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.
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SPH PM 864: Contemporary Structures of Health Services
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the objects of inquiry in health services research: the structures of health services that are the sites of organized processes that produce health outcomes. These structures include financial arrangements, e.g., insurance, ambulatory services, hospitals, systems for providing community-based care, and the socially organized relationships between organized services and their clienteles. These structures are examined in light of their constant evolution in changing social, economic, and political contexts. -
SPH PM 866: Theory in the Analysis of Health Services
This course is an introduction to theory to inform analyses of the structures, processes, and outcomes of health services. Theoretical approaches, drawn from the social sciences, are reviewed in elucidating the evolving structures of health services, the providers' practices within organizations, and the relationships between providers and consumers of health care. -
SPH PM 874: Causal Inference for Health Services Research
Public health research often entails asking and trying to answer questions about the causes of health outcomes. Answers to such causal questions require us to combine data (e.g., from randomized trials or observational studies) with assumptions to infer causal effects. This course will teach students to think critically and rigorously about the implications of study design and analysis for addressing public health questions. Students will develop a rigorous understanding of the statistical foundations of causal inference approaches, including classical regression models and extensions. They will also be asked to draw upon their own research experiences and prior training to evaluate public health studies. -
SPH PM 931: Directed Studies in HPM
Directed Studies provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for a 1, 2, 3, or 4-credit directed study by submitting a paper registration form and a signed directed study proposal form. Directed studies with a non-SPH faculty member or an adjunct faculty member must be approved by and assigned to the department chair. Students are placed in a section by the SPH Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education. -
SPH PM 932: Directed Research in HPM
Directed Research provide the opportunity for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a full-time SPH faculty member. Students may register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 credits. To register, students must submit a paper registration form and signed directed research proposal form. Students are placed in a section by the SPH Registrar's Office according to the faculty member with whom they are working. Students may take no more than eight credits of directed study, directed research, or practica courses during their MPH education. -
SPH PM 940: Health Policy and Management Culminating Experience
Health Policy and Management concentrators must complete a culminating experience in their final semester of registration. To document their work on the culminating experience, concentrators must register for SPH PM940, a zero-credit, pass/fail course. For more details on the requirements for the culminating experience, please see the Concentrator Guide for the concentration. -
SPH PM 950: Applied Studies in Health Services Research
This is an upper-level applied seminar, in which a small group of students is mentored through the completion of one of the most significant steps in the research process: the development of a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Students will analyze existing literature, previously collected data, or available datasets in order to explore a health services research topic and conduct all steps in developing a final manuscript for submission. Through a combination of workshops, written assignments, and oral presentations, students will develop research questions and/or hypotheses, conduct literature reviews, perform data analyses, and draft and edit each section of their manuscripts. -
SPH PM 951: Applied Studies in Health Services Research 2
This is a continuation of SPH PM950. -
SPH PM 980: Continuing Study in Health Services Research
M.S. and Ph.D. students in Health Services Research who have completed all academic course requirements, must register for Continuing Study every Fall and Spring semester until they have successfully defended their thesis or dissertation and graduated from SPH. Students are charged the equivalent of two credits of tuition, student health insurance, and all relevant fees, and are certified as full time students. -
SPH SB 710: Nutrition and Public Health
This course examines the principles of public health nutrition and explores the nutritional status of individuals throughout their life cycle. Faculty focus on nutrition assessment, the development of nutrition policy, the role of diet in obesity and chronic diseases of an affluent society, nutrition program planning, and national and local nutrition surveillance. In addition, the course reviews the components of administering nutrition services on a local, national, and international level. The impact of overall socioeconomic development on nutrition and health status, infectious disease, and public health policy is considered. No previous coursework in nutrition is required; a basic introduction to nutrition is provided. -
SPH SB 730: Stress as a Public Health Problem
