Health Policy Course Descriptions
Issues and Trends in Health Policy, HP707
This course provides an orientation to the analytical and substantive components necessary to become familiar with health policy. Specifically, students will gain an awareness of the complexities of health policy issues, the historical evolution of issues and themes, and the nature of how different interests interact. Students will learn commonly used frameworks for policy analysis and then apply them to a range of prominent contemporary health care issues. Recent syllabus
Analytical Methods for Health Policy, HP710
This course covers techniques of analyzing health policy issues in business and governmental settings, including financial modeling, basic accounting, forecasting, program evaluation, and qualitative methods. Recent syllabus
Quality Measurement & Outcomes Analysis, HP715
This course presents techniques for measuring quality in health care and for analyzing clinical outcomes. It provides student with the skills needed to understand and apply developing techniques in these areas, as quantitative assessment of the clinical impact of health services takes on increasing importance in the health care industry. Recent syllabus
Information Technology & Resources in Health Care, HP720
This course enables students to understand computer
applications in health policy analysis, including database
management, data warehousing, Internet applications and
resources, and quality measurement systems.
(Prerequisite: prior coursework or prior experience satisfactory to the instructor in basic computer skills, including use of spreadsheets, database management, and word processing). Recent syllabus
Risk Assessment, Critical Thinking, & Health, HP725
The basics of risk assessment as an analytical tool and its application to aid decision making on health issues will be discussed. Examples will be drawn from uses of risk assessment by health and environmental regulatory agencies, including EPA, FDA, CDC, and others. Alternative techniques of risk assessment will be presented. Examples from literature and popular press will be used to illustrate the application of critical thinking in the development of appropriate risk models.
Public Health Research & Epidemiology, HP730
Foundations of public health concepts and research will
be discussed, including principles of health services
research, population health, demography, preventive
health, environmental health, and epidemiology.
(Prerequisite: HP750 or other introductory statistics course satisfactory to the instructor). Recent syllabus
Health Law & Regulation, HP740
This course provides students with skills in legal and regulatory analysis and presents principles of health law and an overview of federal and state regulatory programs affecting the health care industry. Recent syllabus
Health Systems Management, HP742
This course provides an in-depth analysis of various health care system components, including consumers, providers, payers, and regulators of health services.
Mental Health Policy & Services, HP747
This course focuses on the mental health services delivery system and how people with mental illness interact both with this system and with the overall community. This includes examining not only past and present public policy toward mental illness but also the various social perspectives and meanings that are associated with being mentally ill.
Introduction to Statistical Methods, HP750
This introductory graduate-level statistics course is geared to skills and methods used in health policy-related research and covers descriptive statistics, probability, random variables, estimation, sampling, hypothesis testing, and chi-square tests. An orientation to multivariate regression will also be provided at the end of the course. This course is the first part of a two-course sequence (with HP760). Recent syllabus
Quantitative Methods, HP760
This is the second course in the statistics sequence. The course begins with a review of multiple regression and moves on to cover topics of non-linear regression, model building, hypothesis testing, and reporting of results. Topics covered include log linear models, bivariate dependent variables, sample design, data gathering, and cleaning. (Prerequisite: HP750 or its equivalent)
Special Topics in Health Policy (Master's Paper), HP763
Students participate in coursework on selected subjects under faculty supervision. Students may also use this course to prepare a master's paper analyzing a major health policy issue.
Social History of Therapeutics, HP765
This course introduces students to the social history of selected health care professions and therapies. Particular attention will be given to examples of technology in the health care professions (to illustrate how tools shape practice). Students will also be introduced to archival documents and material culture (the study of objects, their manufacture, and use) for their own studies. Owing to the rich medical and pharmaceutical heritage of Philadelphia, students will visit important permanent collections at local libraries and museums.
Sociology of Health & Medicine, HP780
This course explores a range of social phenomena and their impact on health care provision and on how we attach meaning to health and illness. Students learn to understand and to apply various sociological approaches to medicine and to health policy. Recent syllabus
Introduction to Health Economics, HP790
This course provides an introduction to and application of micro- and macroeconomics to the fields of health care provision and policy. Students are instructed in basic economic concepts: utility, marginal analysis, demand, elasticity, cost, supply, opportunity costs, market structure, and private, public, and social goods in terms of microeconomic theory and national GDP, income, and fiscal and monetary policy. From this background, they will apply their understanding to issues specific to health economics, including topics such as demand versus need, costs of providing health care services, structure of the health care market, labor, hospitals, managed care, insurance (public and private), and pharmaceutical interventions and practice patterns.
Health Care in Developing Countries, HP792
This course covers health care issues specific to low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on the role of health in economic development, the financing of health care services, and the evaluation of health care programs.
Research in Health Policy (Field Applications Project), HP797
Students conduct research on a health policy topic. This course also serves as the field applications project in which students work in teams of between two and six members to conduct a research and analysis assignment for an external health care organization. Each student team will prepare a report and give a presentation based on its findings.
Health Services & Policy, HP808
This course analyzes the economic and organizational foundations of health care, including issues related to the past, present, and future of the health system and health care professions. The social and economic factors affecting health policy will be studied, as well as the role of health practitioners relative to health institutions, governmental agencies, and patients. Recent syllabus
Comparative Health Systems, HP809
This course presents a survey of health care systems in industrialized and developing countries with emphasis on comparisons with the American system. Students will be taught to understand the way that health care systems work in other countries and, thereby, to better analyze policy issues affecting American health care. The course will be taught in a seminar format.
