Course Listing
The Master of Public Health Program offers a curriculum leading to the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree on behalf of a university-wide collaboration involving the Schools of Arts and Sciences, Business (Wharton), Dental Medicine, Education, Nursing, Social Work, and Veterinary Medicine. Both core and elective courses in this program are generally open to graduate students throughout the University and, in some cases, to advanced undergraduates, with permission of the instructor. The public health course offerings are listed below. Please refer to the Student Handbook for additional course listings. See the MPH program curriculum for more information.
(NOTE: Courses are 1 course unit (1 CU) unless otherwise specified)
Required Courses
PUBH 500 Introduction to Public Health. McCauley. (Fall) This course will provide a foundational overview of the field of public health and grounding in the public health paradigm. Content will include the history of public health, an introduction to the basic public health sciences (behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, policy and management), prevention of chronic and infectious diseases and injuries, future directions for public health, international health, ethics, context analysis (specifically concepts of urban health and health disparities), health promotion and disease prevention. This course is also listed as Nursing 570.
PUBH 500 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 501 Introduction to Biostatistics Xie. (Fall) This course is a series of lectures and laboratory sessions designed to provide a working knowledge of the fundamental concepts of biostatistics. Topics covered include probability, estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing including nonparametric techniques, correlation, regression, analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance. Emphasis in both lectures and labs is placed on understanding the proper application and underlying assumptions of the methods presented. Laboratory sessions focus on the use of statistical software as well as provide time for review of course material. This course is also listed as Epidemiology 520.
PUBH 501 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 502 Introduction to Principles and Methods of Epidemiology. Pinto-Martin. (Spring) This course provides an introduction to epidemiological methods and an overview of the role of epidemiology in disease etiology and in the planning, delivery and evaluation of health services. The population-based approach to collection and analysis of health data will be emphasized throughout the course. Through textbook reading, class discussion and review of the recent literature, students will become acquainted with the basic designs of epidemiological studies in theory and in practice. Students will develop the basic skills necessary to use epidemiological knowledge and methods as the basis for scientific public health practice. This course is also listed as Nursing 500.
PUBH 502 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 503 Environmental & Occupational Health. Emmett. (Spring) This course will provide a broad introduction to the scientific basis of occupational and environmental health. Content will address issues in the ambient, occupational and global environments as well as the tools, concepts and methods used in environmental health.
PUBH 503 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 504 Behavioral & Social Sciences in Public Health. Blank. (Fall) This introductory course is intended to provide students with a solid foundation in behavioral and social science theory, research, and interventions as they pertain to public health. Content will provide exposure to a broad range of theories, including the theoretical foundations of social science applications for help-seeking, gender, race, ethnicity and social class. These theories will be discussed using examples of their applications to numerous public health problems including HIV/AIDS, violence, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes.
PUBH 504 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 505 Public(3) Health Administration and Policy; An Introduction. Morssink. (Fall). This course will introduce students to basic frameworks from the fields of public policy and public administration. Students will acquire knowledge of the many interactive factors that shape health policies in the USA, and a comprehension of the major theories and modern dilemmas of health administration. Students will gain a critical understanding of the structural and cultural dynamics that make up the national public health and health care “systems”; core aspects of health economics; and the roles of politics, community participation and worldviews that shape these systems. Throughout the course the interface of health policy and administration with other domains in the political economy of the US will be described and analyzed. The goal of the course is to provide students with a fundamental grasp of public health policy and administrative issues, in order to apply this knowledge fruitfully in their diverse career paths, and , where applicable, to provide background for relating material in specialized policy courses to public health issues. The class will not address: legal and law issues, ethics and history.
PUBH 505 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 506 Methods for Public Health Practice. Tsou, Holmes. (Spring; 1.5 CU). The objective of this survey course is to provide students with greater familiarity in a range of methods essential to public health practice. The course will include data collection and evaluation topics that build upon basic knowledge in epidemiology and biostatistics to include qualitative research, principles and concepts of advocacy, uses of informatics in public health, among others. The course will pick up on emerging needs in public health.
