VTPEH 6101, 2 credits, Fall

This course introduces students to the history and role of public health, and sets the foundation of public health practice on the two guiding paradigms: the 10 essential public health functions, and the One Health/Planetary Health approach to public health prevention and problem solving. Students build their public health competency via investigating a breadth of public health issues, including both chronic and infectious disease, and the impact of our environment and climate on disease spread, acquisition, and impact.

VTPEH 6102, 3 credits, Spring

This course is rooted in a systems perspective. It connects behavioral theory to practice, so that students understand the complex array of factors that influence health. It provides a foundation in drivers of human behavior, which will ultimately help students better understand why a particular situation exists. The course also builds necessary background knowledge and skill that will aid in designing tailored, effective, culturally informed interventions. This course will reinforce and expand upon learning from Public Health Foundations I by addressing drivers of health and behavior, including individual, family, environmental, legal, institutional, cultural, and climate change. Conceptually, the course is guided by the Health Impact Pyramid, social determinants of health – with a particular emphasis on racism, discrimination and inequality – and an expanded socio-ecologic model. We draw on a lifecourse perspective, with particular attention to generational and cumulative impacts on populations. Through lectures, guided in-class activities, readings, discussion, guest speakers and case studies, students will further develop their public health competence and apply key concepts and systems thinking to assess domestic and global public health issues. 

VTPEH 6103, 3 credits, Spring

The purpose of this course is to consider and learn to advance policy issues confronting public health practitioners, governments and the public in public health systems in the United States, and around the world. This class presents an overview of the basic institutions, politics, and policy issues of contemporary public health policymaking, how they have changed over time, and why politics matters for public health, including ethical consequences of policy choices for different stakeholder populations. The class helps future public health leaders develop a basic framework for understanding, analyzing, evaluating, and advocating for public health policies using case-based learning of current public health issues facing the U.S. and the globe. During the course, students select a pressing public health need, undertake a policy evaluation process to understand the impact on public health and health equity, propose evidence-based solutions, and then advocate as public health leaders for policies that will improve health and in diverse populations.

VTPEH 6104, 3 credits, Fall

This applied course introduces students to the fundamental principles and methods used in epidemiology research and practice, using a combination of didactic lectures, public health applications, classroom discussion, and project-based work. Epidemiologic principles in the design, conduct, and interpretation of findings from observational and experimental studies will be explored in detail, as well as core epidemiologic concepts, including measures of disease frequency and association, sources of bias, and diagnostic testing. The overarching goals are to (1) enable students to utilize epidemiologic thinking to characterize disease among populations; (2) equip students with principles and approaches necessary to design, conduct, interpret, and critically evaluate epidemiologic studies; and (3) engage students as active participants in the learning process through application of information taught in the classroom.

VTPEH 6181, 3 credits, Fall

Via this course, students gain an understanding of the importance of comprehensive assessment of a public health need. Students are exposed to, and expected to practice, assessment methods that are relevant to the field of public health, including literature reviews and secondary data analyses. This is practiced via in-depth discussion of real-life cases, and by self-directed research, team-work, and peer review.

VTPEH 6182, 3 credits, Spring

Via this seminar, students gain an understanding of the elements of needs‐ and evidence‐based public health program and/or response planning, and design a public health project/response to address a defined need related to prevention, treatment, and/or care. This course covers the core elements of program planning, including concept mapping, logic models, work plans, Gantt charts, and basic budgets and staffing plans. This is practiced via in-depth discussion of real‐life cases, and by self‐directed research, planning, grant writing, and peer review.

VTPEH 6183, 3 credits, Fall

Via this seminar, students gain an understanding of the value and process of implementing routine monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and continuous quality improvement (CQI) with public health interventions. This is practiced via in‐depth discussion of real-life cases, and by self‐directed research, planning, and peer review, including development of an M&E/CQI plan that could be implemented for a real project.

