Before doing anything else, bookmark this URL http://www.commed.vcu.edu/IntroPH/Lectures.htm

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

This course addresses the following MPH competencies:
1A (1,3,9), 1B (1,2,5,8), 1C(1,2,3,4,5,8,10), 1D(1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9), 1E(1,2,5,8,10), 1F(1,2,3)
IIA (1,2,3,4,5,6),  IIB(1,4,5,6,9,19,), IIC (2, 7,9)

Key Words

Public Health, Goals, Objectives, Health Care System, Content of Public Health, Core Content, Expanded Content, Resources. Public Health Law, Public Health Ethics.

READINGS.

The required readings for the Introduction to Public Health practice are found in:
Introduction to Public Health by Mary Jane Schneider, 2nd edition. Published by Jones an Bartlett in 2006 and
Essentials of Public Health. Bernard J Turnock, Jones & Bartlett. 2007

Strongly recommended: The Future of Public Health (available on-line - see below), published by Institute of Medicine in 1988, and 'The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century', these should be scanned before each class.

Two useful books, not required for this course but which will help if you have not decided on which path to use for your future career are
Public Health in Action by Jan K, Carney ISBN13 - 978-0 -7637 - 3447-3, 2006 AD and
Public Health - Career Choices that make a Difference Bernard J Turnock. ISBN 13-978-0-7637-3790-0. 2006 AD
The first book focuses on PH philosophy with recent examples from local health departments in the North East. while the second focuses more on job content in the major avenues of PH careers and the administrative & policy challenges associated with them.

Much of the material provided in the EPID-600 course will be found in Dr. Buttery's essays which are updated annually. The original ones were the basis for his 'Handbook for Health Directors' published by Oxford University Press in 1990.  That material is now out of date. When you get to the index page for these essays you will note that some of the essays will be of use for both EPID 600 and 602 (the recommendation is shown in brackets after each essay). Click Here for these essays

A book that I recommend for EPID 602 may also be worth purchasing and reviewing during this course. It is Public Health Management by Fallon LF jr. and Zgodzinski ER, also Published by Jones and Bartlett in 2005.

Other supplementary readings may be recommended by special guest lecturers, or experts on specific topics, designed to augment sessions presented by the course director. Students are also advised to use VCU's E_Journal Search Page to become familiar with:
The American Journal of Public Health (On Line)
The Journal of the American Medical Association (On-Line)
British Medical Journal (On-Line)

Two useful books to look at if you have time are:
Epidemiology in Medicine. Charles H. Hennekens, Julie E. Buring, editor Cheri Mayrent; Publisher, Little, Brown & Co.
Public Health & Human Ecology: Last J. M. Appleton & Lange. 1997 2nd Ed.

The following references may be consulted frequently during the course:
US Preventive Service Task Force: Guide to Clinical Preventive Medicine 3rd edition
Reading & understanding Applied Statistics, A Self Learning Approach, Stahl & Hennes (CV Mosby)
Socioeconomic Characteristics of Medical Practice. AMA Center for Health Policy Research.
Control of Communicable Disease in Man.  Ed: David L. Heymann, 18th Ed. 2005, APHA ISBN: 0-87553-034-6
Students are expected to become familiar with current public health issues, such as:

SPECIAL REFERENCES:

Students should visit the MMWR Weekly Report and click on the FREE MMWR subscription.   This will bring you the MMWR each week as an email attachment.  Provided you have set your computer up as recommended in the administration section of the introduction, you will be able to read the MMWR in adobe format.  You should read this each week and be prepared to use the material in class, in quizzes, discussions and examination answers, and to enhance class material.
        Prior to each class visit Healthy People 2010 and review the criteria related to the evening's topics by clicking on the Leading Indicators .  You may want to visit HP 2000 and see how the criteria have changed since 1990.  Think about why they have changed.  What data has been used to develop indicators?
        You should also visit the  National Academy of Sciences publication list to look at The Future of Public Health and consider whether the Recommendations of this 1988 are currently being implemented, or why they are not yet implemented.  What differences can you find in the above reference to the "PH in the 21st century".  Be prepared to discuss these issues with your lecturers. Finally from the University of Pittsburgh Schooof Public Health are the Power Point Slide sets from the Supercourse.

