MPH Core Courses Urban Health Track Core Courses Social and Behavioral Sciences Track Core Courses Elective Courses Culminating Experience Professional Development Course

URBA 5301: Public Health and Medicine (3)
Public health and medicine are inextricably linked yet often viewed as being separate. Where does medicine start and public health begin? Who has the responsibility for the health of populations? This course focuses on both and presents the application of public health and medicine within the context of urban communities, particularly those with immigrant populations.

URBA 5302: Chronic Disease and Public Health (3)
Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the leading causes of mortality among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. These diseases, as well as many of the leading causes of morbidity – rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, and others – compromise life and well-being. This course examines the etiology and prevention efforts for leading chronic diseases among different racial and ethnic groups living in an urban setting. A special focus is directed toward immigrant groups. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan

URBA 5303: Human Sexual Behavior (3)
Focus on aspects of human sexual behavior from a psychosocial and behavioral perspective. A brief review of human anatomy and physiology as well as developmental abnormalities will be considered. The purpose is to educate health professionals about the strong influences of sexuality in all its facets. Prerequisite Course for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease

URBA 5304: Issues in HIV Prevention (3)
Different facets of HIV prevention including the risk factors and the impact of social, economic, racial/ethnic, cultural, and religious factors on the development of the disease. Studies focusing on different communities at high risk for the disease will be studied. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan

URBA 5305: Issues in Adolescent Health (3)
The myriad factors that influence adolescent development are considered juxtaposed against societal and public health issues. This course provides the student with an opportunity to enhance knowledge regarding this period of human development. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan

URBA 5306: Injury and Violence Prevention (3)
Examination of injury and violence as seen in urban settings. The course is designed to incorporate models into practical application in communities using case examples. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan.

URBA 5307: Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (3)
Planning, implementing, and evaluating alcohol, drug abuse, and tobacco programs in worksites, schools, or communities. The course includes epidemiology issues, research efforts, and state-of-the-art treatment programs. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan.

URBA 5308: Global Health (3)
Global health issues with a special emphasis on health and health care in developing countries. Special attention is given to the health and social problems of growing third world cities and the roles of non-governmental organizations, bilateral first world government agencies and international organizations. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan.

URBA 5309: New and Emerging Threats (3)
Bioterrorism, drug resistant infectious diseases, Smallpox, Anthrax and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (Mad Cow Disease) represent some of the new and emerging threats to human health. Prophylaxis, detection, personal protection, and decontamination are critical factors in response. Special attention is directed toward local, regional, national, and international response effectiveness. Prerequisite Courses for non-health professionals: URBA 5001 Introduction to Human Health and Disease and URBA 5002 Health Care Across the Lifespan.

URBA 5310: Introduction to Research (3)
Basics for participating in the development, implementation, and evaluation of research studies in public health, particularly health-care delivery. Each student will be expected to develop and present a research proposal. Prerequisite Courses: URBA 5101 Principles of Biostatistics and URBA 5102 Principles of Epidemiology.

URBA 5311: Social Marketing (3)
Social marketing is a key ingredient in strategies to develop, implement, and evaluate health communication and education programs. This course will focus on developing and presenting a social marketing plan addressing a specific public health issue among a specific racial or ethnic group.

URBA 5312: Clinical Research Workshop (3)
This is an intense workshop for beginning or experienced researchers to prepare a protocol for a study that they actually intend to carry out. In addition to a rigorous overview of the basic principles and methods of clinical and public health research, the course includes extensive practical experience in protocol writing, data analysis with SPSS, and critical thinking. For practice in analysis, students will work on an existing data set of 1000 breast cancer patients from Brooklyn. Reliable access to a word-processing program and to the Internet is necessary to participate in the class.

URBA 5313: Issues in Health Outcomes Research (3)
Mastering public health requires an understanding of how the health care industry uses data. “Biometrics” refers to the measurement of a wide variety of healthcare issues ranging from the health risk of populations to allocated resources, to outcomes, performance and quality of services. This course will explore the biometrics of healthcare. Participants will examine a number of data sets and learn to utilize them to improve the care of patients and patient populations.

