Public Health
Electives
PHEL 566 Introduction to Human Nutrition (3)
A study of the basic nutritional requirements of the human body and the effects of inadequate nutrition on the health status of the individual. Includes topics such as the basic food groups, macronutrients and micronutrients, recommended dietary allowances, digestion and metabolism, and the relationship between physical fitness and nutrition.
PHEL 567 Nutritional Metabolism (3)
A study of the static and dynamic aspects of metabolism of nutrients and their functions within a normal healthy human.
PHEL 662 Principles of Nutrition Education (3)
Teaching methods and strategies appropriate to a nutrition educator. This course includes definition of effective teaching, the learning environment, lesson design, use of teaching models and strategies to improve student motivation and retention of information, and evaluation of learning outcomes. Laboratory. Field experience.
PHEL 664 Nutrition in the Life Cycle (3)
This course explores the role of nutrition in human growth and development, and throughout the life cycle. Influences of socioeconomic, cultural, and psychological factors on food and nutritional behavior are discussed.
PHEL 665 Concepts of Nutritional Epidemiology (3)
This course prepares students to conduct investigation of diet-disease relationships. Topics include variation in diet, measurement errors and correction for its effects, dietary assessment techniques, dietary assessment tool design and development, and total energy intake analysis. Prerequisites: PHFN 620, PHFN 615.
PHEL 666 Applied Nutrition (3)
The practical application of principles of nutrition including nutrition assessment and evaluation, cooking schools, and food preparation workshops. Students are expected to be actively involved as participants so as to develop practical skills. Field experience.
PHEL 671 Topics in Health Science (1-3)
In-depth study of the scientific aspect of specific health topics such as the immune system, HIV and AIDS, etc. Faculty as well as guests with specialized expertise will contribute to this course.
PHEL 672 Integrated Home Health Care (3)
The study and practical application of current concepts and methods of home-based primary health care. Emphasis is placed on simple techniques for disease prevention and relief of common symptoms, primarily through natural remedies.
PHEL 674 Mental Health and Stress Management (3)
An examination of the principles of mental health and hygiene, the effect of the mind on personal health, and the role of psychosocial and environmentally induced stress in the etiology of illness. How to identify non-psychiatric diseases and psychiatric diseases, emphasizing diagnosis and referral. A major focus is on methods and programs of intervention for effective stress management.
PHEL 675 Components of Public Health Science (3)
An introductory survey of major components of public health science, including epidemiology, environmental health, infectious diseases, bio-statistics, and health administration. Students obtain a broad picture of public health, showing how various dimensions are interrelated and integrated.
PHEL 678 Topics in Family Health (3)
Selected topics in the area of family health, including women’s issues, aging, migration, problems in parenting, child and spousal abuse and their prevention, and crises at critical stages of the life cycle.
PHEL 679 Disease Prevention Through Physical Fitness (3)
An introduction to the principles of exercise physiology and the role of regular physical fitness programs in the prevention of acute and chronic diseases, and in promoting mental and learning abilities, and overall well-being. The focus of the course is on lifestyle planning.
PHEL 680 Integrated Community Development (3)
An examination of health factors and how they interrelate with other factors in the development of communities. Issues of environment, poverty, gender, justice and equity will be studied for their role in individual and family health. The course will incorporate field trips to observe institutions and agencies implementing agricultural, nutritional, educational, livelihood and other projects. Field experience.
PHEL 681 Smoking Cessation Workshop (3)
A comprehensive study of smoking and tobacco as a major public health hazard. The course examines how the tobacco industry perpetuates dependency on vulnerable populations, and the impact of advertising, promotion, and political activity. A major focus of the course is on successful methods and programs for combating tobacco addiction. Field experience.
PHEL 682 Applied Communication Techniques (3)
A study of the principles of effective communication for motivating behavior change, including both oral communication and the preparation and use of audiovisual materials. Basic experience in utilizing the media for health promotion is gained, including preparing press releases, public service announcements, news stories, feature articles, and the use of advertisements. Field experience.
PHEL 685 Addiction Determinants and Control (3)
This course explores the dynamics of chemical dependency, including the psychological, physiological, and spiritual bases of addiction, and intervention modalities. Students are expected to observe or participate in an addiction intervention program. Field experience.
PHEL 686 Seminar in Health Promotion (1-3)
Special topics in public health promotion and education are reviewed. Specialists with expertise in critical areas will be invited to make presentations. Students are expected to choose a current public health topic, research the topic, and make presentations in class.
PHEL 687 Grant Proposal Writing (2)
A review of the principles of project development and their application in the preparation of a written proposal for an applied project. The proposal should conform to standards that are acceptable to funding organizations. Writing skills are applied in preparing summary reports and evaluations which are accurate, concise, and convincing.
PHEL 689 Health Care Administration (3)
A discussion of the principles of administration in the context of prevailing health care systems and primary health care. The course analyzes the structure and function of government and nongovernment health care programs, evaluates their impact on the health of communities, and proposes models to enhance effective and efficient delivery of health services. Field experience.
PHEL 694 Special Individual Project (1-4)
The individual student pursues a topic of interest under the guidance of a faculty member. May include a literature review, reading assignments, and/or other special projects.
Public Health Core
PHFN 600 Health Promotion Theory and Practice (3)
An overview of theories and principles of Health Promotion, and an exposition of methods and procedures for planning community intervention programs. A special attention is given to the writing of goals and objectives, understanding of program types, application of the laws of learning, and of the behavioral component in the Health Promotion process.