PUBH 506 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 507 Public Health Ethics, Policy, and Law. Rosoff. (Fall 0.5 CU) What is best - or, at least, seems best -- for the public's health is not always consistent with society's view of what is legal, ethical, or good policy. This course introduces key concepts of legal, ethical, and policy analysis and attempts to demonstrate with current examples how these forces empower, guide, and constrain public health decision-making and actions. The course will combine lecture, Socratic dialogue, and group discussion in an informal setting. The course will feature guest lectures by several distinguished experts from Penn and from other universities.
PUBH 507 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 508 a, b, c, d Capstone Experience. Branas. (to be taken as four 0.5 CU segments beginning in the second term after matriculation. MPH students only) The capstone project will be a research or service project that will involve field experience in the Philadelphia area. The objective is to afford students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have are acquiring through their academic course work in a real life setting in an area of personal interest.
PUBH 508 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH Electives
PUBH 509: Injury Epidemiology and Prevention Branas (Spring)
This course will offer students an introduction to the field of injury epidemiology and prevention. As a major cause of death and disability throughout the world, injury is a leading public health problem. Prominent types of injuries to be discussed include those relating to motor vehicles, falls, and firearms. Moreover, behavioral, biological, economic, and social issues concerning the implementation of injury reduction policies will also be emphasized through case studies of specific injury scenarios and interventions. Students will finish with a basic understanding of injury mechanisms, how injuries can be studied from an epidemiologic perspective, and the many issues involved in preventing injuries.
PUBH 509 Syllabus (PDF)
PUBH 513 Sociology and Public Health: Using social theory in public health practice. Morssink (Summer; 0.5 CU). This exploratory course will give graduate students, particularly students of the health and human services professions, an exposure to the use of sociology for framing public health problems and activate their sociological imagination. After an introductory session on some major theoretical models for explaining social phenomena and ways of knowing, the class will address in the remaining sessions five major topics of interest at the interface of sociology and public health. We will discuss culture and cultural relativism; lifestyles and habitus; power and structural violence; social movements, organized social change, and activism; and professionalization/bureaucratization in the domain of public health. Throughout the discussions we will maintain a historical perspective, trying to understand the dialectics of change as they pertain to public health and the ever-changing social views on body, disease, illness and health.
PUBH 513 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 516 Introduction to Public Health Genetics Hughes-Halbert (Spring).
This course will provide a topical overview of issues in public health genetics. Through a series of lectures students will learn about the history of public health genetics, the role of genetics in public health, and application of genetic technology in clinical and research settings. Lectures will also address the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic testing in populations and research designed to identify susceptibility genes in diverse groups.
PUBH 516 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 517 Epidemiologic Study of Geography and Health. Wiebe (Spring). This course will provide an introduction to GIS in public health research and practice. Through a series of lectures and labs students will explore theories linking health and the environment, spatial analysis and spatial epidemiology, and applications of GIS-related data collection and analysis.
PUBH 517 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 519 Introduction to Global Health. Nathanson (Fall) This course presents an overview of issues in global health from the viewpoints of many different disciplines, with emphasis on economically less developed countries. Subjects include: millennium goals; measures of disease burden; population projections and control; environmental health and safe water; demography of disease and mortality; zoonotic infectious diseases; AIDS and HIV prevention; vaccine utilization and impact; eradication of poliovirus; chronic diseases;tobacco-associated disease and its control; nutritional challenges; social determinants of global health; harm reduction and behavioral modifications; women's reproductive rights; health economics and
cost-effective interventions; health manpower and capacity development; bioethical issues in a global context.
PUBH 519 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 520 Topics in Public Health Economics. Becher (Summer) This course uses basic economic concepts, principles and theories to examine selected topics relevant to the public health sector of the United States. Issues pertinent to the government in its provision, financing and regulation of healthcare will be addressed. Economic evaluation techniques often used in public decision-making will be reviewed. In addition, infectious diseases and risky and addictive behaviors will be examined from an economics perspective. Discussions of economic theories and methods for exploring each topic will be accompanied by examples drawn from existing research literature.
