Course Descriptions
18 credits - For students enrolling in or after Fall 2019
BIOS 5200: Principles of Biostatistics (3) ↓
Introduction to statistical methods in public health. The course will cover descriptive statistics, probability concepts, and estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing, simple linear regression, correlation, and analysis of attribute data.
CHSC 5206: Program Design and Evaluation (3)
This course provides students with a foundation in program design and evaluation of health promotion strategies in urban, hard to reach populations. Students will work on an existing NYC public health intervention as a case study of how program design and evaluation is approached in the real-world. The course begins with a strong emphasis on the development of a logic model which serves as a unifying language for evaluators, program managers and stakeholders alike. Then, students will learn how to identify and critically apply behavioral/social scientific theory and evidence-based approaches to all phases of program design and evaluation. At conclusion, students will be able to articulate the importance of and a framework for examining program sustainability and translation. Students will acquire key public health foundational competencies that they can build upon to effectively address the urban health challenges of today.
EOHS 5200: Issues in Environmental Health (3)
Major environmental health issues. The course addresses public health issues in the management of water quality, wastewater, occupational health, trace elements, municipal and hazardous waste, vector control and air quality.
EPID 5200: Principles of Epidemiology (3)
Epidemiology is the study of patterns of disease in human populations and the application of this study to the control of health problems. Epidemiology forms the backbone of public health. You will need to have a strong understanding of the basic principles of this discipline to be able to read and understand published public health literature. Epidemiology helps biomedical and public health researchers understand whether their findings are real or due to chance alone. This course will provide you with the basic epidemiologic tools needed to conduct population-based health research.
HPMG 5206: Introduction to Health Policy and Management (3)
This course uses a multi-disciplinary approach to policy and management in both the healthcare and the public health systems. Students will learn the organization, financing, and delivery of services within these systems as well as their legal and ethical bases. Students will also develop skills in program planning, development, budgeting, and evaluation; in strategic planning; in ensuring community health safety and preparedness; and in quality improvement initiatives. A central theme of the course is the accessibility and outcomes of care for urban and immigrant populations.
PUBH 5201: Public Health Leadership in Interprofessional Practice (3)
The course will provide students with the tools needed to be successful public health practitioners in a variety of settings: departments of health, academic research, non-profit and community-based organizations.
Students will gain the ability to discuss and clarify each profession’s scope of practice and roles of each interprofessional team member. Leadership skills will be taught and reinforced through group interaction exercises and presentations.
15 credits - For students who enrolled prior to Fall 2019
BIOS 5200: Principles of Biostatistics (3) ↓
Introduction to statistical methods in public health. The course will cover descriptive statistics, probability concepts, and estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing, simple linear regression, correlation, and analysis of attribute data.
CHSC 5200: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (3)
An introduction to the concepts, theories, and status of research in health promotion and disease prevention, with an emphasis on methods employed to modify group and individual health-related behaviors. This course examines methods of ascertaining health behaviors, the design and interpretation of behavioral intervention programs to modify behaviors, and current trends in the study of how lifestyle and preventive health practices impact on public health.
EOHS 5200: Issues in Environmental Health (3)
Major environmental health issues. The course addresses public health issues in the management of water quality, wastewater, occupational health, trace elements, municipal and hazardous waste, vector control and air quality.
EPID 5200: Principles of Epidemiology (3)
Epidemiology is the study of patterns of disease in human populations and the application of this study to the control of health problems. Epidemiology forms the backbone of public health. You will need to have a strong understanding of the basic principles of this discipline to be able to read and understand published public health literature. Epidemiology helps biomedical and public health researchers understand whether their findings are real or due to chance alone. This course will provide you with the basic epidemiologic tools needed to conduct population-based health research.
HPMG 5206: Introduction to Health Policy and Management (3)
This course uses a multi-disciplinary approach to policy and management in both the healthcare and the public health systems. Students will learn the organization, financing, and delivery of services within these systems as well as their legal and ethical bases. Students will also develop skills in program planning, development, budgeting, and evaluation; in strategic planning; in ensuring community health safety and preparedness; and in quality improvement initiatives. A central theme of the course is the accessibility and outcomes of care for urban and immigrant populations.
12 credits
BIOS 5201: Categorical Data Analysis (3)
Building on the preceding course teaching the linear model, this course teaches the generalized linear model (GLM) as applied to epidemiology, public health,
and medicine. The linear model assumes that the outcome variable has a normal distribution,
but the generalized linear model allows other probability distributions. Students
will learn common GLMs for the analysis of data with binary, binomial, count, and
multinomial outcomes; methods for overdispersed data; multilevel data with varying
slopes and/or varying intercepts; longitudinal data with repeated measures; non-parametric
smoothing methods and generalized additive models; Bayesian models; and tree-based
models.