Research on the impact of excessive psychological stress indicates that it plays a significant role in physical and psychological health, in rising incidence of substance use and violence in communities, in increased absenteeism and decreased productivity in the work place, and increased medical costs. This course examines the impact of psychological, biological, environmental and social stressors on health, illness, health-risking behavior and its economic and public health consequences. Education and intervention strategies and programs involving community awareness and participation are evaluated. Through literature review, lecture and discussion, students examine the field and explore its application to health care and public health. -
SPH SB 732: Nutrition, Aging, and the Elder Population
This course explores the nutritional needs of elderly adults and describes the various physiological, psychological, and social changes that occur with aging that affect dietary and nutritional status. The techniques of nutritional assessment of elders in both the community and clinical settings are discussed. The nutritional needs of older adults are linked with recommendations designed to maintain optimal health into older age. Students learn about the major federal and state nutrition programs that target elders and are able to identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in services. Preparation of a brief policy memo on a topic of current interest and/or controversy related to elderly nutrition is required. -
SPH SB 733: Mass Communication and Public Health
This course explores the use of mass communication as a tool for health promotion, both domestically and internationally. The course examines the role of the mass media in shaping a social and cultural environment that affects the public health , and then reviews a range of mass media strategies available to the practitioner--public communication campaigns, social marketing, public relations, and media advocacy. Students discuss the strengths and limitations of each approach and gain experience in applying these strategies to specific public health problems. Students work in groups on a final project in which they develop and present a proposal for a plan for a health promotion initiative that uses mass media. -
SPH SB 740: Applied Research Methods for Social Determinants of Health
This course is an investigation into the conceptualization, operationalization, measurement, assessment, analysis, and evaluation of socially and culturally-based determinants of public health problems for the purpose of conducting public health research and developing public health interventions. More specifically, students will critically evaluate existing research evidence, develop an understanding of the constructs, variables, hypotheses and conceptual models for various social factors that influence health; review and evaluate the measurements of selected social factors; interpret the impact of these factors on public health outcomes, and offer solutions in the form of interventions that develop protective strategies that would minimize negative effects of social factors. Students will be able to apply this understanding of social behavioral and cultural factors to both domestic and international settings by the use of specific case studies. -
SPH SB 750: Preventing Intimate Partner Violence
This course provides an introduction to the topic of intimate partner violence with a focus on how public health professionals can contribute to its prevention. Lectures will cover teen dating violence, child witnesses to violence, intervention with offenders, the domestic violence shelter movement, restorative justice, the overlap between child abuse and partner violence, and other pertinent topics. An intersectional analysis framework that centers the experiences of marginalized populations will be employed. Students will receive information about current laws and controversies related to partner violence prevention. This course is exclusively focused on partner violence in the U.S. Students who complete the course will be prepared to work in a professional capacity as a research assistant, health department employee, or community-based organization staff person in the area of partner violence prevention and advocacy. Teaching methods include lectures, small group discussion, case analyses, the use of multimedia, and interviews with providers. National and state experts in the field of partner violence prevention present guest lectures. NOTE: Students with an interest in this course should consider their own capacity to focus intensively on the difficult subtopics that will be covered in detail, including intimate partner sexual abuse and child exposure to violence. -
SPH SB 751: Sexual Violence: Public Health Perspectives in Intervention and Prevention
This course provides an introduction to the topic of sexual violence with a focus on how public health professionals can contribute to its prevention. Students will receive a guest lecture from a survivor of sexual violence, learn about approaches to sex offender treatment, and receive information about current laws and controversies related to sexual violence prevention. This course is primarily focused on sexual violence in the U.S. Students who complete the course will be prepared to work in the field of sexual violence prevention as a research assistant, health department employee, college sexual assault prevention specialist, or community-based organization staff person. Teaching methods include lectures, small group discussion, case analyses, the use of multimedia, and interviews with providers. National and state experts in the field of sexual violence prevention present guest lectures. NOTE: Students with an interest in this course need to consider their own capacity to focus intensively on the difficult subtopics that will be covered in detail, including child sexual abuse. -