PUBH 520 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 521 Program Evaluation in Public Health. Salzer
This course introduces students to theoretical and practical aspects of program evaluation. Students learn about the application of data collection skills to all phases of developing a public health program or service innovation, from needs assessment to analysis of findings to implementation of changes based on results. Students learn to appreciate how these skills can be used as practical tools for identifying public health problems, program development, program implementation, including taking a reflective practice approach, ensuring equity and fairness in program delivery (i.e., combating disparities), and generally promoting public health through effective and efficient programmatic efforts. This applied course provides students with practical data collection experiences as well as requiring an in-depth evaluation project and report.
PUBH 521 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 522 Critical Appraisal of Occupational and Environmental Health Literature. McKenzie
This course provides a forum for students to critically appraise the occupational and environmental health as well as the public health literature using a systematic approach. Through this process, elements such as study hypothesis, study design, selection of the study population, and evaluation of the internal and external validity of an article will be examined. Methods learned in this course can be used as a framework to critically evaluate research articles in other disciplines. A student (occupational medicine resident, master’s student or doctoral student) will present an article at each session, which the group will discuss. The course director and other faculty will moderate the session. This course will allow discussion of methodological, regulatory, research, ethical, or health issues raised by the article presented and also allow the group to review epidemiology and statistical methods. Prerequisites: PUBH 501, PUBH 502.
PUBH 522 Syllabus (word document)
PUBH 523 Disease Detectives and Social Engineers. Cannuscio (summer)
This course will examine the fundamental challenges of public health, focusing on outbreaks, emergencies, and chronic environmental threats, as well as the actions required to remedy those threats. Using a case-based framework, the class will study historical and recent epidemics, methods used to identify the sources of those epidemics, actions taken to protect the public, and the social and economic ramifications of the epidemic. The course will center on the actions and policies that are central to public health. In particular, course readings and cases are designed to illustrate a major challenge of public health: that policy decisions often must be made in the setting of sparse or inadequate data. How do researchers, practitioners, and policymakers weigh the information available, secure necessary resources, build political will, and confront vested interests in order to protect or promote population health? To answer this central question, students will be expected to complete course readings, prepare for each session, and engage in critical thinking and dialogue in class. Active, informed participation during class sessions is the key to success in this course.
PUBH 523 Syllabus (word document)
PUBH 524 Ameliorating Disparities in the Public's Health. Morssink (spring)
This course is a follow up on the provost-sponsored seminar series that ran from 2003 to 2006. The title of the first seminar in 2003 Ameliorating Health Disparities: An exercise in Futility or a Tool for Real Social Change captures the reason for providing this course. Health disparities are a fact of social and professional life. Addressing Health Disparities was the second overarching goal of Healthy People 2010. Most policy initiatives towards eliminating health disparities have failed to close these gaps in population health profiles. Preparation work for Healthy People 2020 will highlight this problem. The course will provide the students with the tools necessary to make ameliorating health disparities part of their career, whether in advocacy, program management, scientific inquiry or education. The course covers methods, reasoning, problem definition, scope descriptions, lessons learned, and pathways for implementing better disparity outcomes in PH programs.
PUBH 534 Fatal Violence in the U.S. Sorenson (fall)
The purpose of this course is for students to gain an understanding of patterns of fatal violence and population and prevention approaches to violence. The course will focus on policies and regulations related to firearms, the primary mechanism by which violence-related fatalities occur in the U.S. We will address the life span of a gun, from design and manufacture through to use. In addition, we will address key aspects of the social context in which firearms exist and within which firearm policy is made.
The course, by design, is inherently interactive. Students are expected to attend all class sessions, participate in discussions, and to question assumptions. Each class session will include discussion. This course is also listed as CRIM 415.
