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 6105, 3 credits, Spring

This course teaches statistical concepts and application for health related data analysis. The course relates health and biological sciences data back to Gaussian, non-Gaussian, Poisson, Binomial, and other distributions. Topics in descriptive statistics include summary measures, measure of association, concepts related to data distribution, and confidence intervals. Topics related to analytical analysis include categorical data, parametric and non-parametric population comparisons and correlation, and regression techniques. Students are exposed to a variety of software packages, but will also be expected to calculate the simple statistical approaches as well. Emphasizes the understanding of statistical concepts and application and the structure of health data.

VTPEH 6107, 1 credit, Fall

This course examines public health issues through a One Health lens. Through case studies and examples, students learn to apply systems thinking approaches to address public health challenges, and analyze interactions between human, animal, and environmental health. There is a substantial writing component to the course.

VTPEH 6191, 1 credit, Fall

The APE suite of courses focuses on professionalism, leadership development, and ethical approaches to public health proactive. A masterful public health leader is aware of their own skills and capacities and is always be striving for growth. This course aims to help students grow as public health leaders, grounded in public health values and ethics, and to support students in planning and preparing for public health practice in their Applied Practice Experiences (APEs) and future career. Through this course, students engage in networking, informational interviews, refining professional toolkits, and reflecting on career goals and leadership styles. Whether a student is an experienced practitioner or just starting out in their professional career, this course offers a chance to refine skills and tools in leadership, applied practice, and career planning.

VTPEH 6192, 1 credit, Spring

This course aims to help students continue to grow as a public health professionals by building and practicing cultural competence and skills in inclusive communication, allyship, and interprofessional teamwork, in addition to practicing interview skills, developing a personal pitch, and further developing their professional toolkits. Whether a student is an experienced practitioner or just starting out in their professional career, this course offers a chance to refine their skills and tools.

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 6112, 3 credits, Fall

This course introduces vector taxonomy, evolution, biology, behavior, and the history of vector-borne disease control, with an emphasis on the USA. Some lectures will feature “expert spotlights”: brief conversations with experts in vector control/public health who will join the class live or via recorded video link. Through a series of lectures and projects, students have a chance to gain knowledge of the latest surveillance approaches, control methods, and challenges for controlling vector-borne diseases. In this course, we intend for students to gain an understanding of arthropod biology, body plans, organ systems, behavior and physiology, infection biology and immunity. Students demonstrate a solid understanding of disease vector evolutionary relationships. Our ultimate goal is for Students to learn how to apply knowledge gained from the class in future roles as entomologists, health experts, or public health practitioners.

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 6143, 3 credits, Spring

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the interconnections between the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and the environment; this is the foundation of an evidence-based approach to environmental health and sustainability. The course will cover concepts linking health and wellbeing across scales from individuals to ecosystems, as well as methods to assess and prevent or respond to environmental health challenges. The course learnings will be illustrated and reinforced by diverse case studies, including notably issues related to land use, infectious diseases, chemical pollution, nature connectedness, and a robust module on the process of zoonotic spillover from reservoir host ecology, environmental change, pathogen dynamics, human behavior, to factors that determine human compatibility and susceptibility to certain pathogens, to early outbreak dynamics.

Over the semester, students will analyze several case studies, and explore an environmental health project, from the identification of the problem or opportunity, to health assessment design, and communication aimed at engaging communities and/or institutions in solution-finding.

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.

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 credits, Spring

In this round-table graduate seminar, students critically engage with cross-cutting topics in health and environmental justice through interdisciplinary humanities lenses including political ecology, science and technology studies, feminist studies, environmental governance, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, and ethics. Students dive deep in discussions of weekly readings spanning these fields, in addition to grey literature, podcasts, and videos. Students co-facilitate discussions tying contemporary news to course themes that span nature and land, scientific knowledge, race and human classification, climate change and natural disaster, microbes and disease, multispecies perspectives, expertise and public engagement, bodies and built environments, world ecologies and capital, food and water system transformations, and more. Students also build toward an advocacy paper, written for a professional audience on a topic of interest.