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 GH 756: Analytical Methods for Pharmaceutical Systems Assessment
  This course aims to develop skills essential to assessing and evaluating pharmaceutical policy and the performance of pharmaceutical programs. Students will learn to develop a pharmaceutical country profile, analyze medicine prices and availability, apply technical guidelines, and use other assessment tools and methods in the pharmaceutical sector. Students will also develop skills to undertake a sampling exercise, use qualitative methods, and review and write technical reports. Students will use instruments which are already developed with a focus on implementation issues, analysis of data collected and awareness of strength and limitation of each method applied. The course will introduce students to the many resources which exist to help understand pharmaceutical sectors, and prepare them to work in a national or sub national pharmaceutical system.
• SPH GH 757: Fighting Corruption Through Accountability & Transparency
  Corruption and lack of accountability in government are concerns in all countries, but they are especially critical problems in developing and transitioning countries where public resources are already scarce and corruption can cripple growth and development. In international health work, most public health practitioners will encounter corruption at some point and will need to make ethical and management decisions about how to work within corrupt systems and how to prevent corruption from occurring. This course is designed to introduce participants to the problem of corruption and provide them with skills for assessing vulnerabilities to corruption in the health sector. Topics covered include corruption risks in drug procurement and supply, medical conflicts of interest, informal payments, and financial corruption. Participants will acquire the confidence, knowledge, and skills needed to become effective advocates for anti-corruption strategies and health system reforms.
• SPH GH 760: Foundations in Global Health
  One commonly accepted definition of global health is "collaborative trans- national research and action for promoting health for all." The course places a strong emphasis on data analysis, synthesis and interpretation for decision about health programs and policies. However, data is only one component to developing interventions and policies, implementing them and advocating for change in global health. Achieving global health requires an understanding how politics, economics, ethnicity, gender and culture affect individual and population-wide health care actions, systems, and strategies. Through this course, students will develop skills to analyze the magnitude of global morbidity and mortality, the causes and consequences of global health problems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Students will learn to develop and implement sustainable and evidence-based multi-sectoral interventions and the fundamentals of monitoring and evaluation techniques to global health programs, policies, and outcomes. Course work will provide students opportunities to apply these foundational skills in analyzing global health challenges and develop cross-cultural awareness and resourcefulness in solving problems that they may encounter in their professional careers.
• SPH GH 762: Essentials of Economics and Finance for Global Health
  This course provides an introduction to health economics, with an emphasis on evaluating costs and cost-effectiveness of public health interventions and programs in resource-constrained settings, such as developing countries. Issues of financing to pay for effective and cost-effective naturally follow. The course does not assume prior training in economics, and provides the conceptual underpinnings of health economics but emphasizes skills needed to complete applied evaluations in real world settings. Case studies, based on actual studies completed by faculty, focus on practical applications.
• SPH GH 765: Cross-Cultural Approaches to Mental Health in Low & Middle Income Countries Certificate: Mental Health and Substance Use
  Mental health is relatively new to the global health agenda. At the 54th World Health Assembly in 2001, the WHO and health ministers from around the world made an impassioned argument that mental health disorders be systematically measured and addressed in all countries. Since then critical progress has been made in understanding the global burden of mental illness and the challenges faced by those in need of care in low and middle-income countries or in contexts marked by armed conflict or natural disasters. Likewise, the role of culture in defining ways in which mental illness manifests itself has been incorporated into international diagnostic manuals. Nevertheless, change has been slow and many who need mental health services continue to go without diagnosis or treatment and confront ongoing stigma and discrimination. Class sessions and assignments provide students with a chance to explore the critical role played by the social, cultural, and economic context in shaping mental health and illness.
• SPH GH 766: Sexual and Reproductive Health in Disaster Settings
  Of the millions of people displaced by armed conflict around the world, 65-80% are women and children. In recent armed conflicts, women have been the targets of exploitation, rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, and other types of gender-based violence. These violent acts have implications on women's reproductive health. This course will expose students to the issues affecting the reproductive and sexual health of women in conflict and post-conflict situations. The context of recent conflicts and their effects on women's health will be analyzed. Other topics will include: common reproductive health morbidities in conflict situations, reproductive health assessments, programming, monitoring and evaluations, gender-based violence, and rape as a weapon of war. Specific examples will be drawn from the wars that occurred in former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Southern Sudan, and the ongoing war in Darfur, Western Sudan.