Prerequisite: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200 and either (BIOS 5202 OR BIOS 5204 OR EPID 5201)
BIOS 5202: Applied Regression Analysis (3)
Overview of common regression models used for biostatistical analysis; model choice,
interpretation of output; discussion of common pitfalls.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200
BIOS 5203: Survival Analysis (3)
This course covers the basic theoretical aspects and applications of various models
to analyze "time to event" data. Basic concepts such as the survival function, hazard
function, right and interval censoring, and common nonparametric and parametric methods
and models for analyzing survival data will be covered. The proportional hazards (PH)
model with fixed and time dependent covariates, the stratified PH model, sample size
calculations, and regression diagnostics for survival models will also be covered.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200 and either (BIOS 5202 OR BIOS 5204 OR EPID 5201)
BIOS 5204: Statistical Computing (3)
This course will give students a working knowledge of two statistical analysis software
packages, SAS and SPSS. Emphasis will be placed on the basics of data management of
files, data manipulation, basic data display, graphical display of data and statistical
analysis. Although the Windows environment will be discussed, emphasis will be placed
on the writing of program code.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
12 credits for those who enrolled prior to Fall 2019. 9 credits for all others.
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
BIOS 5303: Nonparametric Statistics (3)
This course covers a survey of topics related to distribution-free approaches to statistical inference.
Topics will include: Fisher's method of randomization; distribution free test procedures for means, variances, correlations, and trends; and rank tests. Relative efficiency, asymptotic relative efficiency and normal-score procedures will be covered. Binomial and hypergeometric distributions are covered to develop a variety of test and interval estimation procedures.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200, BIOS 5201, BIOS 5202, BIOS 5204, EPID 5201.
BIOS 5304: Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials (3)
The course will cover the clinical trial process from design and conduct through statistical
analysis, clinical study report, and submission to regulatory agencies.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200.
12 credits
Students enrolling in or after Fall 2019 must complete the following courses for the Community Health Sciences Concentration:
CHSC 5200: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (3)
An introduction to the concepts, theories, and status of research in health promotion and disease prevention, with an emphasis on methods employed to modify group and individual health-related behaviors. This course examines methods of ascertaining health behaviors, the design and interpretation of behavioral intervention programs to modify behaviors, and current trends in the study of how lifestyle and preventive health practices impact on public health.
CHSC 5202: Issues in the Health of Immigrant Populations (3)
Emigration from another country can have important effects on the health of the émigré. The demographic, scientific, clinical, economic, social, political, ethical, and legal factors of the country of origin interact with those of the new country.
They are manifest in different ways in the health of immigrants – new and old. This course will consider these and other related public health issues across the lifespan.
CHSC 5205: Urban Health Issues (3)
The goal of this course is to prepare public health professionals to analyze and intervene in urban health issues. The course explores the health of urban populations around the world, with a special focus on New York City, from historical, economic, social, spatial, and medical perspectives. Key concepts include social capital, social cohesion, social hierarchies, social networks, public health infrastructure, healthy neighborhoods, health disparities, globalization, and micro-geographic analysis. Each semester the class will explore three health topics in depth and will organize a neighborhood mini-conference on one of these topics in collaboration with local stakeholders. In addition, each student will perform weekly analyses of his/her neighborhood of residence and periodic analyses of the neighborhood surrounding SUNY-Downstate.
CHSC 5300: Introduction to Research Methods (3)
This course is an introduction to the philosophy, goals and methods of research, particularly in community health sciences. Whether your task is to describe a problem, inform the develop of an intervention, or conduct an evaluation, the principles of research are the same. The course is intended for students who plan to design a proposal or research project. Students will be able to select the best method and design for their research project, develop a plan for data collection and analysis, and prepare and develop a strategy for presenting their research proposal to different audiences.
Students who enrolled prior to Fall 2019 must complete the following courses for the Community Health Sciences Concentration:
CHSC 5202: Issues in the Health of Immigrant Populations (3)
Emigration from another country can have important effects on the health of the émigré. The demographic, scientific, clinical, economic, social, political, ethical, and legal factors of the country of origin interact with those of the new country. They are manifest in different ways in the health of immigrants – new and old. This course will consider these and other related public health issues across the lifespan.
CHSC 5203: Sex, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in Health (3)
(Students who enroll prior to Fall 2019, may elect to complete CHSC 5300: Introduction to Research instead of CHSC 5203)
The health and well being of human beings have been under intense scrutiny and involved important changes during the 20th century. Gender and racial/ethnic inequities are being addressed and gaps in knowledge narrowing. These changes involve multiple factors. This course considers many of those factors as they interact with demographic, scientific, clinical, economic, social, political, ethical, and legal issues.
