Courses

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

• SPH PH 880: Research Dissemination Seminar
  This is an upper-level applied seminar course, in which students are mentored through the development of a manuscript suitable for publication in a peer- reviewed journal. Through a combination of discussions, written assignments, and oral presentations, students will develop research questions, conduct literature reviews, perform data analyses using real-world data, and summarize results a manuscript.
• SPH PH 882: Public Health Data Science Capstone
  Graduate Prerequisites: For PHDS students in their final semester. - This course is a culmination of the Public Health Data Science skills that students learn throughout their MS degree. The course prepares students to conduct scientific communication and read published articles more efficiently and critically. Through lectures, discussions, written assignments, and oral presentations, students develop research questions, conduct literature reviews, and perform data analyses using a real-world dataset. They will learn how to structure and write each section of a scientific manuscript and apply principles for concise and clear writing. The final project involves integrating all sections into a complete paper for journal submission. The small class size will facilitate in-class presentations, discussions, and peer critiques that are essential components of this course. Students will be asked to review their skill acquisition over the course of the degree by mapping applied skills to prior and current coursework.
• SPH PH 885: Grant Writing for Doctoral Students
  The purpose of this course is to support BUSPH doctoral students/candidates in writing grant proposals in a systematic fashion under faculty guidance and with peer input. The fall portion will focus on general grant writing strategies,while the spring portion will focus on proposal development. Grant writing is an important skill for all doctoral students to develop, particularly those interested in becoming faculty members at academic institutions. The goal of this course is for participants to gain experience in the overall grant writing process while developing a proposal for funding to support dissertation-related research. Upon completion of the grant writing course, the expectation is that participants will submit their proposal for funding. The focus is on NIH/AHRQ F-series and R36-type grants, though students are welcome to use the course to prepare a grant for a foundation or other source of funding. Enrollment is open to BUSPH doctoral students/candidates who are at a stage in their training where they are prepared to actively develop a grant proposal for submission. Students may take the first half of the course and not the second (if they are interested in gaining general knowledge of grant writing but are not aiming to develop their own grant proposal); the first half of the course is a prerequisite for the second half of the course (i.e., students cannot take only the second half).
• SPH PH 886: Grant Writing for Doctoral Students II
  The purpose of this course is to support BUSPH doctoral students/candidates in writing grant proposals in a systematic fashion under faculty guidance and with peer input. Following from the fall portion, which focuses on general grant writing strategies, the spring portion focuses on proposal development (i.e., writing a grant for submission). Grant writing is an important skill for all doctoral students to develop, particularly those interested in becoming faculty members at academic institutions. Despite the importance of grant writing, these skills are rarely taught in doctoral programs. The goal of this course is for participants to gain experience in the overall grant writing process while developing a proposal for funding to support dissertation-related research. Upon completion of the grant writing course, the expectation is that participants will submit their proposal for funding. The focus is on NIH/AHRQ F-series and R36-type grants, though students are welcome to use the course to prepare a grant for a foundation or other source of funding. Enrollment is open to BUSPH doctoral students/candidates who are at a stage in their training where they are prepared to actively develop a grant proposal for submission. Students may take the first half of the course and not the second (if they are interested in gaining general knowledge of grant writing but are not aiming to develop their own grant proposal); the first half of the course is a prerequisite for the second half of the course (i.e., students cannot take only the second half).
• SPH PH 890: Mentored Research Experience
  The 400-hour mentored research experience requirement gives students the opportunity to collaborate with a BUSPH faculty member.
• SPH PH 895: Public Health Pedagogy and Curriculum Development
  For Doctoral Students. This course will provide public health doctoral students with the skills and knowledge to effectively teach and develop curricula in higher education settings. The course will cover instructional design, strategies for inclusive teaching, assessment strategies, and practical teaching techniques relevant to public health. Building on the current scholarship on excellence in teaching and learning in public health, class sessions will be structured to include both instructional and interactive microteaching sessions to allow students to practice and refine their teaching skills. Students will also learn to give and use peer feedback for quality improvement. This course will build on student passion for public health and provide interactive, exciting models for transforming public health education to meet the needs of students in public health, and ultimately communities.