• SPH GH 770: Poverty, Health, and Development
  Poverty, development, and health status remain enduring issues of our time, both in low income and high income countries alike. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic concepts and interrelated nature of poverty and development (including the dynamics and measures of poverty, inequality, and global burden of disease). We will then focus on a number of important cross-cutting health challenges that relate closely to levels of poverty and development, such as child health, maternal health, HIV and AIDS, women's empowerment, and climate change. The course draws on a variety of teaching methods, including large and small discussions, student-led workshops, guest lectures, and interactive exercises, as well as a set of team-based activities concentrated on one of the cross-cutting health challenges. Students will gain a deep knowledge of the interwoven nature of changes in poverty, inequities, and health status, and by the end of the class will be experts in at least one of the major topic areas, as they advance their skills in teamwork, engaging their peers on a specific health-related topic, conducting research and in- depth analysis, and disseminating their findings.
• SPH GH 773: Financial Management for Health Programs
  Health care managers must be prepared to talk about financial issues, analyze and interpret data, and make decisions using financial information. This course develops competencies in cost analysis, pricing, budgeting, and reading financial reports in international health settings where financial systems are weak and data not easily available. In addition to using principles of differential and full cost analysis, students gain skills in breakeven analysis and calculating mark-ups. Examples are drawn from hospitals, clinics, and revolving drug funds from developing countries.
• SPH GH 795: Global AIDS Epidemic: Social & Economic Determinants, Impact, & Responses
  AIDS is one of the most important pandemics and human development challenges of our time. This course explores the determinants and impacts of the AIDS pandemic and examines best practices in prevention, care and treatment and impact mitigation. Students will explore the relationship between human rights, gender and vulnerability to HIV; examine effective multi-sectoral responses; and evaluate the benefits and limitations of major multi- and bi-lateral AIDS initiatives. Students will also examine the major debates in the AIDS field and explore different, at times contradictory, perspectives.
• SPH GH 800: Clinical development of a new medicinal: A case study about licensing a new vaccine for the developing world
  Vaccines are arguably our most potent public health tools. The clinical development of a new vaccine is a massive undertaking, spanning many years, and typically costing hundreds of millions of dollars -- yet the process by which new vaccines are developed, tested, licensed, and used is poorly understood. In this course, students will participate in an extended simulation of the clinical development of a new vaccine. Students will design a Phase I through Phase III clinical development program; at each step, decisions the students take will influence future events, making the course highly iterative and flexible. The course is taught by an infectious disease specialist who recently led a clinical development team at Novartis Vaccines that led to licensure of a new meningococcal vaccine in over 33 countries. This course requires a substantial amount of time working in groups outside of the scheduled class time.
• SPH GH 801: How to License a New Vaccine
  Vaccines are one public health's most powerful tools. Vaccines have controlled many of the worst childhood infectious diseases, including bacterial meningitis, measles, diphtheria, and pertussis. Smallpox has been completely eradicated - and polio may soon follow. But where do vaccines come from? The goal of this course is to open the black box and give students a hands-on introduction to the challenging but fascinating process of clinical development, using the development of a new vaccine as the case study. The class is designed as an extended and competitive simulation -- essentially a game with pedagogic purpose. The students assume the role of clinical development teams at a hypothetical pharmaceutical company working to advance the development of a new vaccine. Each year, the class will select a vaccine candidate to enter development. Over the subsequent sessions, the students will advance their vaccine with the ultimate goal of securing licensure by FDA. In this course, students will acquire a deep understanding of clinical development and the regulatory process, will learn about contemporary and historical aspects of vaccine development, clinical epidemiology, and infectious diseases. By the end of the course, students will have a solid understanding of what it takes to bring a vaccine to market, while honing their skills at working in teams, giving professional presentations, and providing and responding to constructive feedback.
• SPH GH 804: mHealth
  Located at the nexus of technology, informatics and public health, mHealth (defined as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices) is rapidly emerging from its pilot stage to become an important component of public health programs. In this course, you will learn how to design, develop, implement and evaluate a mHealth program. You will learn the basic terminology of mHealth programs, how to develop, design and evaluate a mHealth intervention as well as learn the current state of the field and major international mHealth implementers. Using a theoretical base, you will also learn the technical skills of developing an application based on a case study that can be deployed and used on a mobile phone. This course is suited for students who are at least in their second semester and who are familiar or interested in learning more about how mobile technology intersects with the health sector.
• SPH GH 805: Controversies in Global Control and Eradication of Infectious Diseases
  Control of infectious diseases and especially pandemics has become urgent public policy. This course focuses active controversies regarding past and current eradication/control campaigns for infectious diseases. We consider the biological, epidemiological, sociological, political, ethical, and programmatic features that allowed the smallpox eradication campaign to succeed, as a template for understanding control of other infectious diseases. Current candidates for global eradication/elimination campaigns that will be covered include SARS CoV-2, smallpox, polio, measles, malaria, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and dracunculiasis, and any new outbreaks that may be occur during the semester. We will explore and discuss how basic and clinical scientific findings from the primary scientific literature drives our understanding of disease transmission and mitigation strategies. Source material will consist of focused readings of the primary scientific literature, podcast interviews of global program leaders (e.g. GAVI, BMGF), policy memos and group presentations with class discussions. The goal is to inform students of the elements of infectious disease control involving different pathogens, in varied populations, and to achieve an understanding of the rationale behind different control program designs. This will prepare the student to more meaningfully participate in the important policy debate around infectious disease control. This is an advanced level seminar course.
