Syllabus

Schedule

Course Weeks

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time (ET). Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday at 11:59 PM ET. Specific due dates can be found within the Brightspace Calendar feature in your course.

Week 1: Mar 2 – Mar 9
Week 2: Mar 9 – Mar 16
Week 3: Mar 16 – Mar 23
Week 4: Mar 23 – Mar 30
Week 5: Mar 30 – Apr 6
Week 6: Apr 6 – Apr 13
Week 7: Apr 13 – Apr 20
Week 8: Apr 20 – Apr 24

Week 1 – Introduction to Public Health, Research, and Writing

The assignment/discussion descriptions mentioned below are summaries. Please make sure to review the full assignment prompts in Brightspace. There may be additional readings/videos that are not mentioned in this weekly summary. Make sure to carefully review each module in Brightspace. 

Learning Objectives

• Explain public health history, philosophy, and values 
• Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services
• Discuss the science of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention in population health, including health promotion, screening, etc. 
• Identify public health sites in your community

Videos and Readings

• Video
  • Lecture: Principles of Public Health
  • Lecture: Importance of Evidence
  • Lecture: Avoiding Plagiarism
• Readings
  • Chapter 1: Public Health and Population Health: Understanding Health and Disease
    • Case Study Podcast: 1.2 Population Health Thinking: HIV/AIDS
  • Chapter 13: The Methods of Public Health Practice
    • Case Study Podcast: 13.1 Public Health Practice During Florida Hurricane Season
  • Jacobs JA, Jones E, Gabella BA, Spring B, Brownson RC. Tools for Implementing an Evidence-Based Approach in Public Health Practice. Prev Chronic Dis 2012;9:110324.

Activities

• Discussion: Introductions
  • Introduce yourself to your instructor and classmates. Where are you located in the world, and what has brought you to this program? Also, what are your public health interests and goals?

• Assignment:
•  Importance of Evidence Writing Assignment 
  • Using the information from this week’s readings and lectures, write a well-structured, 2-page essay explaining the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge. Use a health topic of interest to illustrate your argument and give specific examples of the type(s) of evidence that would be important to use. References should be cited in AMA style.

• Week 1 Quiz

Professional Development

• Professional Development Overview Video
• Professional Development: Tracking Spreadsheet
  • Begin your search for public health professionals and sites in your community. Identify 3 professionals you would like to interview and collect information on both the individual and the site.

Week 2 – Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Learning Objectives

• Explain the critical importance of evidence in advancing public health knowledge
• Explain the role of quantitative and qualitative methods and sciences in describing and assessing a population’s health
• List major causes and trends of morbidity and mortality in the United States or another community relevant to the school or program
• Explain biological and genetic factors that affect a population’s health
• Draft professional communication to public health sites

Videos and Readings

• Video
  • Lecture: Epidemiology and Biostatistics – The Basic Sciences of Public Health
• Readings
  • Chapter 12: Analytic Approaches: The Evidence Base for Public Health
    • Case Study Podcast: 12.1 Analyzing Forced Displacement As a Public Health Issue Using Mixed Methods
  • CDC’s Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.
  • CDC’s Chronic Disease Overview

Activities

• Discussion: Morbidity and Mortality 
  • Initial Post: The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The MMWR includes “timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.” Public health professionals rely on the MMWR to inform their practice.

    Select a common cause of morbidity or mortality in the US that is of interest to you. Search the MMWR series and select a recent MMWR that focuses on your disease or condition of interest. Describe the key information included in the publication in your own words (avoid using direct quotes), and answer the following questions:
     

    • What is the public health significance of the information?
    • How might public health professionals utilize the information in practice?
    • Note whether or not the selected disease or condition is a “notifiable condition” and what that means for public health professionals.
  • Response Post: Select a peer’s post that focuses on a different disease or condition than your initial post. Using the strategies discussed last week, search the peer-reviewed literature to identify an epidemiologic study of the disease or condition. The study should relate to your peer’s proposal for how public health professionals will use the information from the MMWR. It can build on or conflict with the MMWR.  In your response, briefly summarize the epidemiologic study and describe the study participants (i.e., who was enrolled in the study?). Remember to write this in your own words rather than quoting from the study. This should not be a detailed description of the study. Comment on how the results from this study build on or conflict with the information in the initial post. How does this relate to how public health professionals use the MMWR information in practice?
• Assignment: Viewing Grades and Instructor Feedback
  • Throughout your MPH courses, instructors will provide you with feedback within the grading rubrics.  For assignments, they may also provide feedback directly on your assignments. These comments will help you to understand the grade you received, what you have done well, and how you might improve future work.
• Week 2 Quiz

Professional Development

• Email Templates Assignment
  • This week you will draft an email to send out to the professionals you identified last week. This is a draft and should not be sent before receiving instructor feedback. In this email you will introduce yourself, express your interest in their work, and request an informational interview.

