Master of Public Health

This is a lecture-based course with interactive discussion sections, intended to introduce students to the policy making process in the health sector and to give them an overview of the organization, management and financing of the US health system. We discuss the accessibility, cost, and quality of health care. The health care system in the community and its environment are examined to determine how they impact Health Services Administration.

This course provides students with statistical concepts and methods for analyzing continuous and categorical data, with an emphasis on learning analytical methods through hands-on experience with real data. Public health applications of descriptive statistics, basic probability concepts, one and two sample statistical inference, analysis of variance and simple linear regression are discussed. Students are introduced to a statistical computer package such as SPSS.

This course provides students with an introduction to behavioral and social science theory in the context of public research and practice. This course exposes students to a broad range of theories and frameworks commonly employed in the public health arena, and applicable to other health professions as well (e.g., medicine, nursing, social work). Theories of health behavior help researchers, practitioners, and participants (patients, community members) identify targets and opportunities for change as well as methods for accomplishing change. These theories are discussed using examples of their applications to numerous public health problems including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS, material and child health, violence, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and global health. In addition, this course emphasizes developing strong scientific literacy and skills to interpret empirical evidence in the context of research methods.

This course introduces the basic principles and methods of epidemiology and demonstrates its applicability in the field of public health. Topics to be covered include the historical perspective of epidemiology, ethics in epidemiology, measures of disease occurrence and association, study design, screening for disease in a population, causal inference, error, bias, and confounding. Students will learn to evaluate and interpret epidemiological literature.

This is a course in interdisciplinary research methodologies widely used in the social sciences and public health prevention studies and provides an introduction to social theory, conducting a literature review, framing research questions, research design, data collection and/or conducting fieldwork, and analyzing or interpreting research findings for presentation in a report or thesis. The course will address mixed methods, and qualitative data collection and analytical techniques. Students will learn how to identify an area of interest, formulate research questions, conduct a research method, and identify the appropriate data collection and analysis strategy.

This course is a 6-part lecture series which includes individual and panel presentations from experts in the field of public health and social justice. Each 2-hour session will include a lecture or panel presentation followed by a question-and-answer period.

This course serves as an introduction to evaluation methodology and evaluation tools commonly used to assess programs. Students will become familiar with the concepts, methods, and applications of program evaluation and will be able to propose an appropriate evaluation plan to assess the implementation and effectiveness of a program. This course also explores community health needs assessment methods. Emphasis is placed on methods for ensuring data integrity by exploring data collection, maintenance, and dissemination. Instructional techniques will include traditional lectures to highlight course readings and provide practical examples of “real life” program evaluation experiences. Students will also regularly work in small groups to reinforce course concepts from readings and lectures.

This course explores the challenges our population faces from health risks from environmental hazards, and our role in their creation and exacerbation. Students will explore the meaning of environmental health and the wealth of human health threats posed through factors in air, food, water, climate, and the built environment. The class will provide an overview of the main tools used in the field of environmental health to understand, quantify, and minimize these health risks. Case studies from domestic and international examples will be used to illustrate variations in risk with differences in exposure pathway, mode of action, susceptibility, and regulation. Close attention will be paid to exposure distribution as it relates to social inequity and injustice. Students will examine their own role in the globalized economy of today, and look for opportunities to improve on the future prognosis of environmental health.

Emerging bacterial, protozoal, and viral diseases represent an increasing threat to human health. This course aims to examine the impact of emerging and re-emerging disease agents which affect public health in the United States and worldwide. More specifically, this course will explore the challenges and strategies public health professionals will face in the diagnosis, prevention, control and surveillance of emerging health threats. This course will highlight the role of person, time and place in specific emerging health threats such as Malaria, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Influenza, MRSA, and Tuberculosis among many others.

The purpose of the course is to orient students to a maternal and child public health perspective for meeting the health needs of women, children, adolescents and families by examining the historical and current principles, programs, policies, and practices related to these populations. It is also designed to introduce students to global MCH, the presence of a wide gap in maternal child health outcomes between the developed and developing countries and it effect internationally. This course will explore health issues affecting women and children throughout their life course with a focus on the social determinants of health, health disparities and social justice.

This course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of the basic concepts, skills, models and resources currently utilized in the field of health education and promotion. The course will assist health care providers and public health professionals to holistically approach their work and acquire the essential tools to deliver information and strategies to improve health with a focus on underserved populations. Through lectures, weekly readings, assignments, in-class discussions/presentations, guest lectures from local public health experts and Community Health Promotion Work Practice, students will explore various approaches to community-based health promotion. We will explore how these approaches connect efforts to promote social justice and to end health disparities.

This course will provide an overview of the direct and indirect effect on health and the challenges public health workers confront in times of armed conflict. It will begin with a review of the history and the consequences of conflict for public health and health care delivery. It will then move to discussion about the health challenges and ethical dilemmas a health professional goes through in times of conflict and lessons learned from such experiences. The proactive strategies to challenge health crisis and to prevent conflict will conclude the course. Class discussion will be enhanced by visits from people who have had firsthand experience of armed conflict and the challenges it presents to health workers. Active student involvement highly encouraged.