PUBH 534 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 535 Urban Poverty and Violence: Ethnographic Perspectives. Bourgois (fall)
This seminar examines anthropological approaches to poverty and violence through a close reading of 8 ethnographies. Readings span many of the theoretical, political, sub-disciplinary and area studies debates in anthropology and the larger fields of poverty, social inequality, international development, and violence studies over the past century. My hope is to bring the subjects of urban poverty, violence, social suffering and a critique of neoliberal governmentality into the center of the disciplines of anthropology and public health specifically and the social sciences, humanities and medicine more broadly. In the seminar we will be bringing students from anthropology, and other social science and humanities disciplines in dialogue with students in public health, science studies, and clinical medicine. This course is also listed as ANTH 625.
PUBH 535 Syllabus (Word Document)
PUBH 598 International Immersion Experience in Public Health. Nguyen (summer)
This independent educational experience seeks to provide motivated students with the opportunity to expand their knowledge in global health through focused experiential learning at international sites that provide direct public health services. Such learning will allow students to gain real-world experience concerning the core competencies of public health (health policy, behavior/social sciences, environmental health, epidemiology, or biostatistics), with a focus on international public health practice. This course is intended for, but not limited to, students with no prior international public health field experience. MPH students only.
PUBH 598 Syllabus (word document)
The following are university wide courses identified by MPH faculty as potential MPH electives:
Nutrition
Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology
Epidemiology/Biostatistics/Demography/Research Methods
Environmental/Occupational Health
Behavior, Psychology, Community Health
Policy and Health Care Management
Ethics
History and Sociology of Science
Anthropology
ANTH 437 Cultural Models and Health. Barg (Spring)There is a great deal of variation among population groups in the incidence of and mortality from most major diseases. Biological and social factors can account for some of this variation. However, there is increasing evidence that behavior- and the cultural models that are linked to health behavior- play an important role too. Cognitive anthropology is the study of how people in social groups conceive of objects and events in their world. It provides a framework for understanding how members of different groups categorize illness and treatment. It also helps to explain why risk perception, helpseeking behavior, and decision making styles vary to the extent they do. This seminar will explore the history of cognitive anthropology, schema theory, connectionism, the role of cultural models, and factors affecting health decision making. Methods for identifying cultural models will be discussed and practiced. Implications for health communication will be discussed.
Anth 441 Cross-Cultural Approaches to Health and Illness. Barg (Spring) This course will explore the ways that health and illness-related beliefs and behaviors develop within communities. We will identify the forces that shape these beliefs and behaviors and, ultimately, affect outcomes. Emphasis will be given to the relationships among sociocultural, political and biological factors and the ways that these factors interact to produce the variation that we see in health and illness related attitudes, behaviors and outcomes across cultures.
Anth 626 Theory and Methods in Medical Anthropology. (Spring 2009) Intensive analysis of the application of anthropological theory and methodology to problems of human health and health care. Offered for students in the Medical Anthropology Program. Other qualified students may enroll with the permission of instructor.
NURS 513 Obesity and Society. Compher. (Fall) This course will examine obesity from scientific, cultural, psychological, and economic perspectives. The complex matrix of factors that contribute to obesity and established treatment options will be explored. Through a varied and interdisciplinary format, including lectures from obesity researchers across campus, the course will covers epidemiology, sociological, psychological, biological, nutritional, treatment, prevention, adult and pediatric obesity issues.
NURS 516 International Nutrition: World Hunger. Compher. (Spring) A detailed consideration of the nature, consequences, and causes of hunger and under nutrition internationally. Approaches are explored to bringing about change, and to formulating and implementing policies and programs at international, national, and local levels, designed to alleviate hunger and under nutrition. This course will be run as an interdisciplinary course, with lectures from investigators across the campus whose research includes nutritional issues touching on world hunger.
Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology
NURS 561 Human Genetics. Spinner. (Fall)This course teaches basic principles of molecular and human genetics to provide a framework within which to understand the use and impact of continuing advances in human genetics.