Week 3 – Social and Behavioral Health

Learning Objectives

• Explain behavioral and psychological factors that affect a population’s health
• Explain the social, political, and economic determinants of health and how they contribute to population health and health inequities
• Classify health promotion efforts as primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention
• Relate interventions to the socio-ecological model
• Discuss the impact of people-first language, stigmatization, and victim-blaming
• Engage with public health professionals using professional communication

Videos and Readings

• Videos
  • Lecture: Social and Behavioral Health
  • Using Evidence in Writing: How to Take the Lead
  • Allegories on Race and Racism

• Readings
  • Chapter 2: What Causes Health of Populations? An Eco-Social and Life Course Approach
    • Case Study Podcast 2.3: Cigarette Smoking: Considering the Eco-Social and Life Course Perspective
  • Chapter 3: At the Heart of Public Health: Prevention and Health Equity
    • Case Study Podcast 3.4: Fortification as a Health-Equitable Prevention Method
  • Chapter 4: Eco-Social Perspective: Individual Behavior and Health
    • Case Study Podcast 4.1: Disaster Preparedness for Public Health Professionals

Activities

• Assignment: Social Determinants of Health
  • Last week you highlighted a disease or condition from the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). This week, you will write a 500-word essay considering one disease or condition from last week with a focus on applying your understanding of social determinants of health. 

• Week 3 Quiz

Professional Development

• Send email requests

Week 4 – Health Policy and Administration

Learning Objectives

• Compare the organization, structure, and function of health care, public health, and regulatory systems across national settings

Videos and Readings

• Videos
  • Lecture: Introduction to Health Policy and Administration
  • Lecture: Public Health and Medicine
• Readings
  • Chapter 14: Systems Science, Implementation Science, and Public Health Programs
    • Case Study Podcast: 14.1 Making Your Pain Go Away/Creating an Opioid Epidemic

Activities

• Discussion: Addressing the U.S. Health Care System
  • Initial Post: Your textbook states that “the structure of the healthcare system plays an important role in shaping the health of the U.S. population”. Based on this week’s course materials and outside references from peer-reviewed journals, make an argument for which of the four models discussed would be the best healthcare system for the United States. Link it specifically to how adoption of this model could improve the U.S. rankings in critical health indicators. Remember to avoid first-person statements and focus on using evidence to support your position.
  • Response Post: Respond to at least one colleague to identify and discuss in your response(s) the stakeholders who must be considered in the implementation of the healthcare systems model they have chosen, as well as potential barriers to its implementation and acceptance.
• Week 4 Quiz

Professional Development

• If you have not heard back from any of the professionals you contacted, send a follow-up email.

Week 5 – Environmental Health

Learning Objectives

• Explain the effects of environmental factors on a population’s health
• Compare the organization, structure, and function of public health and regulatory systems across national settings

Videos and Readings

• Video
  • Lecture: Environmental Health
• Readings
  • Chapter 6 Eco-Social Perspective: Neighborhoods, Cities, and Health
    • Case Study Podcast: 6.3 The Health of Boston Neighborhoods
  • Chapter 7: Eco-Social Perspective: Countries, Politics, Policies, and Health
    • Case Study Podcast: 7.5 Meeting the Challenge of Obesity
  • Sauver S, Desrosiers M. A review of what is an emerging contaminant. Chem Cent J. 2014(8):15-21.

Activities

• Discussion: Environmental Health
  • Initial Post: Find a report in the popular press (e.g. newspaper, website) of a recent incidence of an environmental exposure in which a specific population was exposed to a contaminant of emerging concern. You should research the incident – including reading more than one report or article about the exposure. You should also review at least one primary research article that focuses on the contaminant of emerging concern you are discussing. Don’t forget to cite your references.

    Explain what the exposure was, who was affected, possible effects (short and long-term), how it happened, and why you think it happened. Also include any upstream solutions, including the role of any government agencies, you believe would solve the current exposure problem and keep it from happening again. A well-known example of this is the lead exposure in Flint, Michigan, but there are many others, so select a different incident of environmental exposure.

  • Response Post: Compare and contrast the exposure you discussed to that of a classmate. Include in your response a comparison of the national, state, and local public health and regulatory agencies that would be involved in responding to the two exposures. Also, critique your classmate’s solutions, including suggestions to improve or change their approach.

