Curriculum

This is the foundational course for the Maternal and Child Health Certificate and is limited to MCH certificate students. It covers historical and theoretical underpinnings of maternal and child health problems and programs aimed to reduce morbidity, mortality, and health disparities. Skills in program planning and evaluation are taught through multidisciplinary teams working with academic and field-based faculty in local, state, federal, and nongovernmental agencies. Maternal and child health is defined as a field of public health that addresses underlying forces for these problems, the historical framework for ameliorating those problems, and current programs and policies that have evolved from that historical context. Maternal and child health programs are unique to reproduction and life course development; more common in women, infants, children, or adolescents; more serious in women, infants, children, or adolescents; or have manifestations, risk factors, or interventions that are different in women or during life course development.

Prerequisite: EPI/GH/BSHE/HPM 596, students enrolled in the MCH certificate only. As a cross-institutional course lead by faculty from Rollins and Georgia State University, the Leadership Collaborative Seminar will provide an intensive weekend Leadership Workshop led by Dr. Ariela Freedman utilizing the Clifton Strengths Assessments curriculum. Later in the semester, students will attend several presentations with prominent leaders in public health, health care, and human services. The course is focused on building the necessary attitudes and relationships to prepare the next generation of health leaders to provide and promote coordinated, comprehensive, culturally competent care, programs, and policies for diverse MCH populations. Learners will complete background readings as well as independent learning activities and directed opportunities for self-reflection in preparation for each session.

This course focuses on exploring the systems-level factors that influence health equity in maternal and child health (MCH) populations and their implications for program management and design. This course introduces program design and management principles and the history, ethical dimensions, and scope of reproductive health problems, programs, and policies.  Lectures and case studies will examine managing and implementing programs in socially diverse settings. Students will learn contextually appropriate management skills in program development, implementation and logistics, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and using logic models, as well as team dynamics and leadership.   Students will apply learned skills in ethical reflections, case studies, and a final project. 

Introduces the major issues in adolescent health, such as physical and psychosocial growth, teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and violence and abuse. Examines adolescent health services and adolescent health care-seeking behavior. Presents students with the major theoretical perspectives in adolescent health from an interdisciplinary point of view.

Fall, even years. Prerequisite: EPI 504 or EPI 530; BIOS 500 (may be concurrent enrollment). Presents issues in women’s health that are a biological function of being female, but not pathologies of reproduction. These include cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and breast and cervical cancer. Addresses health problems related to the physiological and psychological aspects of being female. These include depression, premenstrual syndrome, addictive behavior, and violence perpetrated by and against women.

Explores the social, biologic, and public health issues of sexually transmitted diseases and their overall importance in public health. Topics include the basic biology and epidemiology of the major STDs, the implication of transmission models for prevention, and psychosocial, behavioral, and economic aspects of STD/HIV. Cross-listed with EPI 532.

Prerequisites: EPI 530 or EPI 504, BIOS 500 and knowledge of SAS. This course introduces students to data sources and methods commonly used by epidemiologists in state or provincial health departments. Data sources include websites, census, vital statistics, surveys (PRAMS). Methods include record linkage, questionnaire design, mapping, trend analysis, perinatal periods of risk, cluster investigation, small number analysis and secondary data analysis.

Provides an introduction to the entire spectrum of vaccines and immunization: from basic bench research through testing, licensure, and use; program design, implementation, and evaluation; and social, economic, and political factors affecting the use of vaccines. Emphasizes the international setting, though examples are also taken from developed countries. Cross-listed with GH 566.

Prerequisite: EPI 504 or EPI 530. Reviews the epidemiology of human reproductive function and the methodologic issues involved in studying reproduction. Topics include male and female infertility, pregnancy loss, the impact of infectious diseases on reproduction, contraceptive efficacy, unintended pregnancy, and environmental and occupational impacts on reproduction.

Students will develop skills in abortion and maternal mortality measurement using WHO and CDC criteria in populations with safe or unsafe abortions. Students will also use case studies to evaluate the influence of political and legal decisions, ethics, human rights conventions, social justice, and religious approaches on abortion practice, contraception, post-abortion care, and abortion-related mortality. They will use Values Clarification and Attitudes Transformation (VCAT) techniques to clarify and inform their own values on abortion. They will learn to describe the impact of terminology and values on national and international abortion debates, describe/learn about clinical abortion services and treatment for unsafe abortion, develop grant proposals to support program activities that prevent abortion mortality, and develop well-articulated arguments to advocate for the global elimination of maternal mortality from abortion.

Covers the effectiveness, benefits and WHO/CDC/ACOG guidelines for contraceptive methods—and recent efforts to improve use of effective contraception in the United States. Includes historical and ethical perspectives on contraception policies, laws, and accessibility throughout the world—and their impact on fertility. Includes information on Norplant implants, morning-after approaches to birth control, the reversal of sterilization procedures, abortion, withdrawal, and male and female condoms. Will include a case study including program planning and budgeting for providing improved contraception in response to the Zika epidemic in Puerto Rico.

Emphasizes the significance and role of nutrition during pregnancy, lactation, and childhood in developing countries. Discusses the role of programs in developed countries.

