This course introduces students to qualitative and mixed methods research design used in public health and health equity. Students learn survey design, needs assessment, monitoring and evaluation, and impact evaluation. Students are also prepared with methods in community-based participatory research and action research targeting social change. Research ethics are a core consideration, covering human subjects protections and ethical issues arising in partnered research. Students study effective techniques for engaging stakeholders across the research process.

This course prepares students to analyze health systems and policies. Students study the history and foundations of the US health system and engage in comparative analyses of global healthcare systems through a lens of access, efficiency, and quality. Students learn core concepts of healthcare financing and insurance and examine coverage gaps. Students also examine law and policy processes and study how health is impacted by policies with and outside of traditional health domains, including education, transportation, housing, welfare, and labor. Finally, students consider opportunities and policy frameworks amenable to change and learn strategies for policy change.

This course examines global health challenges through a political and economic lens. Students study the global burden of disease and its intersections with poverty and inequality. They critically analyze historic and contemporary contexts and forces shaping health outcomes, including gender, culture, sexuality, colonialism and imperialism, globalization, labor and migration systems, war and militarism, privatization, trade, aid, and development. Students consider the roles and promise of various institutions, including national and global governance institutions, for-profit organizations and corporations, and non-profit and non-governmental organizations in shaping global health outcomes.

This introductory course provides students with the foundations to begin planning the Health Equity Change Project, encompassing the applied practicum and integrative learning experience. During this course, students start the process of seeking a practicum placement, practicing important career preparatory skills such as professional résumé and cover letter development, professional networking, and interviewing skills. Students select guiding public health competencies and develop associated practicum goals and objectives aligned with the mission and vision of the placement organization of their choice.

This course serves as the second in a two-course sequence that incorporates the integrative learning and practice experience for the MPH degree. Through an applied practicum experience across two terms, students gain skills in designing, implementing, and evaluating a project to address a health inequity. In this course, students implement and evaluate the project they designed during the prior course, in consultation with their practicum supervisor and community and organizational partners. Students produce a final report and portfolio, evaluating their project and analyzing their attainment of program learning competencies.

This course serves as the second in a two-course sequence that incorporates the integrative learning and practice experience for the MPH degree. Through an applied practicum experience across two terms, students gain skills in designing, implementing, and evaluating a project to address a health inequity. In this course, students implement and evaluate the project they designed during the prior course, in consultation with their practicum supervisor and community and organizational partners. Students produce a final report and portfolio, evaluating their project and analyzing their attainment of program learning competencies.