Course Offerings

These course offerings may not be available every semester. Some courses are offered once a year and others every other year. For more information please email the instructor to verify the availability of these classes.

Spring 2008 Courses.

Required Core Courses:

PH 5610 Overview of global Health (3 credits) - offered only during the Fall

PH 5612 Global Health Seminar (1 credit, 1 semester) - offered all semesters except Summers.

Please note that a Required Course IS NOT a pre-requesite for any of the other classes and they can be taken at the convinience of the student's schedule.

Possible Electives:

PH 1115 Health Survey Research Design

The faculty in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, 3 credits, cd

This course presents the methods for designing and conducting health surveys. Emphasis is placed on problem conceptualization, measurement, and questionnaire design in the context of a total survey design framework. Examples of face-to-face, telephone, and mail surveys are presented. Readings, assignments, and class lectures and discussions are intended to facilitate the preparation of a survey research prospectus and questionnaire.

Prerequisites: PH 1610 and PH 2610 or equivalent.

PH 1233 Public Health Nutrition

Hoelscher, 3 credits, a

This course covers nutrition issues that affect the public health of developed countries, specifically the United States. Topics covered include: dietary guidelines for populations; dietary assessment techniques; diet and chronic disease relationships; communication of nutrition issues to the public; and emerging issues in public health nutrition, such as biotechnology and gene/nutrient interactions. Biologic mechanisms will be discussed as well as epidemiologic relationships between diet and disease.

PH 1242 AIDS: Global Socioeconomic and Political Contexts

McCurdy, Ross, 3 credits, b

In this seminar we examine the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts in which ideas, practices, beliefs, and actions that surround individuals, families, and communities’ experiences of HIV/AIDS emerge. Drawing from reports, articles, ethnographies, the internet, and videos the different ways that people respond to the global threat of HIV/AIDS are considered. This is an intensive reading and writing seminar designed to expand students understanding of the myriad factors that work to produce specific and general responses to HIV/AIDS policies and programs at the local, state, and trans-local levels. Students learn about the range of dynamic cultural and social practices, local economic and political situations, and beliefs and concerns that men and women are producing throughout the world today as they negotiate and transform gendered and generational roles and obligations within their communities. Students learn about the different ways that members of specific international communities respond to the global threat and reality of HIV/AIDS in their lives and about HIV/AIDS interventions.

PH 1250 Genital, Sexual and Reproductive Public Health

Ross, 3 credits, a

This course integrates the basic biology, epidemiology, behavioral science, and health promotion interventions of genital and reproductive aspects of public health. The course covers bacterial and viral sexually transmissible diseases (including HIV), cancers of the genital and reproductive system in men and women, contraception and abortion, sexual dysfunction, sexual violence, and the sexual behaviors associated with public health problems (with emphasis on cultural and social variation). The emphasis of this course is on the design and analysis of health promotion approaches to sexual, genital and reproductive public health problems given their biology, epidemiology, and policy implications. Each student prepares and presents a proposal for an evaluation study.

Prerequisites: PH 2610 and PH 1610 or consent of instructor.

PH 1350 Multicultural Populations and Public Health Research

Fernandez-Esquer, 3 credits, a

This course explores social identities critical to contemporary U.S. society. The course emphasizes the intersection of public health and social sciences research and how they inform an understanding of social identity and/or culture of groups who have sub-optimal access to health care. Commonalities and differences among these groups are discussed throughout the semester.

PH 1410 Addictive Behavior

Walters, 3 credits, a

This course examines the societal, family, and individual problems related to addictive behavior associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs (licit and illicit) and other substances. The identification, etiology, treatment and prevention of such behavior is also studied with emphasis on public health applications.

This course is offered by ITV from the Dallas¹ Regional Campus.

PH 2125 Medical Geography

Cech, Smolensky, Burau, 3 credits, a

This course is organized to teach students the techniques of spatial and temporal analyses that are crucial for the conduct of studies in environmental science, epidemiology, and other fields of public health. The course consists of formal lectures, computer laboratory exercises, and student projects. Class lectures address the methods of medical geography, disease patterns and clusters, environmental and occupational toxicology, demography, data sources and reliability, waterborne and airborne diseases, animal and insect vector diseases, environmental and biological cycles, and software programs to graph and analyze spatial and temporal trends.

Prerequisites: Basic computer skills, biostatistics, epidemiology, animal/human biology. Consent of instructor required.