PHFN 605 Planning and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs (3)
A study of the process of planning health promotion programs. Builds on the principles laid down in PHFN 600. The course emphasizes methods of imple-menting and evaluating programs, such as community organization and involvement, program design, social marketing, management, health communication, and process, impact and outcome evaluation.. Prerequisite: PHFN 600 Health Promotion Theory and Practice.
PHFN 610 Principles of Environmental Health and Disaster Management (3)
A study of environmental factors and how they interact with agent and host factors in the causation, prevention, and control of disease in human populations and appropriate technologies for intervention. Focus is on water supply, sanitation; industrial and solid waste management, vector control and atmospheric pollution control. The course will also include a review of the types and public health consequences of natural and man made disasters, principles of emergency planning, including evacuation procedures, management of disaster casualties, control of disease outbreaks and meeting the physical and psychological needs of disaster victims. Steps in disaster response and recovery and coordination of emergency relief operations will also be reviewed.
PHFN 615 Principles of Epidemiology (3)
This course is a study of the general principles involved in understanding the frequency, distribution, and etiology of acute and chronic diseases, and the method for disease surveillance and control. Emphasis is on the epidemiology of lifestyle-related diseases.
An introduction to the fundamental methods of collecting, organizing, and presenting data for community assessment and health interventions. Includes the study of central tendency and variation, sampling, t tests, chi-squared tests, simple and multiple regression, confidence intervals, correlations, and making statistical inferences for analyzing health data.
See RESM 610 for course description.
PHFN 625 Maternal-Child Health and Family Planning (3)
Preventive and therapeutic concepts of maternal and child health including reproductive physiology, prenatal and neonatal care, and child growth and development. Concepts of planned parenthood are studied, along with a review of the role of contraceptive technologies together with their moral, social, cultural, political, and ethical implications. Maternal and child health issues are also studied in terms of their social and environmental causes, and their impacts on life prospects and on the social and economic welfare and development of the family, community and nation. Successful maternal and child health programs are discussed.
Health Ministry
PHHM 655 Lifestyle Diseases and Risk Reduction Programs (3)
This course examines the etiology and development of major lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, nutritional disorders, and selected infectious diseases. Emphasis is on identifying risk factors and examination of successful risk-reduction programs. Field experience.
PHHM 684 Issues in Science and Religion (3)
See CHPH 684 for course description.
PHHM 691 Field Learning Internship (3)
A practical field experience where the MPH student will work as an intern in five different settings, doing a variety of tasks. Internship activities will be chosen to complement and broaden the student’s learning experiences, as they will work directly with or under health professionals and educators in a new or ongoing health program, activity or facility, as part of a team. Prerequisite: all MPH course work is successfully completed.
PHHM 695 Health Evangelism (3)
This course is designed to be combined with an evangelistic series that has a health component built into it. Student participation in a health evangelism event will be supplemented with classroom instruction which includes a rationale for health evangelism, basic planning of the program, budget building, advertising, and audio-visual aids for health evangelism. May be taken in place of CHMN 550 Field Evangelism.
Guided independent research to demonstrate the student’s skills in the use of the research design. The research process typically includes description of the problem and purpose of the study, limitations/delimitations, literature review, methodology, data presentation and analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. A total of 6 semester hours must be taken.
Health Promotion
PHHP 550 Anatomy and Physiology (2)
A study of the major systems of the human body to appreciate their orderliness and consistency, and their interactions with one another to control the dynamics of health and disease
PHHP 640 Public Health Nutrition (3)
A study of the principles of nutritional science and their application to the health of the public throughout the life cycle. Also examines local and international policies and programs of intervention for the prevention and control of nutrition-related diseases. Field experience.
PHHP 645 School and Adolescent Health (3)
The course is a study of the biological, psychological, social and spiritual changes that occur among young people during school ages and adolescence and the impact of these changes that is of public health concern. It will explore major health issues unique to these groups and create strategies to assist them in rational decision making and providing programs to maintain health. It will include mechanisms of health and disease. This course requires field work.
PHHP 655 Lifestyle Diseases and Risk Reduction Programs (3)
See PHHM 655 for course description.
PHHP 660 Current Global Health Issues (3)
An overview of current issues in global health, including the impact of globalization on health, poverty, culture, conflict and the problem of refugees, food security and nutrition, environment and climate change, population growth and urbanization, HIV/AIDS, chronic diseases, infectious diseases and the special concerns of maternal and child health based on the available data and student self experience.
PHHP 691 Field Learning Internship (3)
See PHHM 691 for course description.
PHHP 698 MPH Thesis (3-6)
See PHHM 698 for course description.
Nutrition
PHNU 600 Nutritional Status Assessment (3)
This course introduces the student to the dietary, anthropometric, biochemical, and clinical methodologies to assess nutritional status at the individual and community levels. Includes principles and practice of nutrition counseling. With laboratory. Field experience.
PHNU 610 Advanced Nutrition I: Carbohydrates and Lipids (3)
A study of the digestion, absorption, function, metabolism, and control of metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids. This course develops a thorough understanding of the nutrition of carbohydrates and lipids and their applications to selected nutrition-related diseases that have public health impact, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Prerequisite: PHEL 567 Nutritional Metabolism.
PHNU 611 Advanced Nutrition II: Proteins, Vitamins, and Minerals (3)
A study of the nutrition, metabolism, and function of proteins, vitamins, and minerals and their applications to understanding the relationship between nutrition and health and disease. Prerequisite: PHEL 567 Nutritional Metabolism or 3 units of Biochemistry.
PHNU 640 Public Health Nutrition (3)
See PHHP 640 for course description.
PHNU 691 Field Learning Internship (3)
See PHHM 691 for course description.
See PHHM 698 for course description.
