Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SPH PH 856: Law & Ethics for Public Health Leaders
  Law, ethics, and human rights often either determine or heavily influence both the range of choices open to public health policymakers and the means available to achieve public health goals. Using case studies, including rationing flu vaccine, responding to catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina, protecting and promoting women?s health and reproductive rights in developing countries, and regulating research to prevent exploitation of subjects in resource poor countries, students will recognize and integrate legal, ethical, and human rights concepts into public health policy development.
• SPH PH 857: Health Economics and Financial Management for Public Health
  This course is an applied, practitioner-oriented survey of major topics in health economics and the financial management of public health organizations and programs. It will provide students with a brief introduction to the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of health economics and financial management, but the focus will be on practical application to health care market issues, resource allocation policy problems, financial and managerial accounting, performance measurement, and economic evaluation of public health programs.
• SPH PH 858: Cases in Public Health Management
  This course will focus on developing tools for and perspectives on decision- making in senior public health positions through analysis of a series of case studies. Students will adopt different roles in preparing the cases, sometimes singly and sometimes in groups. The cases will address challenges faced by senior leadership including human resources, facilities design, quality control, organizational change and integration of policy and program planning. Students will be assessed on: (1) memos prepared for their roles in individual classes; (2) the quality of their participation in class discussions of the cases; and (3) their response to a case that will be distributed as a final examination.
• SPH PH 866: Public Health Leadership Seminar
  The public health leadership seminar will be the main integrative pedagogic experience of the DrPH doctoral program. It will provide a place for combining and applying knowledge from previous courses and field experience to address substantial complex multidimensional public health programs. It will also address crosscutting issues that may not be covered in any single DrPH core or departmental course. This integrative leadership doctoral seminar will model/demonstrate the multidimensional approaches and cross-cutting leadership needed to address a complex public health practice issue, including students' dissertation projects. The seminar will also provide an opportunity to meet/learn from/and interact with senior Public Health officials/practitioners.
• SPH PH 945: Advanced Field Experience
  Students will engage in extensive fieldwork to gain practical public health experience and synthesize the skills and knowledge gained throughout the degree program. Students will work with their faculty advisor to determine the best field experience for their intended career trajectory and the faculty advisor will work with the site supervisor to evaluate the student's mastery of chosen public health competencies.
• SPH PH 950: Public Health Nutrition Culminating Research Experience
  The culminating research experience in the MS Public Health Nutrition program provides the opportunity to integrate and apply classroom learning towards the development of a research-focused product. All students must complete an integrative paper that combines their research interests and program training. Examples include but are not limited to: narrative reviews, systematic reviews, critical appraisal of existing policies or programs, and research concept proposals. Students will be encouraged to format their papers for submission to academic journals and conferences. Students must meet with their advisors to plan their integrative papers, submit a signed approval form, and complete the drafts and final product according to the established deadlines.
• SPH PH 970: Public Health Practicum
  This course allows students the opportunity to integrate and apply classroom learning in a public health work environment through an approved, planned and supervised practicum. For students matriculating in Fall 2009 and after, course components include: 1. placement in an agency or organization with a scope of work which develops and applies learned public health skills. 2. minimum of 112 practicum work hours 3.approved learning contract 4.faculty and agency oversight 5.midpoint review 6.written abstract 7. poster presentation and integration seminar 8.evaluations 9. attendance of 2 skill-based professional development seminars. For students matriculating prior to Fall 2009, see the Practice Office for requirements. Practicum course is graded pass/fail.
• SPH PH 971: Public Health Practicum
  This course presents an opportunity for students to use his/her second year SSW field placement to fulfill the MPH practicum requirement. Course components include one, 2-hour seminar and an individualized learning experience (choice of seminars or reflective essay, focusing on social work and/or public health practices). Students must also attend two skill-based professional development seminars. Practicum is graded Pass/fail.
• SPH PH 975: Public Health Practicum
  This course allows students the opportunity to integrate and apply classroom learning in a public health work environment through an approved, planned and supervised practicum. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits. For students matriculating in Fall 2009 and after, course components include: 1. placement in an agency or organization with a scope of work which develops and applies learned public health skills. 2. minimum of 112 practicum work hours 3.approved learning contract 4.faculty and agency oversight 5.midpoint review 6.written abstract 7. poster presentation and integration seminar 8.evaluations 9. attendance of 2 skill-based professional development seminars. For students matriculating prior to Fall 2009 who do a 2 or 4 credit practicum, see the Practice Office for requirements. Students matriculating prior to Fall 2009 who select a 1 or 3 credit practicum in Fall 2009 or thereafter must follow the new requirements. Practicum course is graded pass/fail.