For those student who have never had to deal with the US Health care system I have provided a non credit introduction which should help you with both this Course and Dr Lanier's Health Policy Course

Students are expected to read a daily regional newspaper of general circulation (e.g. Richmond Times Dispatch, Washington Post. New York Times) and at least one weekly news magazine such as US News & World Report or Newsweek. Students will also find useful information for the course by accessing the Internet either through the school's intranet or their personal computers. The course director will provide Web addresses (URLs) for the CDC, the NIH, the AMA the IOM of NAS and the APHA.

Students are expected to supplement class materials with readings of their choice from the medical school library.

Use the BLACKBOARD Discussion web to discuss readings from the MMWR and Healthy People 2010, to comment on faculty presentations, and to answer questions posed during each week's presentations.  Student discussions on the web will be monitored by faculty to suggest additional sources to clarify ideas presented on the discussion web .A link to the discussion web will be found on the introductory page for each evening's presentations as well as on the course contents page.

EVALUATION

This course is designed to provide the student with general knowledge of the scope and content of public health, and its relation to health care services. Note: each week you have 7 days in which to answer the quiz and discussion board issues for the associated weekly topic.

Discussion Board: (12.5 points per half semester - 25% for semester score)
The discussion board review for each covers: period 1, the first six weeks, and period 2, the last 6 weeks.  Each period will be allocated 12.5 points. There are 3 questions for each week.  Cutting and pasting an answer from an encyclopedia or newspaper is not acceptable.  Each question on the Discussion Board (3 most weeks) requires a minimum of 100 words for an acceptable answer.  The quality of answers may result in an award of extra  points for each period.  The extra points are awarded for exceptional use of the internet in finding answers to questions, or useful new URLs or a combination of these..

Quizzes:(12.5 points per half semester - 25 points for semester)
Each evening is associated with a quiz found on the course Blackboard.  Grades will be assigned based on the first attempt. You may attempt the quiz again to show that you know where your first attempt was incorrect, but the grade is based on your first attempt! 

Mid term and Final examinations will assess the student's ability to describe the scope and content of public health practice in written form. The final Summary Grade will be a standard letter grade summing the results of mid term, and final written exams, plus the quizzes. [Note about grading. Although the each question is assessed a letter grade, the letter is determined by first grading each answer on a 100 point scale [92-100=A, 81-91=B, 71-80=C,  <71 =D-/Fail]  The Department will also provide forms for you to evaluate the course at the end of the course

Mid Term Examination: (15 points) You will have 7 days to prepare and submit (email) your answer.
The examination will consist of an open book examination, for which the student will be required to complete one approximately 700 word (minimum) essay, from 3-5 topics related to the first 6 weeks of presentations. This examination will count for 15% of the semester grade. The semester grade will be a standard letter grade. additionally students will have to have answered each of the questions on the discussion board satisfactorily and completed the blackboard quizzes

Final Examination: (35% points) You will have 7 days to prepare and submit (email) your answer.
The final exam counts for 35% on the semester grade.  This examination will also be an open book examination for which the student will be required to complete two(2) approximately 700 word (minimum) essays, from 6-8 topics that will be presented to the student at the next to last session of the course.  The essays should be presented as an email attachment sent to course director at cbuttery@vcu.edu .or rokimbo1@verizon.net

Guide to answering written examination questions.  Carefully review the Keywords and Concepts for the topics.  Additional points are given for using material provided in the lectures, readings and from Web Research.  This additional review is likely to lead to an "A" for the question answered.

Special suggestions

Because this is an on-line course I am providing additional recommendations for achieving a high score. You do not have the opportunity to question the various faculty who have contributed to the course, as you would in a classroom so it is important that you pay special attention to the quizzes and weekly discussion boards, as well as the mid-term and final examinations.
The only way I have to decide how well you understand the material provided is by your performance on the weekly assessments and questions you place either on the first discussion board or that you send me by email.
For the quizzes you are allowed three attempts to get a correct set of answers. If you get all the questions correct on the first attempt you get 100% for a quiz. If you need two attempts to get everything correct you get 90% and if you take 3 attempts you get 80%. Note that all attempts at quizzes are time stamped and recorded. I will only view the first three attempts, any further attempts will be deleted.
For the weekly discussion boards I will expect you to have researched you answers and provide reasons for them. While you can copy and insert quote from part of a web page from an agency such as the CDC or IOM you must explain why you selected the quote. I expect a section of a discussion board (there are usually 2 or three question on a discussion board each week) to be at least 150 words. You may use more if you wish but I am impressed with conciseness and relevance for an answer. In others words use the least words you need that will show me that you reviewed and understand the material provided.

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