EPI 575 Introduction to Genetic Epidemiology. Kanetsky, Mitchell, Rebbeck, Spielman, Stopfer. Recent advances have made it feasible to incorporate data on potential genetic risk factors into traditional epidemiologic studies. Hence, there is an increasing need for epidemiologists to understand the genetic basis of disease, and incorporate the collection and analysis of genetic information into studies of disease etiology. The objectives of this course are to provide epidemiologists with an understanding of: 1) basic genetics, 2) the tools used by molecular and genetic epidemiologists, and 3) the integration of genetic data into traditional epidemiologic study designs. This course consists of a series of lectures and discussions focused on the critical appraisal of genetic epidemiological literature. After completing this course, students will be able to read and interpret molecular and genetic epidemiologic studies, and design epidemiologic studies that incorporate genetic data collection and analysis.
Epidemiology/Biostatistics/Demography/Research Methods
EPI 632 Introduction to Medical Informatics. Holmes. (Summer) This course is designed to provide a survey of the major topic areas in medical informatics, especially as they apply to clinical research. Through a series of lectures and demonstrations, students will learn about topics such as databases, natural language, clinical information systems, networks, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, decision support, imaging and graphics, and the use of computers in medical education.
EPI 521 Statistical Methods for Epidemiological Research. Berlin. (Spring) This seminar focuses on statistical methods for analyzing case-control, cross-sectional, and cohort studies, and clinical trials. Topics include simple analysis of epidemiologic measures of effect; stratified analysis; logistic regression; power and sample size; confounding; interaction; and the use of matching. All methods are practiced on existing data sets. Occasional laboratory sessions focus on the use of statistical software in epidemiologic research.
EPID 532 Database Management for Clinical Epidemiology. Holmes. (0.5 CU, Spring) This course provides students with an introduction to the techniques of database management as they apply to clinical research. Students learn how to design and implement computerized databases, perform basic query and reporting operations, migrate data between various file formats, prepare databases for statistical analysis, and perform quality assurance procedures. This course focuses on the practical issues of database management and is intended to support each student's planned research enterprise.
EPI 542 Measurement of Health in Epidemiology. W. Holmes. (Fall) This course is a series of lectures and discussion sessions designed to introduce the student to the concepts of health measurement as applied to epidemiologic studies. Topics covered include: the basics of health measurement theory; critical evaluation of the current status of health measurement in a chosen field; and techniques for developing and using measurement scales, including item analysis, validity and reliability testing, and qualitative methods.
EPID 646 Reproductive Epidemiology. Barnhart. (Spring) This course addresses epidemiological research issues as they apply to important clinical topics in obstetrics and gynecology and related clinical disciplines. Lectures and workshops are designed to acquaint students with seminal issues in the field of reproductive epidemiology, to use a body of literature to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of epidemiological research designs as they have been applied to obstetrics and gynecology and related clinical disciplines, to expose students to the range of topics studied, to teach advanced epidemiologic principles using a problem-based approach, and to stimulate students interested in reproductive epidemiology to develop independent research questions.
VMED607 Veterinary Public Health. Smith. (Spring) This course examines the nature and scope of animal-human interactions with emphasis on the consequences of this relationship from an epidemiologic viewpoint. Included are the zoonotic diseases, those naturally transmitted from animals to man, and the role of pets in society. The traditional involvement of veterinarians in prevention and control of food borne diseases and in public health practice will also be discussed.
VCSN631 Ecological Epidemiology. Smith. (.33 CU) This course is concerned with the epidemiology of infectious diseases of domestic and feral animal species. The techniques of ecological epidemiology will be used to illustrate and explain the population biology of the causative organisms and how this is relevant to the control of infectious disease. The course will consider the dynamics of epidemic and endemic infections, the relevance of herd immunity and other characteristics of the host population, and methods for assessing the likely impact of control strategies. The illustrative examples will be drawn from a wide variety of animal species: from domestic ruminants to exotic species such as fish and grouse. All the mathematical techniques required will be taught as an integral part of the material.
