Global Health Courses

PUB 210 will provide upper division undergraduate students with a meaningful appreciation of the challenges in achieving the human right to health in low- and middle-income countries worldwide. Students will understand the leading causes of illness, death, and disability and approaches to prevention and control of those conditions in resource-constrained settings. Students will also understand the complex interrelationships between social, environmental, and political factors that affect health and well-being in low- and middle-income countries. Further, students will learn how to critically evaluate solutions to improve global health.

Prerequisite: None

Provides an overview of compelling public health problems among the world’s poor. Topics addressed will include infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis; the rise of tobacco-related disease; the role of water, hygiene, and sanitation in the prevention of disease; maternal and neonatal mortality; surveillance; and disaster response in the resource-poor setting. Students will gain practical experience in developing and presenting strategies for the implementation and evaluation of public health programs in the resource-poor setting.

3 Credits, Spring Semester

This course provides an introduction to both the global and local health issues related to refugee populations. Health, cultural issues, barriers to care, and services for refugee populations in the United States will be featured, with an emphasis on Western New York's (WNY) refugee groups. Global historical and policy issues related to refugees and refugee health also will be studied.

Format: Remote

3 Credits, Spring Semester

Prerequisite: None

Health Behavior Change is an overview of the health behaviors contributing most dramatically to increased morbidity and mortality in the United States. The course emphasizes public health interventions and strategies to promote healthy behaviors and discourage unhealthy behaviors. The course examines consequences, patterns, risk factors, and change/interventions for each behavior or problem. Behaviors are examined from multiples perspectives (e.g., individual, social, environmental) and with a systems perspective in mind, illuminating the interconnecting influences on behaviors. Health behaviors and behavior change interventions are presented in the context of current research and theory. The course also examines the role of health disparities, public health policy, current debate, health behavior theory and emerging research.

Format: Seated

3 Credits, Spring Semester

Prerequisite: None

This course identifies elements in a community responsible for modifying the health behavior of the individual. Provides the needed information for designing plans to improve the health status of the community and its members. The course will help to identify quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct community health assessment, evaluation of community intervention programs, and the utilization of public health surveillance data to understand community health profiles. Case-studies and a practical experience will provide the students with training on how to work as a group with members of the community.

Format: Seated

3 Credits, Fall Semester

Prerequisite: None

The course will provide students with an understanding of and appreciation for population approaches to improving the health of our nation and the world, as well as knowledge of various career paths in public health. Course content includes: public health perspectives on health, wellness, illness, and population well-being; key influences on the health and well being of individuals and populations; assessing public health problems from a population health perspective; using the five core components of public health to address health problems; effectively utilizing health information to address public health issues; and career paths in public health and the training/expertise required to pursue them. Students will engage in critical assessment of historical and current public health events, and creative application of their foundational knowledge to new public health problems. The course is particularly applicable to students preparing to pursue a health-related career and to students in health professions programs desiring a knowledge of public health approaches.

3 Credits, Fall Semester

This course is designed to provide a comprehensive, doctoral-level overview of principles and theoretical perspectives on the determinants of health behavior and community health. Using a biopsychosocial perspective we will examine biological influences, psychological, social, and policy determinants of health behavior and health. 

Format: Seated

3 Credits, Spring Semester

This course is a designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the state of the science in health behavior and community health interventions, including individual, family, community, and policy interventions. Students will be prepared to critically assess and apply strategies for individual and community health promotion. 

Format: Seated

3 Credits, Fall Semester

Health Equity is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and how their ills and benefits are unequally distributed across society. We will cover differences in health status associated with race, ethnicity, immigrant status, education, income, disability, geographic location, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. We will examine the multiple pathways through which these inequities produced and reinforced, including structural and interpersonal discrimination and stigma. We will also discuss methods for conducting research and intervening in disadvantaged communities. The course will provide historical and theoretical perspectives on the problem, provide a critical examination of empirical support for various explanatory pathways, and will cover approaches to studying and reducing health disparities.

Format: Online

Prerequisite: None

This course is intended to provide a basic introduction to principles and methods of epidemiology. The course emphasizes the conceptual aspects of epidemiologic investigation and application of these concepts in public health and related professions. Topics include overview of the epidemiologic approach to studying disease; the natural history of disease; measures of disease occurrence, association and risk; epidemiologic study designs; disease surveillance; population screening; interpreting epidemiologic associations; causal inference using epidemiologic information; and application of these basic concepts in the context of selected major diseases and risk factors. Please note that this course cannot be used for degrees that require EEH 501 unless pre-approved by the program director, or as a prerequisite for courses that require EEH 501.

Format: Online

Prerequisite: None

Introduction to the basic principles, methods, and uses of epidemiology. This course is a master’s/doctoral level course designed to introduce epidemiology, its methods and its role in public health. A major portion of the course will be devoted to an overview of fundamental epidemiologic methods used in public health research and practice. The student will be familiarized with basic measures used in describing disease frequency in populations. Descriptive and analytic approaches to the study of disease will be explored, and a perspective on the role of epidemiologic methods in health services planning and evaluation will be provided. Problem solving exercises will be used to provide students with an opportunity to tabulate data and apply subject matter developed during lectures and in reading assignments. At the end of the course students should have a general understanding of the uses and limitations of epidemiologic inquiry. This understanding should provide the basis for applying epidemiologic concepts in work-related settings and in other courses in the public health curriculum.

Format: seated

Prerequisite: None

Provides an understanding of how the law serves as a tool in advancing a public health agenda. The class is interdisciplinary, including law students and students from public health-related fields. The course examines the history of public health law, the tension between state and federal governments in the regulation of the publics health, and the conflicts between governmental powers and individual autonomy. The course considers the standard practice of public health professionals to prevent disease and promote healthy behaviors in the wake of emerging public health challenges such as racial disparities in health care, a potential flu pandemic, the obesity epidemic, and the abortion debate.

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to be an overview of the health care industry and a framing of the severe challenges facing leaders in field. It will take a business approach to the issues presented, but will always juxtapose financial issues with value creation. It begins with a short look at classic economics, and why they do not always apply in health care. It will take an in-depth look at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the implications it has on all parts of the industry. It will follow with a review of each component of the industry: government, health plans, employers, providers, and suppliers. Each review will focus on the unique challenges leaders are facing in a dynamic, changing environment.

Prerequisites: EEH 501 and EEH 550

Advanced course designed to provide students with the latest knowledge and an in-depth discussion of how the environment interacts with human biological systems and potentiates various health effects over the life cycle. The course includes a detailed examination of environmental hazards, exposure assessment, human susceptibility, biological response pathways, application of biomarkers in environmental health studies and the disease burden of environmental exposure. The course focuses on three major environmental topics: air pollution, water pollution and food safety.

Format: seated

Prerequisite: EEH 500, EEH 501

Focuses on the theory and epidemiologic methods used in the epidemiologic study of infectious diseases. Emphasis is on the investigation of infectious disease outbreaks, evaluations of vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, and surveillance for infectious diseases of public health importance. The course includes an examination of the following infectious diseases, among others: HIV/AIDs, influenza, foodborne disease, sexually transmitted infections, dengue fever, and vaccine-preventable diseases.

Format: seated

Prerequisite: None

Special topics for master’s students (MS and MPH) determined by individual faculty interest.