Courses Primarily for Graduate Students
Please note not all classes are offered every semester. Please check the current Banner listings to find out what semester / year the class is being offered (BOCA links may not be up-to-date).
PHP 2020Disability Over the Life Course
An overview of the epidemiology of physical and cognitive disability in America, associated patterns of medical and social service use, and current as well as ideal population-specific systems of formal and family care. Also explores medical, social, and psychological needs associated with the stage of life in which disability is experienced. Prerequisites for advanced undergraduates are PHP03l0 or SOC 1550, and introductory statistics.
PHP 2030
Clinical Trials Methodology
We will examine the modern clinical trial as a methodology for evaluating interventions related to treatment, rehabilitation, prevention and diagnosis. Topics include the history and rationale for clinical trials, ethical issues, study design, protocol development, sample size considerations, quality assurance, statistical analysis, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, and reporting of results. Extensively illustrated with examples from various fields of health care research. Prerequisites: introductory epidemiology and statistics.
PHP 2040
Applied Research Methods
Emphasizes the theory of sampling and survey methods and their application to public health research. Topics include: survey design and planning; principles of sampling and survey terminology; questionnaire construction; protection of human subjects; data collection (including interviewing and data coding procedures); and application, presentation, and evaluation of results.
PHP 2060
Qualitative Methods in Health Research
Introduces qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis in health research. Methods covered include: participant observation, key-informant interviews, focus groups, innovative data collection strategies, and non-obtrusive measures. Students will use applied projects to develop skills in: qualitative data collection and management, interviewing, transcript analysis using computerized software, triangulation between qualitative and quantitative data, and report preparation for qualitative studies.
PHP 2070
Public Health/Community Service Internship
The course is an introduction to the history, organization, resources, concepts and issues of pubic health and health care. Students will be matched according to their interests in a related practical experience in a health-related organization, with the expectation that they complete a project or produce a product of public health utility. This gives students an opportunity to critically apply knowledge and skills learned in didactic sessions.
PHP 2075
MPH Analytic Internship
The primary objective of this course is to gain hands-on experience in using data to address public health questions. Concepts from previous courses will be re-enforced as students work through the steps of addressing the public health question. Both data analysis and data interpretation will be emphasized in the context of a public health question. STATA 8.0 will be used to analyze data. Prerequisites: PHP2500 and PHP2120.
PHP 2080
Ethics and Public Health
Uses case study strategies to: identify key ethical principles and values relevant to public health practice and research; evaluate public health research designs in terms of ethical principles; conduct ethical analyses of public health interventions by identifying potential ethical concerns and conflicts; and employ strategies for working effectively with special populations, including the design of culturally appropriate interventions.
PHP 2120
Introduction to Methods in Epidemiologic Research
Epidemiology quantifies patterns and determinants of human population health, with a goal of reducing the burden of disease, injury, and disability. An intensive first course in epidemiologic methods, students learn core principles of study design and data analysis through critiques of published epidemiologic studies as well as hands on practice through weekly exercises and assignments.
PHP 2180
Critical Epidemiology
This advanced graduate seminar is a critical history of epidemiologic concepts and methods, emphasizing 19th century to the present. Students build on teachings from
PHP2120 to understand and apply theoretical challenges of disease definitions and causal thinking. Weekly reading and writing assignments strengthen skills in awareness of belief systems and construction of facts within specific ideologic frameworks.
Prerequisite: PHP2120
PHP 2200
Advanced Methods in Epidemiologic Research
Reinforces the concepts and methods taught in PHP2120, with in-depth instruction in study design, confounding, model construction, measurement error, estimation, effect modification, and causal inference. Prerequisites: PHP2120, PHP2510, PHP2511.
PHP 2220
Special Topics Series: Epidemiology Substantive Courses
The epidemiology of specific diseases or conditions,-for example, reproductive epidemiology, infectious disease and cancer-either individually or in combination. Prerequisites for all sections: PHP2120.
PHP 2350
Decision Analysis Public Health Policy and Practice
Introduces methods and applications of decision analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, and benefit-cost analysis in public health policy and practice, including health care technology assessment, medical decision making, and health resource allocation. Examines technical features of these methods, problems associated with implementing them, and advantages and pitfalls in their application in setting public health policy. Prerequisites: PHP2510 and PHP2120 or equivalent.