• SPH GH 806: Using Mobile Technologies to Improve Health Outcomes
  Located at the nexus of technology, informatics and public health, mHealth (defined as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices) is rapidly emerging from its pilot stage to become an important component of public health programs. In this course, you will learn how to design, develop, implement and evaluate a mHealth program. You will learn the basic terminology of mHealth programs, how to develop, design and evaluate a mHealth intervention as well as learn the current state of the field and major international mHealth implementers. Using a theoretical base, you will also learn the technical skills of developing an application based on a case study that can be deployed and used on a mobile phone. This course is suited for students who are at least in their second semester and who are familiar or interested in learning more about how mobile technology intersects with the health sector.
• SPH GH 811: Applied Research Methods in Global Health
  The objective of this course is to teach student teams how to collect and analyze data to answer research questions and evaluate health interventions. Student teams will conduct a research study with multiple research methods including a cross-sectional survey and their choice from a variety of qualitative methods. The scope of the research questions addressed will be limited to minimal risk research conducted with students on the Boston University Medical Campus in the space of a semester. Each team will design a questionnaire, administer it, and enter and analyze the data using R. In conjunction with the cross-sectional survey, each team will also use some form of qualitative method, such as in-depth interviews or focus group discussions. The student teams will integrate the results of the cross-sectional survey and the qualitative research and present a report with findings and recommendations to their peers and faculty members. Students completing the course will have the skills to be able to collect and analyze data in a wide variety of settings.
• SPH GH 815: Methods for Impact Evaluation
  This four-credit course provides students with a set of theoretical and methodological skills to evaluate the causal impacts of public health programs and policies. Students learn to use a broad range of evaluation methodologies, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs. They strengthen their skills through critical analysis of published evaluation research. They also apply their skills to design an ideal impact evaluation for an intervention or program of their own choosing. Students taking this course should already be competent in understanding and applying basic quantitative methods for public health research. This is a Third Level course intended for MPH students enrolled in the Monitoring and Evaluation Certificate, and these students are given priority for enrollment. Other interested students may enroll, space permitting.
• SPH GH 854: From Data to Dashboards: Building Excel Skills to Support Health Program Decisions
  In these uncertain times, managers need, more than ever, to make sound decisions based on data. Good spreadsheet models are important tools in this process. Build your Excel "toolbox" by learning and applying robust formulas, graphing and dashboarding techniques, and data analysis in a wide range of real-world case study examples, such as cost and utilization analysis, estimation of revenues and expenses, and performance dashboards to monitor and evaluate performance of health interventions. Students will have the opportunity to build their own models to apply to a health service challenge of their choosing. This course is appropriate for upper level MPH students who have basic excel skills.
• SPH GH 880: Confronting Non-Communicable Diseases in the Developing World: The Burden, Costs and Health Systems Challenges
  A combination of lower fertility rates and changing environmental factors and lifestyles has led to aging populations and epidemics of tobacco addiction, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, and other chronic ailments, aggravating the persisting burden of infectious diseases in the developing world. This advanced course aims at providing a thorough understanding of the risk factors, epidemiology, burden, and economic consequences of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases and the fundamental policy considerations regarding intervention strategies for their prevention and control in resource constrained settings. This overall goal will be achieved by marrying economic approaches with those of epidemiology, clinical medicine and public health.
• SPH GH 881: Global Reproductive and Perinatal Health
  This course addresses the major reproductive and perinatal health problems facing communities around the world. We will focus on current strategies to address human reproduction, maternal health and the health of newborns. For each problem, we will consider the fundamental causes and possible solutions--what works/doesn't work and what is being tried. Topics will include determinants of maternal mortality, Perinatal Mortality, conditions that impact pregnancy outcomes, major causes of global maternal mortality, programming, policy and advocacy.
• SPH GH 885: Global Trade, Intellectual Property, and Public Health
  The COVID-19 pandemic has shone an unflattering light on the global public health system. In particular, the medical supply chain and trade in medicines is being controlled by a few high income countries, in part because they actually "own" the medicines, including vaccines they are exporting. Any person interested in the global public health "ecosystem," needs to know about how medical products get, or do not get, from one country to the other and how low and middle-income countries are at a disadvantage. The pandemic has illuminated the role and importance of intellectual property rules. Public health activists often show outright opposition to these rules and 'big pharma' often has an unthinking acceptance that change will destroy biomedical innovation and lead to poorer health outcomes. This course will explore both side of this complex and ambiguous relationship between global trade, intellectual property and its impact on public health.

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