SOCI 607-401 Introduction to Demography. A non-technical introduction to fertility, mortality, migration, and urbanization, and the interrelations of population with other social and economic factors.
PUBH 512 Injury Mechanisms: Incorporating Injury Mechanics into Injury Control. Winston. (Spring, 0.5 CU) An integrated approach to injury control research will be discussed. Basic biomechanical engineering principles important in trauma research will be presented by lecture, demonstration, video and references. Methods for incorporating these concepts into injury epidemiological studies will be discussed. References will be provided.
SWRK 774 Program Evaluation. The purpose and methodology of accountability research in human service agencies are explored with emphasis on strategies at various stages of program evaluation in relation to the social, political, and fiscal process of the agency and its community. Utilization of research findings to modify agency programming and the variety of roles available to the evaluator are also stressed.
Environmental/Occupational Health
VPTH 633 Ecotoxicology. Poppenga. (Fall, 2 CU) The major objective of this course is to introduce veterinary students to ecotoxicology, defined as the ecological effects of pollutants, and the concept of ecosystem health. These are emerging disciplines within which veterinarians can play an important role. The course will be composed of both lectures, designed to provide knowledge of basic principles of ecotoxicology, and student group presentations and discussions of relevant topics. Specific lectures will focus on measuring the effects of pollutants on ecosystems, wildlife serving as monitors of environmental quality, important environmental pollutants such as insecticides, petroleum hydrocarbons and metals, and approaches to rehabilitating damaged ecosystems. The course grade will be based on the presentation of cases and student participation in case discussions.
NURS 679 Issues in Occupational Environmental Health. Arendasky. (Fall) Designed as an exploration of concepts, issues, and content relevant to occupational environmental health, this course is presented as a series of lectures, seminars, readings and field experiences. Students can expect to gain an understanding and appreciation for the specialty of occupational environmental health and the health professional roles in this area of specialization.
NURS 680 Advanced Practice in Occupational Environmental Health. Arendasky. (Fall) This course is to be taken during the last semester of the Occupational Environmental Health Program or as permitted. It is meant to provide an opportunity for the student to focus on more complex issues and practice in the occupational health setting, integrate course work and to experience the role of the provider in occupational health in collaboration with an experienced preceptor.
Behavior, Psychology, Community Health
NURS 532 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Cotterell. (Summer I) This course comprehensively presents a time-sensitive, goal-oriented psychotherapy, which has been demonstrated to be effective in over 75 controlled outcome studies. The course covers the cognitive formulation for a number of disorders, cognitive conceptualizations, treatment planning and a variety of cognitive and behavioral interventions. Adaptations for depression, anxiety, personality disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders, chronic pain, and relationships problems will be discussed.
NURS 550 Home Health Care Concepts: Management and Delivery of Community-Based Care. Buhler-Wilkerson. (Fall) This course examines the major aspects of home-based care across patients’ life spans from acute to long term care. New trends, advances and issues in home management of complex conditions, innovative delivery systems and legal, ethical and policy consideration will be explored.
COMM 637 Public Health Communication. Hornik. Theories of health behavior change and the potential role for public health communication; international experience with programs addressing AIDS, smoking, cardiovascular disease, illegal drug use, child mortality and other problems, including evidence about their influence on health behavior; the design of public health communication programs.
COMM 577 (also PSYCH 774) Attitude and Behavior Prediction. Fishbein. An introduction to the concept of attitude and its role in behavioral prediction. The course will cover standardized attitude measurement instruments, expectancy-value models, and psychological or individual level theories of behavioral prediction and change (e.g., Health Belief Model, Theory of Reasoned Action, Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory, Theory of Interpersonal Relations and Subjective Culture, and the Transtheoretical Stage of Change Model). Emphasis will be placed upon how an understanding of theory and measurement is necessary for developing effective behavior change interventions.
