Course Sequence - Online Part-Time MPH in Global Epidemiology
Fall 1
Includes 6 total credit hours.
This course is designed to teach students the fundamentals of applied statistical data analysis. Students successfully completing this course will be able to: choose appropriate statistical analyses for a variety of data types; perform exploratory data analyses; implement commonly used one and two-sample hypothesis testing and confidence interval methods for continuous variables; perform tests of association for categorical variables; conduct correlation and simple linear regression analyses; produce meaningful reports of statistical analyses and provide sound interpretations of analysis results. Students will be able to implement the statistical methods learned using SAS and JMP software on personal computers.
The lab portion of BIOS 500 is designed with two purposes in mind: 1) to illustrate concepts and methods presented in the lectures using hands-on demonstrations and 2) to introduce SAS, a widely used statistical software package, as a data analysis tool. By the end of the semester, you should be able to produce and interpret statistical output for methods learned in BIOS 500 lecture.
Online Asynchronous. 1 hour online module addressing 4 of the 12 CEPH required Foundational Knowledge items. The module will begin with an introduction to a "Public Health Perspective followed by the 4 items of foundational knowledge.
Spring 1
Includes 6 total credit hours.
Prerequisites: BIOS 500 or permission of instructor. For EPI students Only taken in the spring semester of their first year. The course covers fundamental concepts in applied simple and multiple linear regression analyses, one- and two-way analysis of variance and binary logistic regression. Concepts in survival analysis will also be introduced. Students will learn when and how to apply these methods. The emphasis will be on practical data analysis skills rather than statistical theory; however, wherever possible and feasible, mathematical details of regression models will be presented. In-class data analysis examples will employ SAS and R software. Homework assignments, quizzes and exams will include data analyses using SAS and R, as well as other questions designed to reinforce concepts and assess foundational competencies. Teaching assistant office hours will consist of organized review/recitation sessions, and will also include opportunities for student questions.
Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
PUBH students will join students from health professional programs across the Woodruff Health Sciences Center to receive didactic training to perform effectively on interprofessional teams and to apply leadership and management principles to address a relevant public health issue. Interprofessional teams will compete in a health challenge competition designed to address public health and clinical issues of importance to the Atlanta community.
Prerequisites: GEH, GH, and GLEPI students only.
The goal of the course is to equip students with critical perspectives to address current and future global health challenges and opportunities as public health professionals and global citizens in this increasingly interdependent world. The course explores historical milestones, actors, assumptions, context and theories driving selected global health priorities in policy, programs and research. To do this, the course will enhance the skills of critical thinking, assessment of evidence from multiple perspectives and application of evidence in formulation of policies, programs and research priorities. A recurring theme throughout the course is that there are common global drivers influencing the health of populations and that cross-cutting issues of equity and systems transcend settings.
Fall 2
Includes 6 total credit hours.
EH 500 is a survey course designed to introduce public health students to basic concepts of environmental sciences, to the methods used to study the interface of health and the environment, to the health impacts of various environmental processes and exposures, and to the public health approach to controlling or eliminating environmental health risks. To address these concepts, basic environmental health principles (exposure assessment, environmental toxicology, environmental epidemiology, risk assessment), as well as specific environmental health issues including water and air pollution, hazardous chemical/waste exposures, climate change, and environmental drivers of disease ecology, will be covered.
Prerequisite/concurrent: BIOS 500. Emphasizes the concepts and premises of the science of epidemiology. Methods of hypothesis formulation and evaluation are stressed. Techniques for quantifying the amount of disease (or other health indicator) in populations are introduced, followed by discussion of epidemiologic study designs useful for identifying etiologic factors and other relevant correlates of disease. Students gain facility with the calculation of basic epidemiologic measures of frequency, association, and impact. The concepts of random variability, bias, and effect modification are examined in detail. The use of stratified analysis, including Mantel-Haenszel techniques, is explored. Inferences from study results are discussed. Students are required to analyze and critique studies from the current medical and scientific literature.
Spring 2
Includes 6 total credit hours of required courses.
Prerequisites EPI 530, BIOS 500, EPI 534 and BIOS 591P or BIOS 501 concurrent. This course develops epidemiologic concepts introduced in EPI 530: Epidemiologic Methods I, providing a more advanced discussion of issues related to causality, bias, study design, interaction, effect modification and mediation. It will also provide opportunities for the application of these examples via analysis of epidemiologic data.
The purpose of this course is to provide students with practical skills and knowledge for designing, starting and implementing epidemiologic studies in research and practice.
Department of Epidemiology
Fall 3
Includes 4 credit hours of required courses and at least one elective course.
Prerequisites: EPI 530, 533/534, 539/540/545, BIOS 500, and 591P. Covers concepts, methods, and application of key mathematical modeling approaches used to evaluate multivariable data from epidemiologic studies: logistic regression, Cox regression, collinearity, modeling strategy for determining a best model, goodness of fit, and ROC curves. The course also teaches a broader philosophy and approach for constructing the appropriate models for answering the question under study.
Spring 3
Includes 4 credit hours of required courses and at least on elective course.
Required for all MPH students. Introduces students to the US health care system, both the public and private sector. Examines the structure of the health system, current topics in health care reform, the policy process, and advocacy for public health.
EH 500 is a survey course designed to introduce public health students to basic concepts of environmental sciences, to the methods used to study the interface of health and the environment, to the health impacts of various environmental processes and exposures, and to the public health approach to controlling or eliminating environmental health risks. To address these concepts, basic environmental health principles (exposure assessment, environmental toxicology, environmental epidemiology, risk assessment), as well as specific environmental health issues including water and air pollution, hazardous chemical/waste exposures, climate change, and environmental drivers of disease ecology, will be covered.
Fall 4
Includes two required courses and at least two elective courses.
Provides the student with basic knowledge about the behavioral sciences as they are applied to public health. Content includes an overview of each discipline and current issues for students who are not enrolled in the BSHE MPH Program.
An Applied Practice Experience (APE) is a unique opportunity that enables students to apply practical skills and knowledge learned through coursework to a professional public health setting that complements the student's interests and career goals. The APE must be supervised by a Field Supervisor and requires approval from an APE Advisor designated by the student's academic department at RSPH.
Department of Epidemiology
Any Summer
Students will complete their thesis research over a summer semester.
Enables students to apply the principles and methods learned in an academic setting through the preparation of a monograph that embodies original research.
Department of Epidemiology
All students in the HDGH must complete a thesis project in order to fulfill the requirements of the MPH degree. This project is a rigorous academic requirement; as the culmination of the MPH experience, it is an independent, theory-based inquiry in which the student applies knowledge and skills acquired during the MPH program to the scholarly study of a public health problem. In HDGH, the thesis project may take the form of either a Special Studies Project (e.g. a deliverable for an organization) or a Research Project (e.g. systematic review, analysis of primary or secondary data) using quantitative, qualitative or other methodologies and presented in a traditional style or manuscript style.
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