CHSC 5205: Urban Health Issues (3)
The goal of this course is to prepare public health professionals to analyze and intervene in urban health issues. The course explores the health of urban populations around the world, with a special focus on New York City, from historical, economic, social, spatial, and medical perspectives. Key concepts include social capital, social cohesion, social hierarchies, social networks, public health infrastructure, healthy neighborhoods, health disparities, globalization, and micro-geographic analysis. Each semester the class will explore three health topics in depth and will organize a neighborhood mini-conference on one of these topics in collaboration with local stakeholders. In addition, each student will perform weekly analyses of his/her neighborhood of residence and periodic analyses of the neighborhood surrounding SUNY-Downstate.
CHSC 5206: Program Design and Evaluation (Formerly: Program Planning and Evaluation) (3)
Community-based programs that are designed to change health-related behaviors comprise the vast majority of the public health efforts to reduce the morbidity and mortality in populations. This course covers the life stage of community-based programs from inception, implementation, and sustainability. The course applies the theoretical concepts from the social and behavioral sciences, health education, and health communication to the planning, design, and evaluation of community-based interventions. A program-planning framework provides the methodology to examine social and behavioral determinants of health and to identify appropriate intervention and evaluation design. Characteristics of theory-based interventions are discussed, critiqued, and assessed for relevance to the needs of the students who will have the opportunity to apply these ideas to their own work.
12 credits for those who enrolled prior to Fall 2019. 9 credits for all others.
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
CHSC 5300: Introduction to Research (3)
Basics for participating in the development, implementation, and evaluation of research
studies in public health, particularly health-care delivery. Each student will be
expected to develop and present a research proposal.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 520.
CHSC 5312: Reading Seminar on the Social Determinants of Health (3)
The social, economic, political, and physical conditions in which we live have an enormous impact on public health. These conditions, which are called the social determinants of health, include distribution of power and resources within and across populations, and account for enormous health disparities domestically and globally. In this course, we will engage in an in-depth exploration of the social determinants of health through the critical reading and analysis of books that focus on one or more of these determinants, and will discuss how public health efforts can be leveraged to improve those social conditions that impact health and quality of life.
CHSC 5313: Public Health and Well-Being (3)
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Policy makers, behavioral economists, public health professionals, health care experts, and others have begun to expand their focus on approaches to reducing illness and suffering to include how best to promote and support thriving and resilient communities, characterized by high levels of subjective well-being. In this course, we will explore how factors such as resilience, positive affect, optimism, coping style, and social functioning are linked to individual and public health, how features of the social environment and culture impact these characteristics, and how public health professionals can contribute to the design and implementation of interventions at the individual, interpersonal, community, and policy levels in support of health promotion and overall well-being.
Prerequisites: CHSC 5200.
12 credits
EOHS 5201: Introduction to Management, Policy and Law (3)
An overview of the history and current application of laws and rules used to protect the environment. This course is oriented towards United States federal legislation, as well as examples from New York State law. The evolution of specific acts including Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Clean Water Act (CWA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) will be covered. International environmental health laws, including Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the European toxic substances control initiative, will be included. Emphasis will be placed on viewing environmental and occupational health law from an environmental justice perspective and examining the role of equity in environmental planning, policy-making, decision-making and in the distribution of environmental burdens and benefits.
Prerequisites: EOHS 5200.
EOHS 5202: Occupational Health (3)
Surveys the history of occupational health, the continuum from exposure to disease, the hierarchy of controls in the workplace, occupational health hazards, legal and regulatory issues, provision of occupational health services, and methods in comprehensive workplace health improvement.
EOHS 5316: Climate Change and Health (3)
This course will explore the major implications of climate change for human health. Students will develop skills to understand climate predictions, estimate potential health impacts, identify vulnerable populations, and evaluate interventions to help populations adapt to a changing climate. We will explore the various vulnerable populations anticipated to be affected by climate change including but not limited to: outdoor workers and the home-bound, children and the elderly, populations here in New York, the US and abroad. We will examine the health challenges of climate change from the perspective of many of these stakeholders. We will also emphasize a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing climate health challenges. The course will also provide a practical approach to conducting vulnerability and risk assessments, and students will be introduced to a range of skills to respond to climate-related health impacts with examples of how the health sector has become more resilient, as well as potential mitigation efforts and activities that could be used in the future.
EOHS 5317: Disaster Preparedness and Vulnerable Populations (3)
Provides a framework for the critical evaluation and management of current environmental health issues related to disaster management. Topics include disaster preparedness and response to such threats as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, climate change, infectious disease (e.g., COVID-19), toxic spills, explosions, and terrorist attacks. Students will be prepared for collaborative, multi-sectorial response by learning the principles of risk assessment, modern surveillance techniques, planning, preparation, public education, incident command, and mitigation through a series of case studies. The legal, ethical and financial aspects of disaster preparedness and response will receive special attention, as well as the role of social media in preparedness and response.