VTPEH 6184, 3 credits, Fall

Public health efforts are usually dependent on people changing their behavior, attitudes, or perceptions. Communication is a key component of facilitating that change. This course helps students understand the influence of communication in public health and how to use theory to identify the barrier to the desired behavior for a particular audience. Students will learn how to conduct an audience analysis in order to develop targeted, relevant, compelling and accessible communication products. This course will introduce students to key concepts and provide a foundation for further exploration and depth. Over the term, we will incorporate theory, best practices, design principles, examples, critiques, cultural considerations, and exploration of various communication forms. We will address the basics of relevant communication theory, including theories of behavior change and the role of narrative and emotion. We will address issues of health literacy and the association communication strategies needed to advance public health and health equity. We will cover how communication relates to pressing (inter)national public health issues: climate change, sustainability, misinformation, racism and discrimination. With this foundation, students will gain appreciation for communication’s influence on public health and determinants at individual and population levels. Students will assess a range of public health communication efforts and their impacts on audiences, evaluate audience needs, and design a theory-informed public health communication product tailored to an audience for a specific goal. This product will be developed iteratively through individual and lab-based work. Students who have a community partner may work on a communication-related project for that partner; when possible, faculty will share opportunities for other community-engaged work for students without an existing partner.

VTPEH 6111, 3 credits, Fall

This lecture-based course covers the infectious agents important for public health, including the major viral, bacterial and parasitic agents in health and disease for humans, and involved in zoonosis from animals. The focus is on the biology of the agent in the context of its transmission and possible countermeasures. One day per week includes a case-based section with a focus on small group and applied learning. Subjects under discussion cover the infectious agents important for public health, including the major viral, bacterial and parasitic agents in health and disease for humans, and involved in zoonosis from animals.

VTPEH 6113, 3 credits, Spring

The overarching goals of this course are to (1) fully describe theoretical epidemiologic concepts considered in statistical analysis, (2) introduce students to more advanced statistical methods commonly used in the analysis of epidemiologic data, and (3) illustrate the application of these methods to analyze various types of data.

VTPEH 6114, 3 credits, Fall

Global development is driving disease outbreaks; communicable disease prevention and control is a foundational element of public health, reducing death and disability. Core to this practice is the ability to assess and monitor population health; investigate, diagnose, and address health hazards and root causes; communicate effectively to inform and educate; and enable equitable access to prevention and care services. In short, you will be a public health asset if you can engage in applied epidemiology to prevent, detect, mitigate, and respond to communicable disease outbreaks.

In this course, you will build and hone your skills as a field epidemiologist. To do so, you will reinforce your understanding of bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases of concern, and then practice methods to detect outbreaks, to investigate causes, and to support public health prevention through risk mitigation, communication, and policy change.

VTPEH 6195, 2 credits, Spring

The purpose of this class is to help guide and support the successful completion of the Integrative Learning Experience (ILE) project, or written “capstone”, that demonstrates integrated competence across concentration and foundational public health domains. Weekly writing time helps students stay on track to complete a substantive, high-quality written document within a relatively short semester time period, while working independently and with a faculty mentor. In addition this semester, students complete and polish their professional public health portfolios.

IDE students must take 7 elective credits.

VTPEH 6141, 3 credits, Fall

The goal of this course is to develop an understanding of planetary health and skills to analyze planetary health problems and solutions. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of the complexity of planetary health challenges, the urgency of addressing health and environmental problems, and the importance of evidence to design effective solutions. The course will introduce the dimensions of environmental change that are causing environmental degradation, such as habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and the connections to population health, including related to food systems, infectious disease, chronic disease and mental health. Students will also build skills analyzing planetary health cases by both presenting cases and participating in discussions. In addition, we will review win-win solutions to environment-health issues for their evidence quality, feasibility, and acceptability, and we will examine different stakeholder perspectives on these issues.

VTPEH 6142, 3 credits, Spring

Understanding the concepts connecting people’s health and wellbeing and the environment is critical to identifying the causes of planetary health issues and proposing efficient solutions. The course will cover key concepts governing planetary health issues, including ecological interactions, scales at which planetary health phenomena occur, and biodiversity. We will review the data and methods available for the consideration of each of those concepts in real-world planetary health studies. We will discuss how to use those concepts to identify causes, leverage points, and trade-offs for planetary health issues, with the objective of developing fair and sustainable solutions. To illustrate these concepts, the course draws on diverse case studies, including infectious diseases, urbanization, and nature connectedness, offering practical insights into the complexities of planetary health challenges.

VTPEH 6143, 3 credits, Fall

Public health and community leaders seek to identify policy or program alternatives that will help to better address a need or gap, as a step towards building health equity and justice. More and more, the role of–and human interactions with–built and natural environments are considered when seeking innovations to improve human and ecosystem health. Health impact assessments can be a useful tool, “a means of assessing the health impacts of policies, plans and projects in diverse economic sectors using quantitative, qualitative and participatory techniques” (World Health Organization). The course will introduce students to the 4+2 steps that are used to consider and conduct a health impact assessment, and will work to consider fit and feasibility of this approach, develop organizational capacity to implement the approach, and practice implementation with a real world/real-world-like project.