PH 2280 Public Health Microbiology I: Tropical Viruses and Human Parasites

Chappell, 3 credits, a

This course offers a survey of parasitic and selected viral diseases of public health importance. Current issues regarding the control, intervention, and prevention strategies for these infections are discussed. The course is designed for individuals with a basic science background who have not received previous formal training in human parasitology.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor

PH 2290 Immunology

Douglas, Chappell, 3 credits, b

This course covers the essential concepts of human immune responses and their relevance to disease control and prevention. The course is designed for individuals with a basic science background who have not received previous formal training in immunology.

Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.

PH 2615 Field Research Methods in Epidemiology

Day, Selwyn, Cardenas and the Faculty in Epidemiology and Disease Control, 4 credits, a (Houston, El Paso); b (Houston)

This course focuses on the principles and activities necessary to carry out information collection, data processing and analysis for an epidemiologic study. Once a research project is proposed, it must be implemented and managed in an ethical manner consistent with the principles of the scientific method. This course addresses practical aspects of epidemiologic research, that is, how you get it done. Systems theory, epidemiologic methods, principles of survey research, operations research methods, and computer uses in research are covered. The final product from the class is the development of an epidemiologic field Manual of Procedures for a study.

Prerequisites: PH 2610 or equivalent and PH 1610 or equivalent. This course is also offered at the El Paso¹ Regional Campus.

PH 2730 Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases

Hwang, Murray, Mulla, and the Faculty in Epidemiology and Disease Control, 4 credits, B (Houston, El Paso), cd (El Paso)

This course is designed as an introduction to the epidemiologic aspects of infectious diseases and provides information regarding prevention and control of these diseases. At the end of the course, students have an understanding of the epidemiologic aspects of infectious diseases including incidence, distribution, and pattern of disease occurrence as well as different modes of transmission and associated risk factors. They should understand the importance of surveillance systems in detecting epidemics, the application of epidemiological methods to determine the risk and associated factors, and the significance of prevention and control programs for infectious diseases. Students gain knowledge and skills in carrying out epidemic investigations through a series of case study assignments.

This course is also offered at the El Paso¹ Regional Campus

PH 3812 Comparative Healthcare Systems: Policy Challenges and Economic Perspectives

Rosenau, Swint, 3 credits, b (odd-numbered years)

This course is in a doctoral seminar format. We examine economic, political, and other pertinent aspects of eight to ten national health care systems in an effort to better understand the range of options available for health care reform efforts. In the past the course has covered Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, the U.K., the U.S. and Vietnam.

PH 3823 Global Issues in Pregnancy and Perinatal Health

Selwyn, 3 credits, a

From the global perspective, this course explores the major issues related to current-day pregnancy and perinatal health. It includes a review of basic anatomy and physiology pertinent to reproduction and childbearing. There is detailed discussion of the medical care, epidemiology, and public health issues associated with selected problems during pregnancy and the perinatal and inter-pregnancy periods. Students make an oral presentation on a selected topic.

PH 5611 Health and Development

Homedes, Selwyn, Swint, 3 credits, b

This course examines the interrelationships between population health and economic development in developing countries, including consideration of globalization, healthcare and public health systems, and the roles of international organizations.

This course is offered by ITV from the El Paso¹ Regional Campus.

PH 5613 Critical Cinema for Public Health

Homedes, Selwyn, 1 credits, a b c

This course presents movies and documentaries revolving around public health issues. The film is introduced by expert faculty and a brief discussion is conducted after the movie

This course is offered by ITV from Houston to El Paso,¹ San Antonio, Dallas, and Brownsville Regional Campus.

PH 3922 Economic and Social Determinants of Health

Franzini, Brown, 3 credits, b

This course introduces the concept of population health and studies the reason for health disparities between countries as well as socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups within countries. It takes an approach to health that identifies the social factors, such as inequalities in income and opportunities and racial/ethnic disparities, that influence the health of populations. The course presents an overview of these concepts and is intended as the introductory course for students interested in the topic. The course examines population health by: exploring economic, social and cultural factors; identifying systematic variation in these factors, leading to health disparities; exploring how economic, social and cultural conditions affect individual risk factors, human behavior and biology; and assessing economic social and policies.

This is a designated core course.

This course is also offered at the Brownsville Regional Campus.

Course Offerings

Required Core Courses:

Possible Electives:

Other Special Topics Courses