Public Health Course Descriptions
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 and 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.
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.
Health Policy Concentration Core [required]
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.
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, costs, supply, opportunity costs, market structure, and private, public, and social goods in terms of microeconomic theory and national GDP, income, 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 Services and 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.
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 Policy Analysis, HP850
This course covers the process of analyzing public policy decisions. Topics include description of the problem statement, modeling process 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.
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 Electives
Issues and Trends in Health Policy, HP707
This course provides an orientation to analytical and substantive components that are necessary for understanding current health policy issues. Students gain an awareness of the complexities of major issues, such as the uninsured, quality assessment and disparities in outcomes, their historical evolution, and the nature of how different interests and actors interact in shaping them. They also learn to apply commonly used frameworks for policy analysis to a range of current health policy issues and themes.
Risk Assessment, Critical Thinking and 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 environment regulatory agencies, including the EPA, the FDA, the CDC, and others. Alternative techniques of risk assessment will be presented. Examples from the literature and popular press will be used to illustrate the application of critical thinking in the development of appropriate risk models.
Mental Health Policy and 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.
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 and Medicine, HP780
This course explores a range of social phenomena and their impact on health care provision and on how we understand and attach meaning to health and illness. Students learn to understand and to apply various sociological approaches to medicine and to health policy.
Health Economics, PA 840
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.
Public Health Applied Core [required]
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.
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.
