Graduate Course Directory and Schedules

This course examines Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) as a research paradigm to understand and address health disparities at the community level. Review of operating principles includes the central place that communities are accorded as units of identity and as co-equals in research, a process that is perceived by community constituents as not dominated by elitists, an emphasis on long-term commitment by all partners, emphasis on co-learning so that the process flows back and forth, use of exercises that stimulate collective visioning among all partners, incorporation of social ecology approaches as departures for research and practice; use of innovative problem solving approaches; use of multiple methods of data collection. Topics include community theory, development strategies, promising interventions, group development techniques, community diagnosis and capacity assessments.

Doctoral students register in the CPH 636 section.

The purpose of this course is to analyze current and controversial issues in public health. The course provides an opportunity to discuss, analyze, make recommendations for and examine policy outcomes of issues, practices and current and historically controversial public health events.

This course introduces the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of older persons and chronic disease. The course will examine concepts and topics including trends in aging and the health of aging populations; health transition, and explanations and consequences of mortality decline; determinants of health and survival; distinctions between normal aging, disease and disability; health promotion and primary, secondary and tertiary prevention as applied to older persons, and the epidemiology of selected diseases, syndromes and conditions common to older age and chronic illness.

Doctoral students register for the CPH 626 section.

Public health practitioners have to track data on populations to plot disease trends and associated patterns of social and biological determinants of health disparities. This course will cover concepts of basic mapping using Geographic information System (GIS) software. Types and sources of data will be reviewed, along with their uses. Students will gain familiarity with spatial data and its usefulness in making sense of demographic and socioeconomic trends. In selected case studies students will examine the impact on population health of factors in the local environment such as the location of social and health services, urban density, and known contaminants.

Doctoral students register in the CPH 610 section.

Grade mode: Pass / No Pass.

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to leadership and management, focusing on effective strategies for creating a productive work environment through techniques such as conflict resolution, building collaborative teams and leading change and improvement. Issues of measuring, managing and improving the quality of health care will also be addressed. Current national efforts in performance measures in public health (the quadruple aim) are discussed. Case studies taken from public health departments and other settings will be used to master problem solving skills, engage in quality improvement processes, and present findings to an audience using audiovisual technology.

Doctoral students register for the CPH 628 section.

Using case study methodology, this course focuses on the acquisition of technical skills in design, data collection and analysis for the purpose of evaluating public health programs. Program justification and evaluation for policy-making purposes will be emphasized. In addition, alternative forms of evaluation will be examined including rapid assessment, participatory evaluation and historical, social networking and other techniques. Students will have the opportunity to examine public health data sets and to design an evaluation focused on a disparate population as well as develop policy based on critical analysis of several types of evaluations.

Doctoral students register in the CPH 638 section.