Course Schedules
Download the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health’s 2023 – 2024 academic year course schedule.
Last Updated: 10.9.2023
Course Schedules by Term
Summer 2023 Planning Schedule
Last updated 5.2.2023
Download Summer Planning Schedule
Fall 2023 Planning Schedule
Last updated 5.18.2023
Download Fall Planning Schedule
Winter 2024 Planning Schedule
Last updated 10.20.2023
Download Winter Planning Schedule
Spring 2024 Planning Schedule
Last updated 10.9.2023
Download Spring Planning Schedule
View previous academic years course schedules per term for School of Public Health students – Archived GR Schedules.
SPH Course Descriptions
Descriptions of all School of Public Health courses can also be found in the course catalog of the most recent edition of the PSU Bulletin.
Qualitative Methods for Health Professionals – UNI 504
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
UNI 504 | 2 |
Course Information
This course is designed for students from across health and science disciplines to obtain hands-on experience in qualitative research methods. The 2 credit course is designed to promote collaboration across disciplines through an introduction to qualitative approaches, such as interviews, focus groups, and observational procedures, which can be applied across research disciplines as a sole methodology or as part of a mixed-methods design. Students will work in interprofessional teams to plan for and engage in basic data collection and analysis, with a focus on study design, sampling and selection, budgeting for qualitative tasks, data management, coding, content analysis and reporting. Attention will be paid to the specific issues of ethics and confidentiality in qualitative research, as well as the unique challenges of rigor and reproducibility as they apply to qualitative methods. At the end of the course, students will be able to select an appropriate qualitative method, implement it with their target population, analyze the results, and present it clearly.
Qualitative Research Design – PHE 520
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PHE 520 | 3 |
Course Information
Presents the philosophical and theoretical bases supporting the development of alternate research paradigms in human inquiry. Essential characteristics of three major alternate paradigms (interpretivist, constructivist, and critical theory) are introduced. Validity, reliability, and related concepts are examined from the perspective of each paradigm. Alternate strategies for inquiry are presented and ethical considerations related to qualitative forms of inquiry are addressed.
Quantitative Research Design & Analysis – PHE 521
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PHE 521 | 3 |
Course Information
Introduction to quantitative research design and statistical analysis. Emphasis on development of a research proposal. Topics include descriptive research, experimental and quasi-experimental research, univariate statistical procedures, and methods for planning and writing a research report.
Prerequisites
"Epidemiology I" and "Introduction to Biostatistics"
Research Design in Health Services – HSMP 589 / 689
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
HSMP 589 / 689 | 3 |
Course Information
Prerequisites
Introduction to Biostatistics
Research in Health & Fitness – PHE 314
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PHE 314 | 4 |
Course Information
Examines basic aspects of scientific research related to health and fitness. Topics include: reading and critically evaluating scientific research reports; reviewing interpretation of basic statistical analyses; investigating the fundamental skills for developing a research plan, including problem selection, literature review, instrumentation, ethics and sampling.
Level: Undergraduate
Research Methods and Evidence-Based Practice – CPH 511 / 611
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
CPH 511 / 611 | 3 |
Course Information
The purpose of this course is to enhance students’ abilities to comprehend critique and apply research methodology and research-based evidence. Students will locate and critically evaluate evidence generated from quantitative, qualitative, and epidemiological methods, with particular attention paid to statistical significance and clinically meaningful outcomes. Students will transform their own clinical inquisitiveness into practice-based researchable questions and focus on the application of research methods in clinical settings. Students will also gain experience in using publicly available databases and displaying data in a variety of formats.
Seminar: Special Topics – EPI 507
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
EPI 507 | 1 |
Course Information
This seminar is intended for medical, nursing and public health students. It will focus on various topics in the history of medicine and public health during the 19th and 20th centuries in both the United States, Europe and the developing world. The course will introduce the student to the changing face of medical ideas and concerns and will expose the student to some of the major areas of research in the academic discipline of the history of medicine. Rather than taking medicine and medical knowledge as given scientific “truth”, most reading selections will problematize that notion by looking at the social history, politics and construction of disease as well as that of medical agendas. As such, the course will offer literacy, sociological, politics and anthropological approaches to the study of medicine and public health. Through this course, students will not only learn about the major themes about which historians of medicine have written but emphasis will be placed upon learning how to read historical scholarship critically.
- Winter: “Seminar in Medicine and Public Health”
- Spring: “Seminar: Intro to Community Health”
Pre-requisite – MD-MPH students
Social Context of Public Health Policy – CPH 531 / 631
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
CPH 531/631 | 3 |
Course Information
Public health ethics is a weighing and balancing of the needs of the community with the rights of the individual. Therefore, this course will involve both intrareflective and inter-reflective examination of the social and structural inequalities and injustices within our society, locally and globally, and how they impact policy and ethical practice in public health. The relationship of human rights to health and how human rights cut across law, ethics, policies and advocacy in public health is examined. The role of a human rights perspective will also be addressed as an important part of international health practice.
Doctoral students register for the CPH 631 section.
Social Epidemiology Methods & Theory – PHE 534/634
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PHE 524 | 3 |
Course Information
Prerequisites
"Epidemiology I" and "Introduction to Biostatistics"
Social Policy and Public Health – HSMP 584 / 684
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
HSMP 584 / 684 | 3 |
Research
Examines how social policies influence health, with particular attention to health equity and disparities. Students will develop skills necessary to assess the empirical evidence for, and health implications of social policies in the areas of education, agriculture/nutrition, social welfare/income transfer, employment/labor, housing/built environment, transportation, civil rights, and other policy domains.
