Course Descriptions

5001. Fundamentals of Public Health (3 s.h.)

This course encompasses historical and sociocultural approaches to understanding public health and bioethics. Emphasis is on understanding public health systems from the dawn of history to the 21st century and the evolution of bioethical issues, including the application of bioethical principles, regulations, and strategies in research and health practice. This seminar emphasizes the integration of conceptual and experiential learning. This is reflected in the course design and in teaching and learning processes

5002. Biostatistics (3 s.h.)

This course offers an introduction to applied biostatistics as used in research in public health, including statistical methods used for descriptive and analytic research, inferential statistics, surveillance systems, and statistical software used in public health.

8105. Health Communication (3 s.h.)

This course covers levels of communication processes and effects in intrapersonal health communication related to personality, attitudes, cognitive style, and quality of life; interpersonal communication in the patient-caregiver relationship, including dynamics of stress, conflict, and social support; organizational communication in health-care settings; mass communication processes, including media campaigns to promote good health and disease prevention; and risk communication across settings and strategies.

5102. Theoretical Foundations of Health Behavior (3 s.h.)

This course covers theories of decision making related to health behavior. Emphasis is on the dynamic interaction of attitudes, values, and situational and other factors that influence health-promoting and health-damaging behavior.

5004. Stress and Change (3 s.h.)

This course focuses on the impact of stress on physical and emotional health and quality of life. It focuses on the causes, types, and physiology of stress and stress reduction methods, including relaxation, biofeedback, fear control, cognitive restructuring, and social psychological interventions in community settings.

5101. Epidemiology (3 s.h.)

This course offers an introduction to descriptive and analytical epidemiology. The focus is on concepts and methods used in public health with emphasis on the calculation and interpretation of indices of community health, morbidity and mortality rates, age adjustment, risk ratios, sensitivity and specificity, and predictive value of screening tests. The course also provides an overview of epidemiological research designs, surveillance systems, and evidence-based practice guidelines.

5103. Environmental Health (3 s.h.)

This course explores the effects of interactions between the environment and human health, and the ways that adverse effects may be mitigated. Environmental health hazards, including chemical, biological, and physical pollutants in air, water, soil, and food are addressed, as are risk analysis and risk communication as applied to environmental health. This course examines how problems and solutions are identified globally, nationally, and locally. The use of biological and chemical agents as weapons is also explored. This course is available online.

5107. Complex Emergencies (3 s.h.)

8111. Public Health Program Planning (3 s.h.)

This course covers program planning in public health practice, as well as analysis of national health objectives and their applications at the state and community levels. Emphasis is on program planning as a change strategy to alter knowledge, attitudes, and health behavior to achieve positive health outcomes.

8003. Political-Economic Aspects of Public Health (3 s.h.)

This course offers a survey of the political and economic aspects of public health systems, practice, and research.

9289. MPH Fieldwork I (3 s.h.)

This course entails a fieldwork project or internship in a public health agency. It includes seminars, oral and written reports of progress, and joint supervision by a preceptor and faculty member.

5112. Public Health Program Evaluation (3 s.h.)

This course covers research methods and techniques used to evaluate public health programs. Students develop an evaluation design, including defined evaluation questions, study design, specific measures and methods, and human subjects protocols.

9389. MPH Fieldwork II (3 s.h.)

This course evaluates the fieldwork project or internship using a full range of research methodologies. Data are collected, analyzed, and reported in a comprehensive final report. Oral and/or poster presentations are presented to public health organizations. It includes a final oral defense of the project or internship.