NURS 505 Culture and the “Isms” in Health Care. Dobal. (Fall) This course provides a forum for examining the multidimensional issues of culture and the “isms” related to delivery of health care. It utilizes selected conceptual/theoretical formulations about culture, cultural sensitivity, cultural competency, health beliefs, and health behaviors as a basis for discussions. The course focuses on disparities in health care with specific emphasis on diverse cultural issues related to ethnicity, race, gender and sexuality, age, body habitus, class, spirituality, professional practice, and workforce issues. The specific aims of the course are to provide the opportunity for students to explore the concerns of the individual as a member of a cultural group or groups and apply principles for the provision of culturally competent health care.
EDUC 513 Development of the Young Child. Goodman. This course will blend an explanatory and descriptive account of behavioral evolution over the yearly years of life. After a review of "grand" developmental theory and the major themes of child change (from images to representation; from dependence to independence; from instinctual to social beings), this course will survey the child's passage from infancy through the early school years. While the emphasis will be on the nature of the child--what she/he sees, feels, thinks, fantasizes, wants and loves--these realities will be understood in terms of developmental theory. At each stage, the course will review the development of cognition, personal identity, socialization, and morality in pluralistic contexts.
EDUC 522 (AFAM522, PSYC706) Psychology of the African-American. Stevenson.
Using an Afrocentric philosophical understanding of the world, this course will focus on psychological issues related to African Americans, including the history of African American psychology, its application across the life span, and contemporary community issues.
SSWK 706 Policies for Children and Families. This course examines policies for children and their families with a specific focus on child welfare policy. The course examines the interrelationship between: the knowledge base on child abuse and neglect; evaluations of interventions; programs and policies designed to protect maltreated children; and child welfare policy at the state and national level. The course also examines federal and state laws that govern the funding and operation of child welfare systems; the history of child welfare policies; the operation of child welfare systems; and the legal, political and social forces that influence the structure and function of child welfare systems in the United States.
NURS 533 Victimology. Brown, K. (Fall, Spring & Summer I) This course examines the wide range of victimization experiences from the perspective of the victim, their families and society. Crimes to be studied include workplace violence, corporate crime, robbery, burglary, assault, rape, stalking, domestic violence, homicide, suicide, elderly abuse and child sexual abuse and exploitation. The role of the medical examiner, health care providers and the FBI as they relate to victims of crime will be discussed. Emphasis will be given to exploring the elements of each crime and response patterns to victimizations. Services available to victims of crime will be discussed.
NURS 626 Family Systems Theory I. Gillis-Donovan. This course focuses on the process of human development in the context of the family relationship system. A theoretical framework for understanding this process and the therapeutic methods that derive from it are presented.
SWRK 775 Intimate Violence. The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the definition, theories, causes, processes, consequences, and social interventions in intimate violence. The course will attempt to provide insight on the phenomenon of intimate violence by examining the ways in which it affects survivors, perpetrators, and their children. This will be accomplished by reviewing the current research as well as by exploring how intimate violence is constructed by the participants on the personal, interpersonal, and social structural level.
Policy and Health Care Management
SSW 808 Mental Health Policy (Currently offered as Indep. Study). Solomon and Hadley. (Spring) The focus of this course is on policy and policy issues that define and influence the care and treatment of persons with mental illness from colonial times to the present. The course will examine the primary social, political, economic, legal and philosophical forces that have influenced mental health delivery in the US over different historical time periods and the resulting organizational, financial, administrative, and management structures of mental health service delivery systems. The interface with other major service delivery systems, including welfare, criminal justice, primary health care, and social security will be addressed.
SOC 640/N640: Health Care and Social Policy. Aiken & Sochalski. (Spring) An interdisciplinary course designed for grad students. The course content includes an analysis of strengths and weaknesses of present U.S. health care arrangements, the impact of health care expenditures on the national economy, various proposals to extend health insurance to those without coverage, strategies and policies to contain medical expenditures and an analysis of public policy options concerning the present and future health car workforce. The Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics holds a health policy seminar series that is a highly recommended adjunct to this course.