Statistical Analysis of Time-to-Event Data – BSTA 514
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 514 | 3 |
Course Information
This course introduces students to analysis of survival (i.e. time-to-event) data, covering methods for estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression methods for censored data with covariates. Methods widely used in the health sciences are covered, including Kaplan-Meier (empirical) estimate of the survival function and its associated statistical tests. The Cox proportional hazards regression model is presented in detail, along with some extensions of this model. As time allows, other topics will be introduced including parametric survival models, frailty models and/or models incorporating competing risks. Power and sample size computations for time-to-event data will also be introduced. Most assignments will be completed using statistical computing software. Contextualizing results in the context of health sciences problems and research questions is stressed throughout the course.
Prerequisites:
A standard pre-calculus course in probability & statistics (e.g. BSTA 511)
A course in applied linear regression models (e.g. BSTA 512)
Calculus is preferred
Statistical Inference I – BSTA 551
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 551 | 3 |
Course Information
Statistical Inference I is the first course of a two term course (BSTA 551 & 552) covering the foundations of statistical inference. It is targeted to graduate students majoring in biostatistics and other disciplines requiring an understanding of statistical theory. The course starts with a review of the probability theory that is the basis for that inference. We will then focus on principles of data reduction and estimation (frequentist and Bayesian methods). We will also introduce hypothesis testing, time permitting.
Prerequisites:
- BSTA 550 Introduction to Probability
- Differential and integral calculus
Statistical Inference II – BSTA 552
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 552 | 3 |
Course Information
The objectives of the two term sequence are to (1) provide students with fundamental principles for conducting statistical inference both via estimation and hypothesis testing and (2) develop the mathematical skills for applying these principles in new situations. In the first term we focus on principles of data reduction and estimation, but will also introduce hypothesis testing if time permits. In the second term we focus on hypothesis testing, interval estimation, and asymptotic results.
Prerequisites:
- BSTA 551 Statistical Inference I
- BSTA 550 Introduction to Probability
- Differential and integral calculus
Statistical Learning & Big Data – BSTA 522
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 522 | 3 |
Course Information
This course is designed to introduce statistical methods for machine learning and new emerging challenges in big data analysis. In recent years, statistical machine learning has played a crucial role in informatics and data science. Ever increasing data size creates new challenges for traditional statistical learning and this is an active research area. This course will cover traditional statistical learning methods as well as newer methods for such challenges.
Prerequisites:
- BSTA 511/611 Estimation and Hypothesis Testing for Applied Biostatistics
- BSTA 512/612 Linear Models
Statistical Methods for Next Generation Sequencing Data – BSTA 524
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 524 | 3 |
Course Information
This course is designed to introduce the statistical theory and methods for next generation sequencing data (NGS). In recent years, NGS has been the choice of platform for genomic studies. Due to the high dimensionality of NGS, it provides unique challenges in statistical analysis and requires different statistical methods. Although NGS data are the main focus, the theory and methods are applicable to other high dimensional data such as microarray and proteomics. This course will cover statistical theory and methods specialized for NGS and other high dimensional data. It is strongly recommended that students bring their own laptop computers to classes given.
Prerequisites
BSTA 512 / 612, "Linear Models"
Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials – BSTA 517
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
BSTA 517 | 3 |
Course Information
This is an online course designed for students and researchers who are interested in learning statistical methods in the design and analysis of clinical trials. Students are expected to have certain statistical background in order to gain deep understanding to the topics covered in this course. Topics to be discussed in the course include introduction to clinical trials, fundamentals of Bayesian statistics, sample size computation for trials with dichotomous, continuous and time-to-event outcomes, methods of randomization, design challenges for oncology clinical trials, Bayesian methods in clinical trials, adaptive clinical trial design and designs for predictive biomarkers.
Prerequisites
BSTA 511 / 611, "Estimation & Hypothesis Testing for Applied Biostatistics"
Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations – HSMP 576
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
HSMP 576 | 3 |
Course Information
This course provides prospective and current health care managers with the tools necessary to successfully manage their departments/organizations in a strategic manner. Course content will build upon the basic methods of strategic planning and management, with special attention paid addressing and managing the problems and challenges specific to the health care industry.
Prerequisites
HSMP 541, "Organizational Behavior in Public Health Service Organizations"; HSMP 574, "Health Systems Organization"; and co-requisite HSMP 587, "Financial Management of Health Services."
Stress Management – PHE 275
| Course Code | Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
PHE 275 | 4 |
Course Information
An overview of the physiology of stress, stress triggers, assessment of stress, and stress management techniques and strategies.
Level: Undergraduate
Interprofessional Education Course Schedule
Interprofessional education occurs when students from two or more professions learn about, from, and with each other to enhance collaboration and improve health outcomes. At least 1 credit of Interprofessional Education is required by all MPH degree programs.
Most courses with OHSU subject code IPE (Inter-Professional Education) or UNI (University Curriculum) satisfy the Interprofessional Education requirement. Other courses may also serve; consult your advisor.
For a list of IPE and UNI courses, descriptions, and their intended schedule download the spreadsheet. This list is subject to change, contact the course instructor if you would like to enroll.
Interprofessional Education
Social Determinants of Health – CPH 521 / 621
CPH 521 / 621
3
Course Information
How do socioeconomic factors “get under our skin”? Why and how socioeconomic inequalities translate into biological outcomes thus shaping health inequalities? What are the drivers of population health and what can we do about it? Such questions are analyzed and debated in this online course.
The overarching aim of this course is to comprehend how socioeconomic and cultural factors shape the health of populations. This course is based on individual and collective discussions of current events guided by landmark scientific articles in public health and the Social Epidemiology textbook. The goal of these discussions is to acquire elements to analyze and interpret complex issues based on theories, methods and evidence regarding the powerful influence of social and economic factors on health.
Doctoral students register for the CPH 621 section.