12 credits for those who enrolled prior to Fall 2019. 9 credits for all others.
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
EOHS 5203: Built Environment & Public Health (3)
Explores basic concepts of toxicology as applied to environmental toxicants including the distribution, metabolism, and elimination of environmental chemicals in the body. Examines the application of these concepts to the understanding of disease processes resulting from adverse environmental exposures.
EOHS 5205: Public Health Aspects of Physical Trauma (3)
Examination of injury and violence as seen in urban settings. The course is designed to incorporate models into practical application in communities using case examples.
EOHS 5302: Women's Health Policy: Epidemiology and the Environment (3)
This course will identify key indicators of women's health and women's health needs
utilizing both environmental health sciences and health policy perspectives. Current
and historical examples will highlight how health. Needs, medical practice and policies
have evolved over time.
Prerequisites: EOHS 5200.
EOHS 5307: Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology (3)
This course provides an overview of current topics and controversies in occupational
and environmental epidemiology. It will provide the student with familiarity with
research techniques in this area, and capacity to evaluate current research relevant
to public health practice and policy. The course is structured as a seminar, with
discussion of research topics and techniques based upon analysis of published papers
in the field, both historical and current. Guidance will be provided and students
will be expected to produce increasingly sophisticated critiques of research as the
course progresses.
Prerequisites: EOHS 5200, BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EOHS 5315: Building Climate Resiliency: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies (3)
This course will explore concepts in climate change resiliency to address the major health and environmental implications of climate change. Community-specific strategies for mitigation and adaption will be presented. Students will engage with a series of case studies around the topics of planning and action for climate resiliency. Major topics will include assessment and response to heat stress, flooding, vector-borne disease risks, infectious disease (e.g., COVID-19) and urban planning and preparedness. A systems approach to evaluation and management will help guide interventions for population adaption to a changing climate. Vulnerable populations to be included in case studies include urban immigrants, women and children, the elderly, workers, and those chronically ill, disabled, or mentally challenged, including populations in New York City, in the US and abroad. The course will also provide a practical approach to conducting vulnerability and risk assessments, and students will be introduced to a range of tools to respond to climate-related health impacts with examples of how the health sector has become more resilient, as well as potential mitigation efforts and activities that could be used in the future.
EOHS 5318: Planetary Health
This course will provide an introduction to the emerging and multi-disciplinary field of planetary health which encompasses the study of human activity and its impacts on the planet and implications for public health. Students will develop skills to identify and evaluate Anthropogenic activities and estimate the potential health impacts these activities have, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations across the globe. Students will become familiar with key indicators of human impacts across the lifespan related to planetary health. Students will identify sources to obtain data on surveillance to track impacts and to formulate strategies for policy and behavior change to mitigate impacts.
12 credits
EPID 5201: Epidemiologic Research Methods (3)
Students in this course will learn to identify and distinguish common research designs used in epidemiology,
including cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, prospective and retrospective
cohort studies, quasi-experiments and natural experiments, and randomized controlled
trials. Students will also learn to distinguish between individual-level data and
ecological data. Students will learn to calculate measures of association and excess
and attributable risk. Students will evaluate the internal and external validities
of published peer-reviewed studies, and apply the epidemiological theories of causal
inference. Students will learn how to identify suitable datasets for answering specific
research questions and to navigate the codebooks for real datasets. Students will
learn to evaluate the adherence of epidemiology studies to the ethical principles
of human subjects research. Wherever possible, this course will use examples of studies of urban and immigrant health, including health disparities
and asset-based approaches to health.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EPID 5202: Infectious Disease Epidemiology (3)
The objectives of this course are to cover the two broad components of infectious
disease epidemiology: 1) the epidemiologic methods applied to investigating infectious
disease distribution and etiology, and 2) a review of the infectious diseases of major
public health significance. Outbreak investigation, disease surveillance, study design,
geographical information systems, the microbiology of pathogens, and an introduction
to concepts in mathematical modeling in infectious disease will comprise the first
component of the course. A thorough description of the epidemiology, etiology, and
prevention, treatment and control of significant established and emerging infectious
diseases will comprise the second component of the course. By the end of this course
students should have a thorough understanding of the both the practice of infectious
disease epidemiology and the current and emerging global burden of infectious disease.
Prerequisites: EPID 5200.
EPID 5203: Chronic Disease Epidemiology (3)
This course will provide students with an overview of the epidemiology of the most common chronic diseases and conditions in the United States. It will focus on the measurement of chronic disease outcomes and risk factors, epidemiologic study design for chronic disease, and the critical evaluation of published literature on epidemiologic studies of chronic disease.