• SPH PH 900S: FT Doctoral Study in DrPH
  Doctoral Student Summer Enrollment for students engaged in coursework.
• SPH PH 905S: PT Doctoral Study in DrPH
  Doctoral Student Summer Enrollment for students engaged in coursework.
• SPH PH 976: MPH Health Practicum
  The practicum is an applied practice experience that allows MPH students to utilize their knowledge and gain professional skills in public health. Students develop two work products demonstrating proficiency across five selected competencies, including three foundational competencies. The Career & Practicum Office assists students in finding an appropriate practicum site; students may also use their professional and personal networks to find a practicum. Students must complete at least 240 practicum hours, of which 30 hours can be fulfilled through an approved course with a practice-based component (GH 743, GH 744, PM 832, PM 835, and SB 806). The practicum requirements may include, but may not be limited to, the following: placement approval, registration for SPH PH 976 (0 credits), a learning contract, a midpoint review, and a final assessment.
• SPH PH 978: Public Health Practicum
  The course provides dual MBA-MPH students with a structured and mentored opportunity to explore the public health context and implications of their summer internship experiences. It addresses multiple foundational competencies, including using systematic approaches to develop, implement, and evaluate public health policies, programs, or services and communicating effectively in written and oral form to different audiences.
• SPH PH 980: FT Continuing Study in DrPH
  Graduate Prerequisites: For Doctoral Students who have completed coursework. Doctoral students who have completed all academic course requirements, must register for Continuing Study 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 985: PT Continuing Study in DrPH
  Graduate Prerequisites: For Doctoral Students who have completed coursework. Doctoral students who have completed all academic course requirements, must register for Continuing Study every Fall and Spring semester until they have successfully defended their dissertation and graduated from SPH. Students are certified part-time and charged for the equivalent of two credits of tuition, and all relevant fees.
• SPH PH 986: Doctorate of Public Health Practicum
  Graduate Prerequisites: For DrPH students only. - Required practicum for DrPH students. Course is pass/fail.
• SPH PH 995S: Summer Research for Curricular Practical Training
  Graduate Prerequisites: International MS or Doctoral Student at SPH engaging in off-campus res earch - 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 733: Health Program Management
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719 & SPHPH720) SPH PH 719 and SPH PH 720; or consent of instructor. - This course aims to equip future health program managers and supervisors with a range of skills to lead, plan effectively, anticipate challenges, and allocate resources. Students will gain an appreciation for the complexities of management and leadership in different health programs--both globally and in the US--and to develop the critical thinking skills needed to succeed in such settings. Course instructors will make use of interactive exercises, case studies, a semester long group project, and real-life scenarios to help students develop critical thinking and analytical skills, and requires substantial class participation. Specific topics covered in class sessions will include: leadership; organizational culture; strategic planning; negotiation; promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice; and disaster planning.
• SPH PM 734: Principles and Practices in Non-Profit Health Care Accounting
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719) or consent of instructor - 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
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPM702 OR SPHPH719) or consent of instructor. - 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 skills, and then explores various ways to use 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- and also to advance both financial and clinical accountability for equitable and affordable care. No financial or accounting background is assumed.
• SPH PM 736: Human Resource Management in Public Health
  Graduate Prerequisites: (SPHPH719 & SPHPH720) or consent of instructor. - This course provides students with a skills-based orientation to human resource and change management, especially in a public health or human services setting. Core leadership and management activities such as staff training and development, employee relations, negotiations, and managing individual and group-level change are explored via readings, cases, podcasts/media, and experiential activities. Using case examples and experiential hands-on activities that illustrate basic principles, students develop strategies to improve human resource and change management practices, while developing an awareness of the unique aspects of the health care workforce.
• SPH PM 740: Comparative Health Systems and Policy in Industrialized and BRIC Countries
  This course examines the population and individual health systems of industrialized and emerging countries, exploring each system's historic, cultural, political, economic and demographic antecedents. There are significant variations in organization, finance, structure, operations and population level outcomes. Since the US health system performs at the top of cost and the low end of outcome measures there are lessons to be learned from other systems, but it is essential first to understand why differences among systems developed and persist.