• SPH PH 976: MPH Health Practicum
  All MPH students must complete a practicum of at least 240 hours by registering for PH 976 or one of the courses listed below. Students who complete a course with a practice-based component will earn 30 hours toward the practicum requirement. Courses with approved practice-based components include GH 743, GH 744, PM 832, PM 835, and SB 806. Others may be added via petition to the Practicum Director. The Career Services office assists students in finding an appropriate practicum site. Students may also find practicums through professional and personal contacts, including SPH faculty. The practicum requirements may include, but may not be limited to the following: Placement approval, registration for SPH PH 976 (0 credit), a learning contract, and a final assessment.
• SPH PH 978: Public Health Practicum
  The purpose of this course is to provide dual MBA-MPH students a structured and mentored opportunity to explore the public health context and implications of their summer internship experiences. The course addresses at least the following MPH competencies. Use systematic approaches to develop, implement, and evaluate public health policies, programs, or services.Communicate effectively to multiple audiences in written and presentation form.
• SPH PH 984: Public Health Practicum
  This 4-credit directed practicum option and is available for the student who will produce an enhanced academic product suitable for publication or for presentation upon completion of the practicum. In order to choose this option, the student must also identify a BUSPH faculty member with whom to work. Expectations and guidelines for the academic product must be discussed with the faculty preceptor at the onset of the practicum. The student must demonstrate the capacity to complete such a project. The faculty member should commit to such a project only if he/she is willing to co-author with the student on the practicum product. The faculty member must also commit to meeting with the student several times during the course of the practicum semester. For students matriculating in Fall 2009 and after, course components include: 1. placement in an agency or organization with a scope of work which develops and applies learned public health skills. 2. minimum of 112 practicum work hours 3. approved learning contract 4. faculty and agency oversight 5. midpoint review 6. written abstract 7. poster presentation and integration seminar 8.evaluations 9. attendance of 2 skill-based professional development seminars.10. submission of enhanced academic product. For students matriculating prior to Fall 2009, see the Practice Office for requirements. Practicum is graded.
• SPH PH 986: DrPH Practicum
  Required practicum for DrPH students. Students must submit paperwork to Sebastian Bach in the DrPH Program Office for approval prior to registration. Course is pass/fail.
• SPH PH 990: Continuing Study in DrPH Program
  Must be DrPH student working on dissertation. Doctoral students who have completed all academic course requirements, must register for Continuing Study Fee every Fall and Spring semester until they have successfully defended their dissertation and graduated from SPH. Students are certified full time and charged for student health insurance, the equivalent of two credits of tuition, and all relevant fees.
• SPH PH 995: Summer Research for Curricular Practical Training
  This course provides an appropriate registration status for international MS or doctoral students in any SPH department who need Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization in order to conduct off-campus research that is required in their curriculum. CPT authorization is required regardless of whether the research is part of a paid or unpaid position.
• SPH PM 714: Healthcare Management as a Profession
  This seminar will provide students with an understanding of the scope of current healthcare management practices and challenges, an introduction to case-based analysis, and the professionalism skills necessary to engage with healthcare managers in practice-based projects and other applied educational activities.
• SPH PM 721: Organizational Behavior in Health Care
  This course provides a framework for understanding, diagnosing, and taking actions to improve individual, group, and system-wide effectiveness in health services organizations. Concepts from the organizational behavior literature are applied to issues in health services organizations. Some of the topics this course addresses and integrates are leadership, motivation, culture, team dynamics, organization design and coordination, and organizational change. Case studies, brief lectures, student presentations, and experiential exercises are used throughout this course, and working in teams is a large component of the course.
• SPH PM 733: Health Program Management
  This course associates the role of a leader and manager in provider and payer health care settings with real-world business knowledge and skills. It aims to better equip present and future health care managers in order to lead, plan effectively, anticipate challenges and marshal resources. Students will gain an appreciation for the complexities of management and leadership in challenging health care situations. Concepts will be discussed briefly with the greater emphasis on the development of the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in today's changing health care environment. This course will make significant use of case study and requires class participation. Topics include differentiating leadership from management, patient and process flow, the importance of organizational culture, and managing change. In addition, one session is devoted entirely as a workshop on provider-payer health care negotiations.
• SPH PM 734: Principles and Practices in Non-Profit Health Care Accounting
  This course combines didactic and case study approaches to the fundamentals of nonprofit accounting, with emphasis on health care institutions. Topics covered include accrual accounting, fund accounting, budgeting, and cost concepts. Analysis and interpretation of financial statements for decision making by the nonfinancial manager are stressed.
• SPH PM 735: Health Care Finance: How Policy-makers and Managers Can Use Money as a Tool to Improve Health Care
  This course describes how money works in health care. It examines how policy-makers and managers view and use money. It presents a variety of useful analytic techniques, and then explores alternative methods of employing money to shape more accessible, affordable, and effective health care. We examine current financial crises and managerial problems in health care along with alternative ways to remedy them. No financial or accounting background is assumed.

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