This course is designed to introduce students to the core functions of public health. Students will be exposed to the principles, theories, concepts and methodologies involved in the study of public health at the community, state and national levels. The course will primarily provide a discussion of the history of public health, public health and disease, identification and analysis of community assessment data, and functions, tools, activities and results of public health practice.

Registration Restrictions: Doctor of Public Health students without an MPH, MSPH, or equivalent from a CEPH accredited program.

Offered: Resident

During this course students will gain a practical understanding of how to design, implement, and evaluate public health programs in addressing complex public health problems using the principles of Prevention Science, the Eight Areas of Responsibility, and best practice in the field. As public health planning and evaluation occur within the context of interdisciplinary teams, students within the course will work across disciplines and in groups, practicing and applying program planning skills, to ensure their ability to build effective teams, produce quality deliverables, and communicate effectively using oral and written methods, as individuals and within a group setting.

Offered: Resident

This course introduces students to key concepts, principles and practices in the field of public health management and leadership. This course provides information for students to build an understanding of the fundamental ideas, issues, and problems currently debated in health management and to provide a foundation for practice in a range of careers in public health and health care management.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: (HLTH 501 or HLTH 501-Biostatistics with a score of 5) and (HLTH 511 or HLTH 511-RschMethod PublicHlth with a score of 5)

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of research study design and methods for quantitative approaches to research, as well as ethical issues in conducting quantitative research. Through application of the scientific process, best practices in methodology, articles from the public health literature and course work students will build skills for conducting various quantitative research approaches and be capable of critically evaluating quantitative research designs and analysis findings.

Registration Restrictions: HLTH 501 and HLTH 511, or its equivalent, or Permission of the Instructor.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: (HLTH 501 or HLTH 501-Biostatistics with a score of 5) and (HLTH 511 or HLTH 511-RschMethod PublicHlth with a score of 5)

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of qualitative and mixed method research design while emphasizing general scientific research principles as they are applied to public health studies. The course serves as an introduction to qualitative data collection and analysis approaches, as well as ethical issues in conducting research during in-depth exploratory studies. Students will focus on understanding the application of how doing a rich dive into qualitative studies can support the pathway towards understanding, predicting, and creating steps in ecological change when working with populations.

Registration Restrictions: HLTH 501 and HLTH 511, or its equivalent, or Permission of the Instructor

Offered: Resident

The course prepares learners to understand complex health and human service related systems in order to inform effective practice-based ethical decision making. The primary focus of the course relates to public health policy and practice. Major content areas include health policy institutions, the health policy process, ethical political considerations, social determinants of health, workforce, health care financing, medical technology, health care organizations, the public health system, primary care systems, and other health-related issues impacting the health of the public. Strategies of implementing change through policy making and the legislative process are covered.

Offered: Resident

This course provides an introduction to the theory, design, implementation, and evaluation of health communication programs. Case studies, resources, research tools and examples of different media channels are reviewed and analyzed to explore how to reach different target audiences with the most effective health communication interventions.

Offered: Resident

This course helps learners answer the question: “Why do some teams and organizations do better than others?” You will learn how to recognize suitable approaches to analyze team conditions and improve team performance, prioritize organizational activities and resources to create advantage or value for stakeholders, and communicate and implement strategic plans. Overall, this course will provide learners with useful theories, frameworks, and perspectives as well as improve their critical analytical skills around the effective use of teams and strategy to maximize organizational performance.

Offered: Resident

Throughout the course, students will be able to learn skills including discussion of social action, organizational development, policy advocacy, capacity building, community diagnosis (needs assessment), social networking and coalition formation to bring about health and quality of life improvement. Special focus will be placed on the application of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods and CBPR approaches for assessment.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 710 and PCHR 712 and PCHR 718 and PHGT 701

This course is designed to introduce students to the practice of preparing and presenting public health data, research findings, and issues to a diverse audience. A variety of public health topics will be covered including maternal and child health, leadership, systems thinking, and public health policies.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 792

This course is a continuation of Seminar I which introduces students to the practice of preparing and presenting public health data, research findings, and issues to a diverse audience. A variety of public health topics will be covered including maternal and child health, leadership, systems thinking, and public health policies.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 793

This course is a continuation of Seminar II which introduces students to the practice of preparing and presenting public health data, research findings, and issues to a diverse audience. A variety of public health topics will be covered including maternal and child health, leadership, systems thinking, and public health policies.

Offered: Resident

The course will explore implementation determinants and strategies at the intervention, individual, organizational, and policy levels. Through individual and group assignments, students will have numerous opportunities to apply course content to their own areas of interest and to implementation challenges and opportunities in global MCH. In addition to course readings and assignments, active class discussion and debate will facilitate learning.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 718

This course will focus on women, maternal and child health programs, problems and policies with a public health perspective. It gives an historical account of roles played by government at various levels with assessment of health and policy development for mothers and children. The students will become acquainted with the programs, policies and future issues concerning family planning, maternal and infant health, preschool, school-age and adolescent health. Students will also be introduced to policy issues on disparities in minorities' health, women's health, children with special health care needs, nutrition and international health of mothers and children.