PHP 2360
Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Public Health Interventions
This course will provide students with skills in designing, planning, implementing and evaluating public health interventions. Levels of intervention will range from promotion of individual behavior changes to interventions with families or other small groups; to interventions at organizations such as schools, worksites, health care settings; to community-based interventions; to social marketing and health communications; to regulatory policy and environmental changes. The course will cover behavior change theories for each intervention level, intervention mapping, conceptualizing, planning and implementing health programs and interventions; needs issues; process and impact/outcome evaluation of interventions and dissemination. Students will develop skills in critiquing intervention studies and gain experience in developing a hypothetical behavior change intervention. Undergraduates must ask permission. Juniors and seniors only.
PHP 2400
Determinants and Consequences of Changing Health Care Systems
Provides an historical perspective on the development and evolution of the health care delivery and financing systems in the U.S. and reviews the literature on the relationship between health system structure and the services used and health outcomes populations experience. A case-study approach is used to understand the inter-relationship between the financing, delivery and regulatory components of the health system drawing on epidemiological, economic, political and sociological principles.
PHP 2410
Topics in Health Services Research
Individual sections provide in-depth coverage of methodological issues relating to health service research, including outcome research, analysis of administrative data, advanced principles of multi-stage sampling, and associated analysis. Prerequisites: PHP2120, PHP2510, and PHP2019.
PHP 2420
Health Program and Policy Evaluation
Examines contributions of research to program development and policy decision-making. Explores methodological strategies to evaluate intended and unintended impacts of program and policy implementation. Examples are presented from public health, human services, and health care arenas. Students design and implement their own program or policy, conducting secondary analysis of an existing survey or administrative data set. Prerequisite: PHP2510.
PHP 2500
Introduction to Biostatistics
The first in a two-course series designed for students who seek to develop skills in biostatistical reasoning and data analysis. Offers an introduction to basic concepts and methods of statistics as applied to diverse problems in the health sciences. Methods for exploring and presenting data; direct and indirect standardization; probability; hypothesis testing; interval estimation; inference for means and proportions; simple linear regression, etc. Statistical computing is fully integrated into the course.
PHP 2501, 2502
PHP 2501 Introduction to Multivariate Regression (HALF CREDIT)
The first in a series of two-half semester courses on regression methods, designed for students who seek to develop biostatistical reasoning and data analysis skills. This course provides an introduction to multiple linear and logistic regression models as applied to diverse problems in the health sciences. PHP2500 or equivalent is a prerequisite.
PHP 2502 Regression Analysis Discrete and Event Time Data (HALF CREDIT)
The second course in the sequence on Introductory Biostatistics methods. This course will focus on regression methods (multiple linear regress, ANOVA, ANCOVA) and their natural extensions such as Logistic and Poisson regression in applications to diverse problems in the health sciences. Additionally, this course will cover regression methods for time to event data such as Cox regression for survival data. PHP2500 or equivalent is a prerequisite.
PHP 2510
Principles of Biostatistics and Data Analysis
Intensive first course in biostatistical methodology, focusing on problems arising in public health, life sciences, and biomedical disciplines. Summarizing and representing data; basic probability; fundamentals of inference; hypothesis testing; likelihood methods. Inference for means and proportions; linear regression and analysis of variance; basics of experimental design; nonparametrics; logistic regression. Prerequisites: MATH 0100 or equivalent. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission.
PHP 2511
Applied Regression Analysis
Applied multivariate statistics, presenting a unified treatment of modern regression models for discrete and continuous data. Topics include multiple linear and nonlinear regression for continuous response data, analysis of variance and covariance, logistic regression, Poisson regression, and Cox regression. Primarily for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Prerequisites: PHP2510 or equivalent and working knowledge of matrix algebra. Written permission required.
PHP 2520
Statistical Inference I
First of two courses that provide a comprehensive introduction to the theory of modern statistical inference. PHP2520 presents a survey of fundamental ideas and methods, including sufficiency, likelihood based inference, hypothesis testing, asymptotic theory, and Bayesian inference. Measure theory not required. Prerequisites: MATH0120, MATH1610, and either APMA 1650-1660 or PHP2510-2511.
PHP 2530
Bayesian Statistical Methods
Surveys the state of the art in Bayesian methods and their applications. Discussion of the fundamentals followed by more advanced topics including hierarchical models, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and other methods for sampling from the posterior distribution, robustness, and sensitivity analysis, and approaches to model selection and diagnostics. Features nontrivial applications of Bayesian methods from diverse scientific fields, with emphasis on biomedical research. Prerequisites: APMA 1650-1660, PHP2510-2511, or equivalent.