Health Services Research Methods, HP810
This course covers techniques for evaluating research methods, selecting research tools, designing a pilot study, and preparing grant applications, as well as strategies for selecting research tools and ethical issues in research. (Prerequisite: HP760 or other statistics course satisfactory to the instructor) Recent syllabus
Public Health Infrastructure, HP812
This course focuses on the various systems that provide public health services. Students will gain a knowledge of the central issues and principal providers related to public health in an urban setting, the degree to which this represents a coordinated infrastructure, and the gaps within this system.
Proposal Writing, HP820
This course teaches doctoral students in health policy the elements of preparing a formal proposal and other kinds of analytical writing. Emphasis will be placed on the critical thinking skills needed for writing about research.
Public Policy Analysis, HP850
This course covers the process of analyzing public policy decisions. Topics include description of the problem statement, modeling processes to assess the economic feasibility of policy, implementation and enactment issues, and evaluation of outcomes.
Ethical Issues in Health Care, HP880
This course covers major ethical issues and methods of analyzing ethical conflicts in the delivery of health care services and in developing and implementing public policy. Recent syllabus
Health Policy Seminar, HP890
Speakers present research issues and results and analyses of current issues in health policy. In order to receive credit, students must give a brief presentation during the semester.
Doctoral Research, HP899
Candidates for the doctor of philosophy in health policy are required to fulfill their research requirements under the direction of the health policy faculty.
Statistics for Public Health, HE710
This course covers basic statistical techniques that are important for analyzing data arising from epidemiology, environmental heath, biomedical and other public health-related research. The main subject areas are: descriptive statistics, elements of probability, statistical inference using parametric and nonparametric methods, analysis of variance within the context of specific types of experimental designs, multiple linear regression analysis, analysis of categorical data using contingency tables and logistic regression.
Public Health Management, HE720
This course will cover analysis of public health entities, general management principles as applied to these entities, and the impact of regional, national, and global policy relative to public health in the United States.
Fundamentals of Epidemiology, HE730
This course introduces principles and quantitative and qualitative methods of epidemiologic analysis of infectious and noninfectious diseases threatening the health of the public. Methods of investigating the distribution and dynamics of disease in a population that leads to our understanding of etiologic factors, modes of transmission, and pathogenesis will be covered. Various types of study design, such as randomized trials, case-control and cohort studies, risk estimation and causal inferences are also presented. Epidemiology is related to community prevention and intervention methods and policy development. This course presents the role of epidemiologic methods in resolving emergent public health problems, such as investigating the spread of infectious disease in school, home, and community; epidemiological aspects of a noninfectious disease; vaccination; the epidemiological approach to health program and service evaluation; rates of morbidity and mortality; sensitivity and specificity; and life table methods.
The Environment & Human Health, HE740
This course will focus on the theory and practice of identifying and assessing the most significant environmental threats to human health and will examine measures to manage those threats. Students will be introduced to diverse perspectives of the environmental factors that impact humans and health, including physical, chemical, and biological agents. In addition, social, economic and political factors that contribute to the impact of these naturally occurring challenges will be discussed. For environmental factors/threats, students will learn to: a.) identify their sources and means of exposure, b.) assess their potential impact, c.) identify possible corrective and control measures and finally, d.) identify preventive measures that may be instituted, where appropriate. The course will also introduce students to the environmental health issues that are frequently identified in the developing world.
Public Health Law & Policy, HE745
This course presents the range of legal concepts that apply in the field of public health with an emphasis on issues and controversies. Students will gain a basic understanding of the legal system and regulatory process as they apply to society's need to protect the health of the population on a broad scale. The course will provide an overview of basic areas of law that apply to public health, including the Constitution, statutes, cases, and regulation. It will focus on perennial and emerging issues, such as individual liberties, privacy, and conflicts between different levels of government and between government and private regulators.
Behavioral & Social Foundations of Public Health, HE750
This course focuses on behavioral aspects of health in the US, and the most commonly used theories and models underlying successful public health interventions. The course develops competencies that will underlie community needs assessment and planning interventions at the individual, community and organizational level.
Public Health Field Experience I-III, HE781-3
The three field experience courses provide students with hands-on opportunities to apply in-class knowledge to real-life public health issues in a public health or related organization. Field experiences are conducted in local, state, federal or international agencies/organizations and are supervised by qualified preceptors working at the sites. These courses will enable students to observe an experienced public health professional in their practice envi ronment and learn how they exercise leadership, professional judgment, and decision making authority. Over the course of the three Field Experience courses, the s tudent will spend at least 180 hours in supervised activities in a public health setting.
Public Health Infrastructure, HE812/HP812
This course focuses on the various systems that provide public health services. In addition to covering the basic concepts needed to understand public health infrastructure, the course focuses on Philadelphia with site visits, speakers, and research required focusing on local public health issues and providers. Students will gain a knowledge of the central issues and principal providers related to public health in an urban setting, the degree to which this represents a coordinated infrastructure, and the gaps within this system.
Public Health Capstone Project, HE890
This culminating experience requires students to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired across the MPH curriculum to a situation that approximates some aspect of professional practice. Each student will prepare a major paper focused on a program or policy related to a major public health problem or issue.
Health Policy Capstone Project, HE840
This course is the culminating experience in the health policy track in the MPH program. Students are expected to draw on the skills and knowledge that they acquired in their coursework and field placement to complete a major paper or similar written product that focuses on a public health policy issue. A presentation based on the project may also be given.
Health Economics, PA840
This course covers the development and assessment of economic tools for analyzing health services and pharmaceutical interventions. Issues affecting patient preferences and quality of life are also considered.
Population, SO702
This course presents an introduction to demography and the study of the determinants and consequences of population growth and is meant to provide the basic facts about the numbers of people regionally and globally.