Public health institutions are financed through a combination of public and private sources. An important component of this financing for many public health programs is grant funding. These funds are available from a variety of private foundations and government sources. Every healthcare professional in a public institution must be aware of these sources of funding and the means by which these funds are awarded. This course provides the student with an understanding of the grant writing process from proposal development, to funding, and on to implementation. Students will explore grant funding sources and prepare sample submissions based on real life scenarios from local Bay Area non-profit programs.

This course introduces students to the field of global public health with an emphasis on the developing world. The course orients students to the skills necessary for understanding patterns and illness in resource-poor countries. It explores the continuum between health and sickness in populations around the world, and emphasizes the influence of both global and domestic factors in contributing to variation in health. Students are introduced to the major health problems currently impacting the developing world and alerted to the importance of a global approach to solving these health problems. Additionally, they will be introduced to the major players in international health: the donor communities, Ministries of Health, and UN agencies.

This course will examine the contextual factors of primary health care and health disparities within the US. Current trends will be described and discussed utilizing case study methodology to examine health indicators among the US population. Students will gain an increased understanding of the impact of current trends such as increased negative health outcomes among minority and underserved populations. Students will have an increased understanding of the complexities associated with addressing health disparities in the United States. Issues of community organizing, community partnerships, empowerment, and community participation and their relevance in public health strategies, interventions, and policymaking efforts that address health disparities will also be examined.

This course will introduce students to the basic components of media in the U.S., and analyze how the media environment may serve as an influence on and determinant of individual and population health. Through lectures, in-class viewings, readings, assignments and lively class discussions, students will be challenged to explore the relevance of the media in their own lives, to connect this awareness to public health, and to consider how the media environment may be shaped to contribute to a society that promotes and enhances the public’s health.

This course is designed to provide an overview of the role and applications of GIS within the public health sector. GIS or Geographic Information Systems may be implemented using a variety of software to integrate, analyze and visualize geographic data. The class will familiarize students with ESRI’s software ArcGIS and its (or that of similar software) increasing applications in public health. This class will teach some of the basic tools of GIS, provide public health case examples with data for practice in class labs, and review the role of GIS in variety of public health contexts. The class will learn how GIS can be used to map and analyze distributions of public health risk factors and health outcomes to address health problems.

This course is the discussion section and seminar for the Social Justice in Public Health Lecture Series. In addition to the lecture series, this 3-unit course requires participation in a 2-hour discussion section and a final paper. Discussion sections will include small group discussions and activities designed to understand and synthesize the topics from the previous week’s lecture/presentation.

This course will provide students with an overview of the intersection between the criminal justice system and public health. Students will gain an understanding of how U.S. mass incarceration is a public health issue. Topics will include the history and philosophy of incarceration, criminal justice and policy, health issues in prisons, women and incarceration, reintegration after incarceration, the impacts of incarceration on families and communities, prevention, restorative justice, juvenile justice, disability justice, as well as institutional racism, police violence, mass incarceration, and the collateral consequences of incarceration.

This course will provide students with a foundation in constitutional law and civic education while focusing on a wide range of important issues in public health law, regulations, and the factors at play when developing advocacy strategies on issues that intersect public health and the criminal justice system. Students will gain an understanding of seminal and precedent-setting public health law cases that have led to policy reform in incarceration, prevention, correctional health, and reentry health.

The Public Health Field Study course is a structured and practical experience in a professional public health setting which allows students to apply and integrate the knowledge and skills acquired during the didactic period into public health practice. Independent Master of Public Health students complete the 400 hours required for PBHC 600-6 Field Study over 10-12 weeks. Joint and Dual degree students are required to complete 200 hours for PBHC-4 during a 6-week block. Through the Field Study, students apply their academic knowledge to “real world” situations that address public health issues. Students conduct field work as interns at public health organizations, which serve as field study placement sites. The role of the MPH student intern is to assist partnering organizations with specific public health projects, locally and abroad. Student participation should contribute to strategic resolutions, be valued by the Organization, and contribute to meeting its mission and goals. Through their field work, students help to build and strengthen working partnerships between field study placement sites and TUC.

Students conducting a Capstone project produce a substantial, original, independently written manuscript concerning a significant public health problem and share and defend their work during an oral presentation. The goal of the Capstone project should be to create a body of knowledge on which others can build. However, the overarching principle for determining suitability of a Capstone project is whether it provides students the opportunity to apply the skills and competencies acquired in the MPH program to a problem likely to be encountered in public health practice. All Capstone projects will be conducted under the guidance of a faculty advisor, secondary faculty advisor, and the course coordinator.

Students who enroll in PBHC 646 are required to take the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam sponsored by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Students register for the 1-unit TUC course PBHC 646 CPH Exam Preparation and also register with the National Board of Public Health Examiners (www.nbphe.org) for the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam. Students must register for PBHC 646 in the same semester in which they take the CPH exam - following the completion of core and concentration courses. Students must pass the CPH exam to pass PH 646. The Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam covers the core areas of knowledge offered in CEPH-accredited schools and programs, as well as crosscutting areas relevant to contemporary public health. The examination was crafted to assess a person’s knowledge of these competencies, regardless of his or her academic concentration.