This course provides an overview of theories, case studies, and social interventions related to gender and global health, with a focus on poor settings. Students are exposed to major theories in the social sciences and public health that have advanced an understanding of the institutional and ideological bases of gender inequities and of the power dynamics within couples and families that influence women’s and men’s health and wellbeing in these settings. The theoretical and empirical underpinnings of existing social policies and interventions intended to empower women in resource-poor countries are stressed, and case studies of the health-related consequences of these policies and interventions are discussed. By the end of the course, students will have developed the ability to evaluate critically and to identify the relationships between theory, evidence, and social interventions related to gender and health in poor settings.

This course explores the history of AIDS, changing trends in global epidemiology, recent advances in HIV clinical and social sciences, and the challenges to and multidisciplinary strategies for addressing the global HIV epidemic in the next 20 years. It will utilize a “reverse classroom” methodology with online lectures and documentaries, interactive classroom discussions with global health experts, and site visits to local HIV organizations.

This course will develop in-depth understanding of epidemiological, biological, and applied aspects of commonly used vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) of public health importance. The course content will be structured to review specific vaccines and VPDs (rather than overarching aspects of immunization programs covered in GH 566/EPI 566). Where relevant, the course lecturers will use examples from both developed and developing countries

This course will offer a sustained critical analysis of the complicated relationship between religion and sexuality, particularly in relation to issues of central concern to sexual and reproductive health. In the course students will examine the teachings of Christianity and Islam on sexuality from global perspectives, place those teachings in historical contexts, critically assess the impact of those teachings in the context of sexual and reproductive health initiatives in both national and international contexts, and work to align religion and sexual and reproductive health initiatives through group projects and case studies.

This course provides an introduction to population dynamics and international development as important contexts of public health. Participants will learn about how issues such as economic growth, environmental change, international politics, and culture interact with population forces such as fertility, aging, mortality, and migration, in ways that affect health and public health practice. The course will provide an introduction to concepts and methods from demography and to basic data analysis using Stata. Training will include lectures and structured debates, reading and discussion of published research and policies, and critical research and writing.

Instructs students in understanding the historical, social, political, legal, and economic factors and values that have influenced the development and implementation of health policy pertaining to women in the United States. Addresses current key policy and advocacy issues and examines varying views of women’s rights, roles, and responsibilities in the health care system.

Introduces the theory and principles of management. Topic areas include motivation, leadership, organizational change, human resources administration, organizational theory, strategic planning, and management control systems. Teaches practical applications of management theory through case studies and group discussions.

Introduces the basic accounting concepts, analytical techniques, decision-making tools, and vocabulary needed for effective management of health care organizations. The first part of the course is devoted to the fundamentals of accounting, including preparation and analysis of financial statements. The second part covers the generation, use, and interpretation of accounting information for making managerial decisions.

Introduces basic supply and demand concepts applied to health care markets, using microeconomic theory. Topics of discussion include what does or does not make health care distinctive as an economic good, the market for health care in theory and practice, and the behavior of stakeholders within the market given the incentives they face.

This course introduces students to the theoretical and practical applications of qualitative research. Emphasis is placed on qualitative methods most commonly associated with health services research, including informant interviews, document reviews, and focus groups. Students will gain practical experience with qualitative methodology as well as learn the basic approaches to mixing qualitative and quantitative methods. Students will complete a research proposal by the end of the semester that reflects a mixed method study.

Prerequisite: HPM 521 or permission of the instructor. Examines the role of pharmaceuticals in the delivery of health care and the economic principles and public policies that impact pharmaceutical markets. Includes topics related to drug pricing, competition, regulation, research and development, access to drugs, and substance abuse. Analyzes the strategies of various actors in pharmaceutical markets—branded and generic drug manufacturers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, physicians, and patients.

Prerequisite: HPM 500 or HPM 501 or permission of the instructor. Presents a theoretical framework to facilitate the continuous improvement of quality in health care organizations. Introduces multiple approaches, including outcome measurement and case management. Emphasizes team development, analytical statistics, and process knowledge

This course introduces students to management in the outpatient setting. Health care is transitioning into the lowest cost environment to provide care for patients. This shift from inpatient to outpatient care has created significant needs for strong managers who understand the complexity of providing care in this setting. By using a variety of case studies and practical experiences, students will be able to apply the concepts learned in a real-world setting.

Introduces the basic structure, pricing, and management of financial risks by private health insurance plans, and the estimation of future expenditures for public health insurance programs. Examines the operation of health insurance plans from both the buyer and the insurer perspectives; how health plans employ actuarial estimates to project the cost of their benefit packages and determine the premiums they charge; and methodology as it pertains to the projection of costs in public health insurance programs.

Prerequisite: HPM 500 or HPM 501 or permission of instructor. Explores the problems of uninsured Americans in obtaining health care. Reviews the scope of the current problem and the role of existing programs, as well as future directions for health policy. Addresses practical issues in program administration, with an emphasis on Medicaid and other indigent care programs.

Instructs students in understanding the historical, social, political, legal, and economic factors and values that have influenced the development and implementation of health policy pertaining to women in the United States. Addresses current key policy and advocacy issues and examines varying views of women’s rights, roles, and responsibilities in the health care system.

The seminar explores the complex and dynamic relationship between general health and mental health in the United States. Gaps in parity and proposal for achieving parity are discussed in the context health reform.