Prerequisites: EPID 5200.
EPID 5205: Epidemiologic Research Methods II (3)
This course teaches students to apply epidemiology methodology to original research using observational
data, following the introduction to epidemiologic concepts in EPID 5200 and the intermediate
methods covered in EPID 5201. Preliminary to using data, students will learn to clean
and manage datasets in a statistical package. Students will apply statistical methods
to binary outcomes including the linear probability model, logistic regression for
rare binary outcomes, and Poisson or negative binomial regression for common binary
outcomes. Students will also apply linear regression for continuous outcomes, logistic
regression for binomial outcomes, and Poisson regression for count outcomes. Students
will also analyze data from complex survey designs that include stratification, clustering,
unequal probabilities of selection, and post-stratification weights. Students will
learn how to use longitudinal data for temporal ordering. Students will learn to communicate
the results of peer-reviewed papers using research designs and statistical methods
that may permit causal inference, including randomized experiments; propensity score
matching methods including Mahalanobis matching and full matching; and quasi-experimental
methods including instrumental variable analysis, regression discontinuity, interrupted
time-series, and differences-in-differences.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200, EPID 5201.
12 credits for those who enrolled prior to Fall 2019. 9 credits for all others.
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
EPID 5301: Reproductive Epidemiology (3)
This course explores the nature and determinants of ill-health in pregnant women and
babies, and to demonstrate the contribution of epidemiologic methods to problem identification
and to the design and evaluation of strategies to improve maternal and child health.
Topics of discussion include disparities between various population groups, contraception,
menstruation, fertility, abortion, menopause, and maternal morbidity and mortality.
Discussion of contemporary issues in safe motherhood and perinatal health in developing
countries will also be provided throughout the course.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EPID 5303: Nutritional Epidemiology (3)
This course applies epidemiologic methods and principles to current studies of diet,
nutrition and chronic disease. Students will gain expertise in understanding the current
state of knowledge on the relationship between nutrition and disease including the
role of co-factors. Strengths and weaknesses of the methods available to assess exposure
in nutritional epidemiologic studies will be presented as students will be asked to
critically evaluate epidemiologic evidence on diet-disease relationships. Other topics
to be covered include: evaluation of methods to prevent nutrition-related diseases
through strategies aimed at promoting population based dietary change, identification,
summarization and interpretation of a range of materials relevant to the specification
of priority nutrition problems in a given population; discussion of the constraints
involved in program implementation; presentation of a proposal for a nutrition intervention
orally and in summary written form.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EPID 5305: Epidemiology of Aging (3)
This course will prepare students to effectively study health characteristics of the
rapidly increasing population of older adults in the United States. Some of the topics
covered will include changes in national and international age and lifespan demographics;
theories of aging; the limits of the human lifespan and life-extension efforts; the
interrelation of aging, health, and the environment; measurement of survival, mortality,
and cause of death; measurement of physical functioning and activities of daily living;
age- and disease-related changes in cognitive functioning; depression in older adults;
injury (falls, driving accidents); the influence of age on disease and how to account
for the age effects in the study of disease; health, frailty, and “successful” aging.
Students will examine methods for conducting epidemiological studies in older populations
and the implications of an aging society on public health practice.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EPID 5308: Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology
Reproductive and perinatal epidemiology is a profoundly important aspect of public health. Both the reproductive and perinatal time periods set the pace not only for immediate birth outcomes, but also health over the life span. This reproductive and perinatal epidemiology course covers broad reproductive and perinatal health issues from thepre-conception, prenatal, delivery and post-natal periods and emphasizes health issues affecting both women and infants. Topics of discussion includedisparities between various population groups, male and female fertility, fetal growth, maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, study designs and causal inference.
Prerequisites: BIOS 5200, EPID 5200.
EPID 5311: The Epidemiology of Emerging Infectious Diseases (3)
This course explores the landscapes of emerging infectious diseases in several varied geographies and ecologies. We first explore the biologic, ecologic, physical, and social concepts of emerging and re-emerging infections. We then identify and apply methodology relevant to the surveillance and investigation of such infections. Several case studies of emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases will be used to develop techniques for applied infectious disease epidemiology specific to the unique context of these emergent infections. Some examples may include dengue fever, Lyme disease, West Nile virus, pandemic influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), hemorrhagic fevers, Henipavirus infections, and measles. All techniques are grounded in a landscape epidemiology approach to infectious disease, which recognizes spatial and ecologic parameters as critical to the etiologic understanding of these important diseases. The relationships between humans and the environment, humans and animals (both wild and domestic), and humans and humans, will be explored in both urban and rural contexts to identify critical epidemiologic features that can be exploited by pathogens to cause disease.