VTPEH 6144, 3 credits, Spring

Issues related to health equity, sustainability, social and environmental justice are considered complex or wicked problems. To understand and begin to address these, a strategic leadership toolkit is needed. Week-by-week, this seminar will help build that toolkit. This course will review what wicked problems are, how change happens, and the roles that public health leaders play; it will revisit methods used to rapidly assess and evaluate the current state, and compare that to the ideal (future) state. Students will practice compiling an evidence base for use to inform actions, and practice professional writing (white papers) and oral pitches. Students will define a project scope, develop a work plan, conduct a literature review, draft a project report outline, identify and access relevant data, review data to inform action, and develop a project report that could or will be submitted to a ‘client’. Generating a significant document through this course serves as an Integrated Learning Experience for students in the Environment, Climate, and Health Track.

ECH students must take 6 elective credits.

VTPEH 6171, 2 credits, Fall

Prerequisite: Research methods course strongly advised; VTPEH 6181 or equivalent.

This course introduces students to applied ethnographic assessment. Such assessments use rapid, focused data-gathering techniques and both quantitative and qualitative analyses to address specific questions relevant to social and cultural conditions of individuals and communities, including those relevant to public health practice. They involve describing contexts, processes, preferences, motivations and/or relationships, and can be used for formative research, needs assessment, intervention design, and/or program evaluation (Sangaramoorthy and Kroeger, 2020:3). In this course, students discuss theoretical underpinnings and data collection and analysis procedures for ethnographic techniques such as direct observations, and social mapping, free listing, and pile sorting, which can be employed in interviews and/or focus group discussions. For each method, students practice using these methods to explore a community-identified need.

VTPEH 6173, 3 credits, Fall

The U.S. experiences persistent disparities in health status and health outcomes across race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender expression, and other dimensions of individual and group identity. Cross-sector collaboration is a leading public health approach to addressing the complex and multiple factors that drive health disparities but has inherent challenges. To promote health equity in the communities they serve, healthcare, public health and social services organizations can work together to promote health equity (when everyone has the opportunity to attain their full health potential) by addressing the social determinants of health (e.g., food, housing, transportation).

This class examines the challenges and opportunities faced by a local cross-sector collaboration that aims to advance health equity by integrating social care into the delivery of healthcare and optimizing care coordination throughout the care continuum. Supported by readings and lectures, this class is taught primarily through hands-on analysis of real-world data and participation in interprofessional teams. Students develop skills to work collaboratively with local leaders in the health system and in non-profit organizations that provide supportive services to Tompkins County residents. Students also strengthen their ability to analyze and interpret quantitative and/or qualitative data and develop evidence-based recommendations that leverage organizational strengths to maximize collaborative opportunities and mitigate cross-sector challenges. This course is well suited for students interested in bridging public health and health care to promote health equity while honing their skills in data analysis and community engagement.

VTPEH 6175, 3 credits, Fall

Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) are becoming increasingly used to advance equity and sustainability programs. This course provides an introduction to different GIS software packages, as they are currently used by researchers and policymakers. Students explore existing mapping tools currently used to advance health equity in federal policy, create maps using ArcGIS Online, perform geospatial analysis using ArcGIS Desktop and QGIS, and spatially link various disparate datasets to enhance our analyses. Students are encouraged to bring topics and questions they want to explore, as they will have the chance to work on them throughout the course.

VTPEH 6176, 2-3 credits, Spring

In this round-table graduate seminar, we critically engage with cross-cutting topics in public health and environmental justice through interdisciplinary humanities including science and technology studies, political ecology, feminist studies, environmental governance, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, and ethics. We dive deep in discussions of weekly readings featuring case studies and theory spanning these fields. Each student co-facilitates a class discussion to analyze a contemporary public health issue through course themes such as race and human classification, climate change and natural disaster, microbes, bodies and disease, multispecies perspectives, expertise and public engagement, built environments and food systems, capital and world ecologies. Students also build toward an advocacy paper or project, developed for a professional audience on a topic of interest. 3-credit option students engage with additional readings and analysis on weekly themes.