If you want me to use a different email address for routine contact; please email me with your full name and preferred email contact address, also include your VCU email address..
MPH Program - Mission Statement
The Mission of the Virginia Commonwealth University's MPH Program is:
to promote, preserve and restore health.
The Mission of the MPH program at Virginia Commonwealth University is to promote health and well-being through commitment to public health education, excellence in research, and dedication to community service.
This program is one of two Council on Education for Public Health accredited programs in Virginia. Click here for information on the population perspective in public health, provided by the Association of Schools of Public Health.
Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires Virginia Commonwealth University to provide reasonable accommodation for any individual who advises us of a physical or mental disability. If you have a physical or mental limitation that requires an accommodation, or an academic adjustment, please arrange a meeting with me at your earliest convenience.
"Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 require Virginia Commonwealth University to provide an 'academic adjustment' or a ‘reasonable accommodation 'for students with documented disabilities. Students seeking academic adjustments or accom0odations must self-identify with the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities on the appropriate Campus. After meeting with the Coordinator, students are encouraged to meet with their instructors to discuss their needs, and if applicable, any lab safety concerns related to their disabilities
If you have not identified yourself to the Coordinator
of services for Students with disabilities please do
so immediately.
Coordinator: Cheryl Chesney-Walker ( clchesneywal@vcu.edu )
Campus location: VMI Building, 1000 E. Marshall Street, Room 301
Mailing address: PO Box 980124, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0214
Voice: 804-828-9782 | TTY: 804-828-4608 | FAX: 804-828-4609
Web: http://www.students.vcu.edu/dss/students/
You should also explore Americans with Disabilities web site
Honor system notice
All students are at all times expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the VCU Honor Code, the full text of which can be found at the Medical School’s website: . It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with its provisions. In brief, however, appropriate conduct includes but is not limited to:
- Refraining from committing any act of cheating, plagiarizing, facilitating academic dishonesty, abusing academic materials, stealing, lying or soliciting others to engage in any of the above.
- Refraining from acts of intimidation, threats of physical harm, or threats of retribution in an attempt to prevent the testimony of another member of the University community at any time after charges have been made.
- Reporting every instance in which the student has a suspicion or knowledge that academic conduct which violates this policy or its spirit has taken place to the faculty member responsible for instruction, or to a member of the Honor Council.
Personal Safety
What to Know and Do To Be Prepared for Emergencies at VCU
1. Sign up to receive VCU text messaging alerts http://www.vcu.edu/alert/notify. Keep your information up-to-date.
2. Know the safe evacuation route from each of your classrooms, Emergency evacuation routes are posted in on-campus classrooms.
3. Listen for and follow instructions from VCU or other designated authorities.
4. Know where to go for additional emergency information http://www.vcu.edu/alert.
5. Know the emergency phone number for the VCU Police (828-1234). Report suspicious activities and objects.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This 3 credit course, consistent with the above Mission Statement,
is designed to provide students with an overview of the
broad field of public health with an emphasis on its
application at the community level focusing on under
served populations. Upon completion of this course students
should be able to describe the skills necessary for the
various public health specialists to practice their craft
in the community. It is taught in room 6-032 in Sanger Hall. Check the syllabus for any change the day before class. Students should be able to describe the
organization of community health services and their relation
to, and interdependency with, national and state public
health agencies. They should be able to describe the
major tracts within public health in which the various
public health specialists apply their skills and how
these skills are melded together to improve community
health status. This includes the organization of public
health within various levels of government, and the components
of health care as it relates to under served populations.
The course is taught in 14, sessions conducted by experienced public
health and clinical faculty, with direction, coordination and presence of
the course director. The students are expected to read current journals on
public health issues and be conversant with relevant public health matters
currently under discussion in local, state and national media as well as
scholarly publications.
The various faculty, teaching this course, have many years of experience. Some have experience since the end of the second world war, the time at which the recommended reference, by Rosen, finishes. During the course we will update you on important policies and activities that have occurred in the last 50 years.
Course Objectives - General
Upon completion of this course students
should be able to describe the skills necessary for the
various public health specialists to practice their craft
in the community. They should be able to describe the
organization of community health services and their relation
to, and interdependency with, national and state public
health agencies. They should be able to describe the
major tracts within public health in which the various
public health specialists apply their skills and how
these skills are melded together to improve community
health status. This includes the organization of public
health within various levels of government, and the components
of health care as it relates to under served populations. The course objectives are derived from the 2003 studies by the Institute of Medicine: 1. ' Who will keep the Public Healthy'(using this link you can read all about the various competencies you should achieve in the PH program, depending on your track. See appendix-F, Page 267) and 2. 'Future of PH in the 21st Century". Also included in the objectives are those recommended by the Association of Schools of Public Health and those approved by the faculty as part of our current accreditation. Each course session will include several of these competencies as part of the session presentation.
PREREQUISITES:
For non MPH CAndidates the prerequisite courses include completion of an undergraduate degree, which contained courses basic to public health such as history of medicine, biology, chemistry, statistics, psychology & behavioral science.
The Director of the MPH Program admits students to the course
Blackboard
All students must use the Blackboard program to get
credit for this course. you will find this at http://blackboard.vcu.edu
Use your VCU logon and password (given to you when you
got your school email account) to logon to the course. If
more than one of your courses is available on the blackboard
system choose EPID-600 (Introduction to Public Health,
2009). When you log onto the Blackboard you will find the
course discussion web. The the tests (quizzes)
are available after each class, and found in the assignment
section. Use of 'Blackboard' discussion fora and
tests will be covered in the introductory session to be held
during the first week of the Fall Semester. I will email
all students enrolled on August 21st to be sure you can receive and respond to me by email.
The Weekly Quizzes are found by clicking on the assignment tab and choosing the assignment of the week. A week starts from 00:01am each Monday through 11:59pm the following Sunday. The quizzes are marked as they are completed. If you do not get 100% on your quiz on your first attempt you may repeat the quiz within the study week. A second attempt can garner no more than 90%, whlie a third attempt can garner no more than 85%. For this reason you are urged to take your quiz early enough to allow grading and potential repeat. Waiting until Sunday to complete a quiz negates any attempt to repeat the quiz to improve your score. All Blackboard submissions have a time & date stamp. Material turned in late will not be graded unless an extension has been granted 24 hours before the end of the study week.
Discussion Boards. Also found on Blackboard. Each week has a separate set of discusisons. You must write enough in the discusison to convince me you have read the week's readings and supporting web pages.
Course Web Pages
It is the intention of the lecturers that the students prepare for each weekly session by reviewing the material on the web pages in this course, plus the readings, and by using the web to search for topical information using the web links provided on the course's main web page, plus other links they may find for themselves and share with the class. Each lecture session is intended to be a give and take using the discussion board, to be sure that you understand the principles identified for each session. This survey course will provide you with examples of more than 30 different areas of public health practice.
Note on course Material: To avoid unnecessary resort to printed materials I have provided pdf. files for all the slides shows and for the text material for each session for those of you who really want printed matter. These should be downloaded into Adobe Acrobat unless you have some other valid .pdf page viewer, from which you can print the pages.
Journal Articles: Reading articles for this course is best done by going to the Library web page, selecting the TML (Medical Library) web page, then using the "E-Journal Search" option on the "Research" tab, to find the journal and article on-line.
Student Email list (to be posted when class begins)
go to Course Objectives