Prerequisites: EPID 5200, EPID 5202
15 credits
HCAD 5201: Introduction to Healthcare Administration (3)
This course introduces students to the delivery of healthcare across varied healthcare settings. Students will gain an understanding of the U.S. healthcare system, its history, and its evolution over time. There will also be a focus on integrating public health concepts into healthcare administration to illuminate how to improve health at a systems- and population-level. Students will engage in active learning using real-world case studies, scholarly articles, and group discussions.
Prerequisites: None
HCAD 5202: Healthcare Law and Ethics (3)
This course will explore the legal and ethical landscape in which health care managers operate. We will begin with a ‘birds-eye view’ of the health care system, and relevant laws, starting with such monumental legislation as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employer Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). As the semester progresses, we will ‘zoom in’ to examine the legal landscape for certain types of healthcare managerial staff, including fiduciary law that can affect the behavior of finance officials. As the dual title of the course implies, we will also be interested in the ethical norms and, indeed, conundrums, that can face healthcare managers.
Prerequisites: HPMG 5206
HCAD 5203: Healthcare Finance and Reimbursement (3)
In order to meet the demands of the ever-changing financial landscape, this course will focus on healthcare costs, budgeting, reimbursement systems, insurance issues, the multi-functionality of financial services, and trends in health care finance. You will acquire an understanding of how financial management works in healthcare organizations This course provides the foundational concepts and practical skills required to manage and solve- the day-to-day financial challenges that confront managers across healthcare settings.
Prerequisites: HPMG 5206
HCAD 5204: Healthcare Quality and Improvement (3)
This course presents the theoretical foundations for and approaches to quality improvement (QI) in health care and public health settings. In this course, we define quality improvement as the collective effort of everyone- healthcare administrators, clinicians, patients and their families, researchers, payers, and planners- to identify and implement the changes required to improve health outcomes, professional development, and systems performance. Accordingly, quality improvement is seen as a collaborative and intrinsic part of healthcare planning, implementation, and sustainment. QI is now widely recognized as critical to incorporate into organizational vision, mission, and operations to enhance process, prevent medical errors and improve performance and to achieve health equity. This course will provide students with the theoretic foundations and methodological tools necessary to foster collective inquiry and systems improvement.
Prerequisites: HPMG 5206
HPMG 5203: Healthcare Management Concepts (3)
Foundational concepts of management and organizational behavior will be explored in this course. The role of management in complex organizations and the ways in which organizations change will be discussed. Students will learn how to relate to supervisors and staff and how to encourage optimal working conditions.
Prerequisites: HPMG 5206
6 credits
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
HCAD 5207: Healthcare Technology and Information Systems (3)
This course introduces students to the purpose and general functions of health information systems to support a healthcare organization. The course will review the evolution of health information systems in the United States. Students will also gain skills in workflow design and assessment and integration of health information systems to support clinical decision making, quality assurance, and a learning health care system. The course will also be introduced to the principles and tools that guide techniques for collecting, storing, securing, retrieving, and reporting health care data.
Prerequisites: None
HCAD 5206: Strategic Planning and Marketing (3)
An examination of strategic innovations driving the future of health care. Focus is on identifying and preparing to meet the needs of changing communities. Understanding the factors and forces influencing an organization’s financial stability, dynamic sources of competitive advantage, and the value of fostering virtual organizational alliances and networking, and knowledge-based firms. Specific attention will be given to strategic planning and marketing to promote health equity and a social justice agenda. In addition, a focus will be on creating strategic marketing plans, how to use benchmarks and metrics to measure levels of success and developing action plans.
Prerequisite: None
HCAD 5211: Public Health Foundations (3)
This course is designed to offer you an overview of the concepts essential to a basic understanding of public health. Beginning with an exploration of the history and competing legacies of the discipline’s origins, we will proceed through the semester with a look at the key social, economic, and individual factors affecting human health (and, by extension, population health). We will also delve into the characteristic institutions that populate the constellation of health services relevant to primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Further, we will survey the numerous interconnections between peoples, societies, and even ecosystems, within the context of such conceptual tools as OneHealth. By the end of the course, you will have a clear understanding of the range of questions and issues treated by public health, and a good grounding in some of the dominant explanatory tools in a public health practitioner’s arsenal.
Prerequisites: HPMG 5206
HCAD 5209: Global Healthcare and Diversity (3)
This course will explore complex and difficult issues faced by health systems and stakeholders worldwide. In addition to distinguishing between the unique health system arrangements found in different countries, we will explore health care issues and concepts that span national border, such as the unique health needs faced by immigrants and, more specifically, refugees, the systemic burdens created by new and emerging diseases, and the financial pressures experienced by aging societies. Additionally, we will assess ways to ensure the international health care workforce reflects the diversity found in the respective societies in which they are situated, and that health systems the world over work toward health equity.