Offered: Resident

This course is concerned with the study of nutritionally-related determinants of health and disease in maternal, infant, and child populations. Biological, physiological, and psychological aspects of reproduction (maternal) and growth and development (infants and children) will be discussed, with particular focus on how they are influenced by nutrition. Methodological issues encountered in research (e.g. data collection and analysis) will also be incorporated into lectures and discussions. After completion of this course, students should understand the important immediate and long-term roles that nutrition plays in reproductive and pediatric health.

Offered: Resident

The course content will emphasize social, economic, environmental, behavioral, and political factors that affect family planning, reproductive health, fertility, and pregnancy outcome. The course will have three areas of focus: (1) interventions and programs to improve reproductive health; (2) the measurement and interpretation of reproductive indices (within nations and globally); and (3) policies that affect reproductive health (with an emphasis on global policies and funding).

Offered: Resident

This course introduces financial and accounting principles for public health and health care. Topics covered include accounting theory, budgeting, resource management, financial planning, and third party reimbursement. Students are presented with the basic foundations of financial management before progressing to demonstrate how health care managers can apply financial management theory and principles to help make better decisions that promote the financial well-being of public health and health care delivery organizations.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 710

This course will cover the fundamentals needed to plan and evaluate public health programs including needs assessment, behavioral and educational assessment, administrative assessment, objective writing, and process, impact and outcome evaluation methods.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 720

This course is designed to familiarize students with the history and current applications of health communication theory and strategies to public health practice and research. This course examines how to structure, develop and evaluate social marketing, media advocacy, risk communication and advocacy skills for change. In addition, systematic qualitative data collection processes such as interviewing skills, participant observation and focus groups will be developed. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking skills to help students analyze and utilize these skills in research and practice.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 712

Through this course, students will gain a basic understanding of how to be leaders in applying principles of community engagement in public health programs and organizational settings. With the course’s design grounded in public health practice, you will complete the course with the skills necessary to dynamically engage different stakeholder sectors, lead the collaborative design of strategic plans, promote multilevel cohesion, and communicate to different audiences. Given the importance of community engagement in public health leadership being interdisciplinary, students in this course will also discuss and practice skills for building effective teams and accomplishing individual and group objectives through teamwork.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 718

This course covers key concepts of crisis and risk communication theory and its practical application to emergent and catastrophic public health events. Crisis and emergency risk communication is among the central strategies by which government officials and community and organizational leaders promote critical protective actions to their constituents and stakeholders. This course will use a series of case studies to illustrate the principles, strategies, and tactics of effective risk communication. The course will also explore the shifting locus of authority as new media channels emerge and the information landscape continues to evolve, often moving away from centralized mass media brokers and towards more decentralized and informal models of information sharing and seeking.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 718

This course will focus on economic and political perspectives and will include perspectives on cultural influences and the policy-making process.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 700 and PCHR 710 and PCHR 712 and PCHR 714 and PCHR 716 and PCHR 718 and PCHR 720 and PCHR 722 and PCHR 724 and PCHR 792 and PCHR 793 and PCHR 794 and PHGT 701 and PHGT 702 and PHGT 703

This course guides doctoral students in public health through the initial stages of the dissertation process, focusing on developing and defending the dissertation proposal. Students will conduct a comprehensive literature review on a public health topic, formulate research problems and questions, select appropriate research methods, and study designs, and prepare a detailed proposal for their intended dissertation study. Emphasis is placed on adhering to ethical principles in public health research, academic rigor, and effectively communicating the study's significance and potential contributions to the field.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 987

In this course, public health doctoral students execute the research plan outlined in their approved dissertation proposal. They will obtain necessary approvals from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), collect and analyze data using appropriate public health research methodologies, and interpret the findings within existing knowledge. Students will work closely with their dissertation chair and committee to ensure adherence to research standards, academic integrity, and public health ethical principles.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 700 and PCHR 710 and PCHR 712 and PCHR 714 and PCHR 716 and PCHR 718 and PCHR 720 and PCHR 722 and PCHR 724 and PCHR 792 and PCHR 793 and PCHR 794 and PCHR 987 and PHGT 701 and PHGT 702 and PHGT 703

The course is designed to assist the students in writing a draft of the three-chapter (Introduction, review of literature, methods) research proposal that may become the basis for a doctoral dissertation.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 987 and PCHR 998 and PHGT 704

In this final stage of the dissertation process, public health doctoral students will prepare and present their completed dissertation research to their committee for evaluation and defense. The defense involves a comprehensive oral examination, where students will be expected to demonstrate mastery of their public health research topic, defend their methodological choices, discuss their findings and conclusions within the context of public health practice and policy, and address critiques and questions from the committee.

Offered: Resident

Prerequisite: PCHR 700 and PCHR 710 and PCHR 712 and PCHR 714 and PCHR 716 and PCHR 718 and PCHR 720 and PCHR 722 and PCHR 724 and PCHR 792 and PCHR 793 and PCHR 794 and PCHR 987 and PHGT 701 and PHGT 702 and PHGT 703 and PHGT 704

A practicum, or applied practice experience, is an application of learning to a ‘real world’ setting. Students in the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program are required to complete a practicum. Upon completion of the practicum, the student will be able to demonstrate a mastery of evidence-based public health decision-making and capacity to translate general and discipline-specific empirical knowledge into effective public health practice. Additionally, students demonstrate leadership, independence, and originality in a project with significant public health impact.

Offered: Resident