HCMG 850 Health Policy Analysis. Pauly & DeParle. (Fall) This course will examine how public policy actions affect costs, quality, access, and profits in the health care sector. Because the public sector arguably dominates much of the health care marketplace--Medicare spending alone accounts for roughly a third of the revenues of every health care provider--public policy decisions necessarily affect virtually every aspect of the business of health care. The course will analyze how policy analysts, Executive branch officials, legislators and their staffs, and private sector organizations determine whether policy interventions are efficient or equitable. It will also examine the political process that produces legislation and government actions, including the role of provider and business trade associations and the challenges they face in effectively navigating the policy making process. It will apply these general ideas to a set of crucial policy issues. Medicare reform, coverage of the uninsured, prescription drug coverage for the elderly, privacy and patient protection rules, managed care and the Patients' Bill of Rights, reimbursement issues will all be discussed.
HCMG 854/211 (Legal Studies 811/211) Legal Aspects of Health Care. (Fall) This course offers a current and historical overview of legal regulation of the health care enterprise. By tracing developments from past to present, one can better understand what is happening now and project what the future will bring. Attention is paid to legal and regulatory elements that affect operational decisions of health care providers and managers and that impact development of markets for new products (e.g., pharmaceuticals) and services. Also considered are the social, moral, and ethical issues the law addresses in trying to balance the interests, needs and rights of the individual against those of society.
HCMG 855-002 Management of Health Care for The Elderly. (Wharton Health Care, An MBA Mini-Course) (Fall)This course is designed to provide students with an appreciation of long-term care, its past, present and future roles within the overall health care system in our country. Major issues in long-term care facing the present and future elderly population, such as institutionalization, financing, access, managed care, quality and case management will be discussed in detail.
HCMG 859/204 Comparative Health Care Systems. Danzon. (Fall)This course examines the structure of health care systems in different countries, focusing on financing, pricing and reimbursement, delivery systems and adoption of new technologies. We study the relative roles of private sector and public sector insurance and providers, and the effect of system design on cost, quality, efficiency and equity of medical services. Some issues we address are normative: Which systems and which public/private sector mixes are better at achieving efficiency and equity? Other issues are positive: How do these different systems deal with the tough choices, such as decisions about new technologies? Our main focus is on the systems in four large OECD countries--Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom--but we also look at other countries with interesting systems –including Italy, Chile and Singapore. We will draw lessons for the US from foreign experience and vice versa.
HCMG 901/301 Cost-Benefit And Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. (Fall) This seminar-style course provides an introduction to the use of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis in health care. We examine both the underlying theory and the practical application of these techniques, using studies from the literature and issues discussed by students in class. The focus is on applications in health care, which differ from those used in contexts of public decision-making.
SSW 701 Health and Mental Health Policy. Culhane. (Fall) This course is designed to provide students with an overview of the multi-dimensional aspects of the health and mental health care delivery systems. The following questions are explored: How are these health care systems organized, financed and delivered? What are the current issues and problems? How do federal and state policy proposals address these? What are the consequences of these proposals for different population groups?
BIOE 601 Proseminar. Fiester. This course provides an introduction to social science research design and methods for students interested in conducting research on issues in bioethics. The course is appropriate for students who plan to become researchers as well as those who will use research findings to make or challenge arguments in policy statements or other writings. Emphasis is placed on the logic of research design as the way to relate topic of inquiry with method so that evidence produced is pertinent and useful to the researcher’s audience. Students will design research projects and explore a variety of methods available to conduct research. Emphasis is on qualitative research. Students will also learn to integrate research ethics
into the formulation and design of their inquiries.
History and Sociology of Science
HSS 503: Current Issues in the History of Medicine
This seminar surveys a variety of popular and scholarly approaches to the study of medicine and its history, ranging from traditional physician-centered narratives to more recent cultural and epistemological methodologies. The potential value of journalistic, literary, sociological, anthropological, biomedical, and other approaches to the historical study of health, disease, and health care are explored.