Prerequisites: None
HCAD 5210: Disabilities in the Workplace (3)
This course will focus on effectively working with patients and employees with disabilities. An emphasis will be on policy issues, support services, and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students will also focus on frameworks and strategies for health equity and the social determinants of health impacting the community. An emphasis will be on how diversity and sensitivity contribute to a healthy working environment.
Prerequisites: None
12 credits
Students enrolling in or after Summer 2022 must complete the following courses for Health Policy and Management:
12 credits
HPMG 5202: Healthcare Advocacy and Politics (3)
This course will review basic legal and legislative processes at both state and federal levels. Students will learn how changes are made in the health system and ways of abetting change.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5203: Health Management Concepts (3)
Basic concepts of management and organization behavior will be explored in this course. The role of management in complex organizations and the ways in which organizations change will be discussed. Students will learn how to relate to supervisors and staff and how to encourage optimal working conditions.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5204: Access, Cost and Quality of Care (3)
This course will look in detail at the U.S. Health care system in terms of its major components, their interactions, and how to best effect positive change that will improve health and health care services for the population.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5208: Health Services Research Design and Methods (3)
This course provides a foundation in health services research. Health services research is the study of the implementation, organization, quality, effectiveness, efficiency, and outcomes of healthcare services. Throughout this course, you will learn an array of research methods and techniques that are used to bring evidence to clinical and organizational practices, systems innovations, and public policy.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
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Students who enrolled prior to Summer 2022 must complete the following courses for the Health Policy and Management Concentration:
12 credits
HPMG 5202: Healthcare Advocacy and Politics (3)
This course will review basic legal and legislative processes at both state and federal levels. Students will learn how changes are made in the health system and ways of abetting change.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5203: Health Management Concepts (3)
Basic concepts of management and organization behavior will be explored in this course. The role of management in complex organizations and the ways in which organizations change will be discussed. Students will learn how to relate to supervisors and staff and how to encourage optimal working conditions.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5204: Access, Cost and Quality of Care (3)
This course will look in detail at the U.S. Health care system in terms of its major components, their interactions, and how to best effect positive change that will improve health and health care services for the population.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5207: Principles in Hospital Management (3)
This course helps prepare a student for potential leadership positions in hospitals and other healthcare settings. It explores in depth a range of practical topics including governance, legal and ethical issues, risk management, quality management, accreditation, licensing, marketing, financial management, regulatory compliance, strategic planning, departmental roles and the migration of services to ambulatory settings. Case studies, team exercises, and interviews with organizational leaders form the framework of the course.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
12 credits for those who enrolled prior to Fall 2019. 9 credits for all others.
Students can choose elective courses from the list below. Students may also opt to choose courses from other departments to satisfy the elective requirements.
HPMG 5306: Policy Studies in Urban and Immigrant Health (3)
This course will explore from a public health perspective the range of policies that affect specific vulnerable groups. This approach exemplifies a core aspect of Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health:
Public health should advocate and work for the empowerment of disenfranchised community members, aiming to ensure that the basic resources and conditions necessary for health are accessible to all.
Part of this hybrid course will take place asynchronously on-line. Each semester it will focus on three or four groups, which may vary over time. Examples may include injured veterans, undocumented immigrants, youth gangs, refugees, sex workers, or persons with chronic mental illness. A multidisciplinary faculty will explore with students the relevant policy issues and the potential public health responses. Students will complete a service-learning project in collaboration with members of one of the groups studied.
No prerequisite. Open to non-matriculated students with instructor's approval.
HPMG 5307: Global Issues in Maternal and Child Health Policy (3)
This course helps prepare the student for a public health career to improve maternal and child health globally or locally. Part of this hybrid course will take place asynchronously on-line. Case studies from around the world will be the basis for critical analysis of current policies and of the evidence base for successful interventions. Typical issues for study include maternal mortality, contraception, safe abortion, female genital cutting, child survival, stillbirths, refugee populations, birth outcomes among immigrants to the US, sex trafficking, and toxic environmental exposures to women and children. All students will participate in a service-learning project related to the course content.
Prerequisite: HPMG 5206.
HPMG 5308: Public Health Law and Bioethics (3)
This course explores the basic tenets of bioethics along with basic principles of
laws pertaining to public health. Practical applications of these foundational principles
will be explored and demonstrated using actual cases, real-life scenarios requiring
critical thinking and other assignments which call upon a student’s ability to balance
established rules and accepted practices with their personal opinions. Throughout
the course distinctions will be made between health law and public health law and
the relevance to various professional practices will be delineated. Contemporary challenges
in health care and public health delivery, especially in urban settings that address
immigrant issues, will be emphasized. The students will emerge from the course with
a better understanding of the legal milieu in which we must function. Students also
will be better prepared to enter public health-related practice with a basic understanding
of bioethical principles relevant to contemporary challenges in public health and
health care practice.