SPH SB 752: Sexually Explicit Media and Public Health Methods
This course will review the history of sexually explicit materials and how these materials impact individuals and societies. Particular attention will be paid to policies aimed at regulating pornography production, dissemination and consumption. As public health professionals, we must understand clearly "what counts" as pornography, who makes, distributes and consumes it, for what reasons, and which health outcomes (either positive or negative) may be associated with its production or use. This class is not rooted in either a "pro-pornography" or "anti-pornography" perspective. The object of study has been analyzed by feminists and non-feminists, academics and sex workers, politicians and psychologists. Some argue that pornography is an opportunity for subversion, resistance, self-discovery, self-expression and the exercise of freedom. Others argue that it degrades interpersonal relationships, distorts information about sexuality and sexual health, contributes to serious international problems such as human trafficking, and normalizes oppression. Each viewpoint has adherents and detractors; our job as scholars is to sift through each argument and attempt to arrive at the most logical position for public health professionals to adopt. Important Information: Although this is a course about pornography, students will not be required to view any sexually explicit materials in order to participate in the course. -
SPH SB 753: Preventing Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence: A Public Health Perspective
This course provides an introduction to the topics of intimate partner and sexual violence in the U.S. with a focus on how public health professionals can contribute to prevention. Students will receive a guest lecture from a survivor of sexual and/or partner violence, learn about approaches to sex and domestic violence offender treatment, and receive information about current laws and controversies related to sexual and partner violence prevention. An intersectionality framework will be used. Lectures on emerging topics including pornography and aggression, faith-based approaches to partner violence prevention, restorative justice, sexual assault in the military, and others will be presented. Students who complete the course will be prepared to work in the field of violence prevention as, for example, a research assistant, health department employee, college sexual assault prevention specialist, or community-based organization staff person. Teaching methods include lectures, small group discussion, case analyses, the use of multimedia, and interviews with providers. National and state experts in the field of sexual violence prevention present guest lectures. NOTE: Students with an interest in this course should consider their own capacity to focus intensively on the difficult subtopics that will be covered in detail. This course can be triggering for survivors of violence. -
SPH SB 760: Health of LGBT Populations
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals live in every county of the United States and are recognized as underserved minority populations. In this 4-credit course students will examine the health of minority populations who are marginalized due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. You will identify and practice techniques for measuring LGBT populations as well as ways to better recognize the assets that are found within these communities. Today, data on these populations are increasingly collected in the context of public health surveillance and also some health care facilities have begun recording these data in medical records, yet access to these data is still mostly restricted. While recognizing the limitations of available data sources, you will make use of publicly available data to characterize quantitatively and qualitatively the diversity of LGBT populations. Course readings, class lectures, and exercises will be used throughout the course to analyze and discuss the micro and macro determinants of LGBT populations' health. You will build skills by utilizing secondary data, performing a content analysis, conducting a key informant interview, and by producing a final paper, which analyzes the literature on a LGBT health topic of their choice for the purpose of proposing next steps in research or program development for the LGBT community. -
SPH SB 780: Mental Health and Public Health: A Social and Behavioral Sciences Perspective
This course provides an investigation into mental health and mental illness from a public health perspective. It covers the concepts of mental illness versus mental health, describes the burden of mental illness, and discusses the etiology, diagnosis, course and treatment of prominent mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia, depression,post traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and addiction). In addition, specific examples and cases will address international mental health, as well as domestic racial and ethnic disparities. Taking a social and behavioral sciences perspective, the social consequences of mental illness, such as stigma, isolation, and barriers to care will be explored and their impact on access to care, rehabilitation and recovery considered. Students will also be introduced to the complex interplay of multiple risk, protective and preventive factors with a focus on social factors. The effectiveness of the current system of services and the role of public health and public health professionals will be discussed. Student assignments and projects will develop skills that apply knowledge to understand issues of mental illness and encourage behaviors that promote mental health within communities.