Online Master of Public Health (MPH)

PBH 600 Biostatistics

In this course, the learner explores basic research methods to analyze, design, and collect quantitative data. The learner applies principles of biostatistical analysis, epidemiological analysis, and design and analysis of clinical trials. The learner will also interpret basic statistical information to identify solutions for public health issues.

HP 601 Health Ethics and Law

This course introduces students to the complex area of health ethics and law. Ethical and legal issues related to organizational and professional responsibility, patient rights and informed consent, reproduction and human genetics, end-of-life care, duty to treat and to warn, and clinical research and experimentation are among the areas of areas of study and discussion.

PBH 635 Contemporary Issues in Environmental Health

This course provides a foundation to the ecological basis of health and disease. The global environmental aspects of health are addressed, including the biological, physical, and chemical factors that affect the health of organizations and communities. Hazardous agents found in our environments are reviewed for their potential health effects, and procedures for prevention of occupational illnesses and injuries are examined.

PBH 633 Epidemiological Methods

This course provides the learner with an introduction to the skills needed by public health professionals to critically interpret disease. The main concepts of this course will cover distributions and determinants of disease, disabilities, injury, and death in human populations. This course provides an opportunity for learners to apply epidemiology concepts to case studies.

HP 602 Concepts in Health Administration

This is an introductory course to the field of health administration. Topics include health care leadership and management, strategic planning, human resources, marketing, quality management, and cultural competency/diversity in healthcare organizations.

PBH 611 Social and Behavioral Sciences

In this course, the learner explores different public health behavioral models that are used for promoting healthy behavior change. The learner also breaks down community and social factors, including race, education, and economics, that may contribute to public health problems.

PBH 632 Applied Practice Experience

This course is taken at the end of the program of study and provides students with the opportunity to apply skills and knowledge obtained in both core and principal courses to the practice of public health under the guidance of a preceptor and one of the MPH practicum course faculty.

PBH 636 Integrated Learning Experience – Capstone

The main purpose of this course is to provide the culminating, integrative curricular experience for students enrolled in the program during their last semester prior to graduation. The course draws on students’ prior training in the five core areas of public health (i.e., Social and Behavioral Sciences, Biostatistics, Epidemiological Methods, Concepts in Health Administration and Contemporary Issues in Environmental Health); their additional required course work in one of two tracks (Epidemiology or Health Policy and Management); and their real-world experience gained in the field prior to their graduation.

PBH 614 Observational and Interventional Study Design

In this course, we will explore observational and interventional study design types. Observational studies in epidemiology draw inferences from a sample where the researcher is not in control and are often retrospective and used to assess potential causation in an exposure-outcome relationship. Interventional studies are often prospective and are tailored to evaluate clinical outcomes. The commonly used designs to study health outcomes among humans, such as cohort, case-control, ecological and cross-sectional and case studies will be discussed.

PBH 615 Data Management and Analysis

The course will expose students to basic concepts that are needed to use SPSS for epidemiological research. The goal will be to familiarize students with various analytic methods and their uses to answer specific epidemiologic research questions. It will cover conduct of basic epidemiologic data and its management, and statistical analysis of data from epidemiologic investigations. Brief reviews of relevant statistical methods, their applications in epidemiologic research, and interpretation of results will be covered step by step in this course. Students will be provided with several data sets from epidemiologic studies and will be asked to conduct analyses of these data.

PBH 616 Advanced Analysis of Epidemiologic Studies

The course will expose students to advanced concepts that are needed to use SPSS for epidemiological research. The goal will be to expose students to various analytic methods and their uses to answer specific epidemiologic research questions. It will cover the conduct of advanced epidemiologic data and its management, as well as statistical analysis of data from epidemiologic investigations. This course will deepen students' knowledge of epidemiological principles.

PBH 617 Infectious Disease Epidemiology

This course covers the importance and basic methods for infectious disease epidemiology for selected diseases. The methods will include outbreak investigations, disease surveillance, case-control studies, cohort studies, and cross-sectional studies. Distribution, risk factors and causes, transmission, and control of selected infectious diseases will be covered including interpretation of epidemiological data. Program evaluations in infectious disease settings and rates and measures will be covered as well.

PBH 618 Chronic Disease Epidemiology

This course provides an overview of some chronic diseases and will highlight the key methodological issues surrounding studies of such chronic diseases. It will give the students the opportunity to apply epidemiologic methods in understanding chronic diseases problems. Chronic diseases account for six of the top seven causes of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Various chronic diseases will be studied including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, chronic lung disease and arthritis among others. The more epidemiology students understand about these diseases, the better they will be able to continue to study them effectively and attempt to influence public policy.

PBH 619 Advanced Epidemiologic Methods

The course covers principles and methods of epidemiology, including descriptive and analytic approaches to assessing the distributions of health, disease, and injury in populations and factors that influence those distributions. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of concepts rather than quantitative methods, although basic calculations are involved. In addition, epidemiologic issues in the interface with public health policy will be studied. The course will consist of readings and critical review of epidemiology articles.

PBH 622 Health Policy Analysis

The course provides an overview of the U.S. health care delivery system and current policy challenges (i.e., chronic disease, health equity, access to care, and healthcare reform) and provides an introduction to policy analysis tools useful for defining policy problems, assessing alternative solutions, and examining effects of health policies. The framework used for achieving these aims will be to consider public health policy from the perspective of the main stakeholders in the system: patients, providers, health plans, and payers.

HP 609 Health Policy, Politics and Perspectives

This course examines U.S. health care policy and the political challenges related to delivery, cost, quality, and access to care. The course is in seminar format which allows students to observe the policy-making process and the role of government and private stakeholders in the financing and delivery of services through a field experience attending health policy-related events and meetings.

HP 622 Economics of Health Care

This course uses economic analysis to help understand the economic challenges confronting our health care system. Topics include supply and demand in health care, market forces, health reform, and health care financing.

Prerequisites: HP 602, HP 609 or permission of the program director

PBH 623 Contemporary Issues, Special Populations and Policies

The health of special populations depends on not only the characteristics and health behaviors of individuals but the social, economic, and physical environments in which they live and the health care systems that provide their medical care. This course will explore the current evidence regarding the role of these factors as determinants of population health and identify emerging issues. The role of public policy in improving the health of special populations will be discussed in the context of empirical research evidence. The emphasis of the course will be to explore public health policy initiatives to address the health problems under consideration, and to evaluate their success and unintended consequences.

PBH 624 State Health Policy

This course provides an overview of health care policy in the United States, a close examination of selected current policy topics, and exposure to real-world health policymaking via case studies in various states.

PBH 625 Health Policy and Program Implementation

This course is designed to provide public health students with a conceptual framework for both understanding and integrating the dimensions and practice of the evolving field of public health. It addresses historical aspects and events that have impacted the field and emphasizes directed efforts to clarify and strengthen the discipline and functions of public health from a systems approach. It also reinforces the organization and management of mandated community health and related services provided by governmental health agencies.