No prerequisite. Open to non-matriculated students with instructor's approval.
HPMG 5309: Policy Issues in Mental Illness (3)
This entirely on-line and asynchronous course over a semester prepares the student to participate as a public health professional in analysis and advocacy for effective public health policies on the major mental illnesses globally: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. The course emphasizes current scientific understanding of these disorders within a social-ecological framework. The class analyzes past and current federal and state laws on treatment, income support, and criminal justice involving the mentally ill in terms of effectiveness and social justice. A special focus of the class is policy implications for urban and immigrant populations. The class also compares U.S. practices with emerging global health models of best practices.
HPMG 5311: International Healthcare Systems (3)
The goal of this course is to compare and consider the different aspects of international health care systems The course will examine health care, financing, organization, governance, coordination, disparities, and practice.
At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to:
* Identify the main components and issues of each organization, financing, and delivery
of health services in the particular country
* Discuss the policy process for each system and compare it with selected others
* Identify key factors and their impact on the different health care systems
* Evaluate and compare the key aspects of each system
HPMG 5313: Healthcare Disparities and Disabilities in the United States (3)
The goal of this course is to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of the range, causes, and consequences of specific health disparities in the United States, specifically persons with disabilities. This knowledge is a foundation for working to minimize the inherent injustices these individual face. The course includes study of public health ethics, current economic and health data, case scenarios, and policy proposals. The course emphasizes empowerment of members of affected communities, for example, through collaboration in a campus-community conference developed by students and faculty of this course.
HPMG 5315: Legal Issues in Aging and Health (3)
This course focuses on the unique concerns of older adults in low-income, immigrant, and minority populations in the U.S. health care system. It focuses on the policy implications of eligibility requirements, covered services, and out-of-pocket costs in the Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, the key public payers of health care. Students will explore case studies of contemporary legal, policy, and regulatory challenges impacting the aging population. In addition, students will research and write a health policy analysis of a current issue affecting older adults.
All MPH students must complete a Applied Practice Experience and a Culminating Experience.
APEx:
PUBH 6500: Applied Practice Experience (1)
This course is an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom directly in a fieldwork experience. After completion of an online module on professionalism, the student will work at an approved external site, typically a local or state health agency or a local organization under the supervision of a public health professional. If a student is able to do a placement only in his or her regular place of employment, the assignment must extend beyond or be something other than his or her regular work duties and allow application of knowledge and skills learned in the classroom.
Prerequisite: All core courses.
Culminating Experience:
All MPH students must complete a Culminating Experience within their chosen concentration.
BIOS 6001: Culminating Experience in Biostatistics (2)
The Culminating Experience in Biostatistics allows the student to demonstrate the
ability to integrate knowledge and skills in a Final Project similar to some aspect
of practice as a public health professional. The faculty uses the Culminating Experience
to judge whether the student demonstrates proficiency in the competencies required
for public health practice.
Prerequisites: All CORE and BIOS Track Courses.
CHSC 6001: Culminating Experience in Community Health Sciences (2)
The Culminating Experience in Community Health Sciences allows the student to demonstrate
the ability to integrate knowledge and skills in a Final Project similar to some aspect
of practice as a public health professional. The faculty uses the Culminating Experience
to judge whether the student demonstrates proficiency in the competencies required
for public health practice.
Prerequisites: All CORE and CHSC Track Courses.
EOHS 6001: Culminating Experience in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (2)
The Culminating Experience in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences allows
the student to demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge and skills in a Final
Project similar to some aspect of practice as a public health professional. The faculty
uses the Culminating Experience to judge whether the student demonstrates proficiency
in the competencies required for public health practice.
Prerequisites: All CORE and EOHS Track Courses.
EPID 6001: Culminating Experience in Epidemiology (2)
The Culminating Experience in Epidemiology allows the student to demonstrate the ability
to integrate knowledge and skills in a Final Project similar to some aspect of practice
as a public health professional. The faculty uses the Culminating Experience to judge
whether the student demonstrates proficiency in the competencies required for public
health practice.
Prerequisites: All CORE and EPID Track Courses.
HPMG 6001: Culminating Experience in Health Policy and Management (2)
The Culminating Experience in Health Policy and Management allows the student to demonstrate
the ability to integrate knowledge and skills in a Final Project similar to some aspect
of practice as a public health professional. The faculty uses the Culminating Experience
to judge whether the student demonstrates proficiency in the competencies required
for public health practice.
Prerequisites: All CORE and EPID Track Courses.