• Week 5 Quiz

Professional Development

• If you have not heard back from a professional, send a follow-up email.

Week 6 – One Health

Learning Objectives

• Explain an ecological perspective on the connections among human health, animal health, and ecosystem health

Videos and Readings

• Videos
  • Lecture: One Health
  • FAO and Antimicrobial Resistance
• Readings
  • Zinsstag J, Mackenzie JS, Jeggo M, Heymann DL, Patz JA, Daszak P. Mainstreaming One Health. EcoHealth. 2012. 9:107-110.
  • El Zowalaty ME, Järhult JD. From SARS to COVID-19: A previously unknown SARS-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) of pandemic potential infecting humans – Call for a One Health approach. One Health. 2020;9:100124.

Activities

• Assignment: Antimicrobial Resistance from a One Health Perspective
  • Write a 500-word paper reacting to the prompt below. First, discuss Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) from this One Health perspective, being sure to describe how AMR affects the health of animals, humans, and the environment. Then, engaging with the arguments made in the Zinsstag reading, evaluate whether or not you think that mainstreaming One Health is an effective response for addressing AMR globally.
• Week 6 Quiz

Professional Development

• No assignment this week. You will be submitting your informational interview notes next week.

Week 7 – Global Public Health

Learning Objectives

• Compare the organization, structure, and function of public health across international settings
• Explain how globalization affects global burdens of disease

Videos and Readings

• Videos
  • Lecture: Global Health
  • WHO: Guardian of Health
  • WHO Health Emergencies Programme
• Readings
  • Chapter 8: Life Course Perspective: Perinatal Period, Infancy, and Childhood and Health
    • Case Study Podcast: 8.4 Separating Children and Parents at the Border: When Scaling Up a Government Program is Antithetical to Population Health
  • Introduction in Merson, pp. xvii-xxiv
  • Chapter 18 in Merson, Globalization and Health
  • WHO website: Read “about WHO”
  • WHO in Emergencies

Activities

• Discussion: Global Health Collaboration
  • Initial post: Choose one of the latest emergencies or outbreaks WHO is involved in on the emergencies page of the WHO website.
    
    You are a WHO official assisting in this emergency. Write a letter to a partner you want to collaborate with and briefly explain the emergency. Explain the problems you are encountering and why you need their help in this emergency.

• • Response Post: Select one of your classmate’s requests for help. You are the partner responding to the WHO official’s request for help. Explain to the WHO official why your organization will agree to help and the skills/expertise your organization has in helping with such an emergency. Also, you should ask the WHO official any questions you still have regarding the emergency and what the WHO plans to do about it.
• Week 7 Quiz

Professional Development

• Informational Interview Notes
  • This week, you will upload your interview notes as a Word document to Brightspace. Notes can be informal; bullet or paragraph format is acceptable.

Week 8 – Public Health Connections

Learning Objectives

• Identify the core functions of public health and the 10 Essential Services and relate them to a public health site in your area
• Communicate audience-appropriate public health content through oral presentation
• Identify the fields of public health as it relates to MPH studies for career planning.
• Initiate planning process for Applied Practice Experience

Videos and Readings

• Video(s)
  • Lecture: Public Health Connections
  • Designing Your Career
• Reading(s)
  • ASPPH website: Areas of Public Health Study
  • ASPPH website: Public Health Profiles

Activities

• Discussion: Professional Development
  • Initial Post: Using the data gathered from the informational interview you conducted with a professional in the field, create a 5-minute presentation of your findings for your colleagues. In your presentation:
    • Begin with a brief description of the person you interviewed. Include their name, their role, and how long they have been in the field.
    • Next, you will present the type of site where they practice, the population they serve, their mission, and their primary public health activities relating them back to the 10 Essential Public Health Services.
    • Finally, highlight at least two of the most salient or impactful takeaways from your interview.
  • Response Post: As part of your MPH degree, you will be completing an Applied Practice Experience at a site similar to these that you and your classmates are presenting. Listen to your classmates’ presentations, and post responses to at least two of your peers addressing the following:
    • Discuss what type of practice experience you are interested in pursuing and relate your discussion to an agency and the professional interviewed by one of your peers.
    • Reflect on the experience of conducting an informational interview. What did you gain from this experience? What were the challenges? How will this impact your APE search?
• Week 8 Quiz

Professional Development

• Submit a presentation of your findings to the discussion board and respond to at least two of your peers.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• Public Health Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/public-health/
• Library Tutorial: Find an article
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Information Technology Services (ITS)

• ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.