PHP 2580
Statistical Inference II
This sequence of two courses provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory of modern inference. PHP2580 covers such topics as non-parametric statistics, quasi-likelihood, resampling techniques, statistical learning, and methods for high-dimensional Bioinformatics data. Prerequisites: PHP2520 or equivalent.
PHP 2600
Modern Methods for Categorical Data Analysis
Investigates theory and methods for drawing inference from discrete categorical data, including contingency tables, measures and tests of association, sampling distributions, goodness-of-fit, and both large- and small-sample inference. Other topics include modeling binary, ordinal, and multinomial data; repeated measures; and matched pair study designs. Prerequisites: PHP2510, PHP2511, and familiarity with statistical inference at APMA 1650-1660 level.
PHP 2601
Generalized Linear Models
Generalized linear models provide a unifying framework for regression. Important examples include linear regression, log-linear models, and logistic regression. GLMs for continuous, binary, ordinal, nominal, and count data. Topics include model parameterization, parametric and semiparametric estimation, and model diagnostics. Methods for incomplete data are introduced. SAS and Stata software are used. Prerequisites: APMA1670, PHP2511.
PHP 2602
Analysis of Lifetime Data
Comprehensive overview of methods for inference from censored event time data, with emphasis on nonparametric and semiparametric approaches. Topics include nonparametric hazard estimation, semiparametric proportional hazards models, frailty models, multiple event processes, with application to biomedical and public health data. Computational approaches using statistical software are emphasized. Prerequisite: Intermediate-level courses in biostatistics: PHP2510, PHP2511 or equivalent.
PHP 2603
Analysis of Longitudinal Data
Comprehensive coverage of methods for drawing inference from longitudinal observations. Theoretical and practical aspects of modeling will be addressed, with emphasis on regression methods. Topics include: generalized linear models, including random effects and marginal models; estimation methods; design and sample size; handling dropout and incomplete data. SAS and S-Plus software will be used. Prerequisite: PHP2511, APMA1670; familiarity with matrix algebra.
PHP 2610
Causal Inference and Missing Data
Systematic overview of modern statistical methods for handling incomplete data and for drawing causal inferences from broken experiments and observational studies. Topics include modeling approaches, propensity score adjustment, instrumental variables, inverse weighting methods and sensitivity analysis. Case studies used throughout to illustrate ideas and concepts. Prerequisites: PHP2511; MATH1610, familiarity with object-oriented programming (e.g. R, S-Plus, Matlab).
PHP 2620
Statistical Methods in Bioinformatics I
Introduction to statistical concepts and methods used in selected areas of bioinformatics. Course is organized in three modules, covering statistical methodology for: (a) gene expression studies, with emphasis on DNA microarray data, (b) proteomics studies, (c) analysis of biological sequences. Succinct discussion of biological subject matter will be provided for each area. Available software will be introduced. Prerequisite: Statistics background at the level of PHP2510-2511 or PHP2500-2501/2.
PHP 2720
Health Policy and Advocacy
Students will design and implement the initial stages of their own health advocacy campaign, selecting a public health issue of their choice. Students will learn how to write advocacy materials including opinion editorials, briefing materials for legislators, grants for funding to support advocacy projects, and techniques for coalition building.
PHP 2850
Development of a Research Proposal in Public Health
Addresses methodologic and operational issues associated with developing research studies in epidemiology (including clinical trials). Students prepare protocols for research studies in human populations with attention to ethical guidelines and regulations. Students critique completed proposals, are exposed to existing systems for submission and review of funding applications, as well as controversial issues such as conflict of interest. Enrollment limited to 10. S/NC.
PHP 2980
Graduate Independent Study and Thesis Research
Section numbers vary by instructor.
Please see the registration staff for the correct section number to use when registering for this course. S/NC.
PHP 2985
MPH Independent Study for Thesis Preparation and Research (HALF CREDIT)
Optional half credit course provides MPH students with self-directed thesis research and preparation under guidance of thesis advisor. Prior to taking course, student and advisor must agree on definition of satisfactory course completion (e.g. satisfactory literature review completion, specific thesis benchmarks or thesis completion). MPH students may count up to 2 credits of Independent Study towards the MPH degree.
PHP 2990
Thesis Preparation
No course credit (enrollment fee to finish thesis work).