health policy. Student will explore contemporary healthcare and public health policy issues and legislation (e.g. American Coverage Act, population-based exposure environmental toxins). Using the lens of ethical analysis to supplement other approaches to policy analysis, students will critically evaluate public health policy. Students will be introduced to microeconomic theory and empirical studies that will deepen understanding of how consumers, businesses, and the government influence healthcare expenditures (including its quantity and prices), healthcare quality, and patient health outcomes. Emphasis will be placed on the influences and responsibilities of the different agencies and branches of government.

Prerequisite: Senior standing or Permission of Instructor

PH 445A is a 4-credit supervised field practicum experience in a public health setting that emphasizes application of public health theories, methods, and techniques. Students will spend 250 hours in the field each semester and will be graded on a satisfactory or unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisite: Senior Standing or Permission of Instructor

PH 445B is a 2-credit seminar course. Students will attend 16 weekly seminar meetings each semester and will receive a letter grade for their contributions. Students will present public health practice issues related to their field experience, provide constructive feedback and consultation

Prerequisites: PH 445A and PH 445B or Permission of Instructor

PH 446A is a 4-credit supervised field practicum experience in a public health setting that emphasizes application of public health theories, methods, and techniques. Students will spend 250 hours in the field each semester and will be graded on a satisfactory or unsatisfactory basis.

Prerequisites: PH 445A and PH 445B or Permission of Instructor

PH 445B is a 2-credit seminar course. Students will attend 16 weekly seminar meetings each semester and will receive a letter grade for their contributions. Students will present public health practice issues related to their field experience, provide constructive feedback and consultation