URBA 5314: Communicable Diseases Prevention & Control (3)
This course focuses on the natural history of a group of diseases, their etiology, modes of transmission, communicability periods, presence of incubatory and convalescent carriers, the efficacy of existing diagnostic tools, the most effective ways of interrupting transmission and the effectiveness and cost of various prophylactic and containment measures. Special attention will be paid to contemporary problems that have emerged in the last decade, such as E. coli 0157:H7, Ehrlichiosis, combined Mycobacterial and HIV infections, West Nile encephalitis, and several others.

URBA 5315: Public Health and Aging Population (3)
Aging will take on increasing importance in the 21st century as medicine advances and the population grows older. Questions about longevity will shade into problems concerning the quality of life. Ethical issues will gain in prominence as the years following retirement increase. A multi-cultural society will bring differences in attitude toward late life into focus. The course will look at some of the broader medical and public health concerns in the care and management of the elderly patient in the future.

URBA 5316: Public Health of Nutrition, Weight, and Eating Behaviors (3)
This course will involve three overarching themes related to nutrition, weight and eating behaviors. One theme will focus on literature surrounding diet and lifestyle recommendations for the prevention of chronic disease. The second theme will pertain specifically to the obesity epidemic. We will cover the politics of the epidemic, a multitude of speculated causes, and its current threat on the human lifespan. The third theme of the course will involve gaining a greater appreciation for and understanding of anorexia and bulimia nervosa through the study the clinical literature as well as a memoir written by a young woman in recovery. Throughout the course we will pay special attention to issues of race, ethnicity, culture, and social class as they impact nutrition, weight, and eating behaviors.

URBA 5317 Categorical Data Analysis
This course covers analytical techniques involved in the analysis of studies where subjects have been cross-classified by two or more categorical variables. Special emphasis will be on problems related to epidemiology, public health and medicine. Topics will include: significance versus magnitude of association; estimation of relative risk; matching cases and controls; effects, measurement, and control of misclassification errors; combining evidence from many studies; and logistic regression. Students will be introduced to the SPSS statistical package for the topics covered in the course.

URBA 5318 Planning Pediatric Interventions
This course will require systems thinking in terms of how individuals, social networks, communities and organizations interact and affect the public health on a local, state, national and international level. This course will challenge you to identify the specific pediatric health issues affecting a local community, prioritize them, outline interventions and describe evaluation techniques for assessing the effectiveness of the interventions. The course will be interactive and encourages discussion of unique and diverse approaches to both new and long-standing problems affecting the pediatric population in this area. This course will focus on practical application and real-life scenarios. Although pediatric health issues will be the focus, the principles learned should be applicable to health concerns of other populations.

URBA 5601: Introduction to Focus Groups, Surveys, and Other Evaluation Methods (3)
(This course may be counted a core course for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Track when it is implemented in 2007. If student chooses this track, this course will no longer count as an elective.)
This course is designed to present an overview of the design and methods used for behavioral research in public health. Topics include an overview of the scientific method, a discussion of quantitative methods such as, survey development, quasi-experimental research, and randomized controlled trial designs used for behavioral research in public health. The course will also cover issues related to qualitative research design and methods; including focus group development, interview techniques, and ethnographic research. Prerequisites: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (URBA 5103), Principles of Epidemiology (URBA 5102).

URBA 5602: Program Design and Evaluation for Behavioral Change Interventions (3)
(This course may be counted a core course for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Track when it is implemented in 2007. If student chooses this track, this course will no longer count as an elective.)
The purpose of this course is to teach students how to translate public health theories and principles to the real-world setting. Topics include discussion of community-based participatory research, development of appropriate behavior change targets, description of the use of logic frameworks and models for the planning of intervention protocols and evaluation, incorporating theory and communication research into program activities, discussion of appropriate program evaluation models relevant for health education, and selection of appropriate study designs with considerations of their various strengths and weaknesses. This course will also take students through the processes involved in preparing grant proposals related to behavior change interventions, including developing budgets, timelines, logic frameworks, statements of need, and description of research methods. Prerequisites: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (URBA 5103), Principles of Epidemiology (URBA 5102).


URBA 5603: Understanding Health Behavior: Social, Psychological, and Behavioral Influences (3)
(This course may be counted a core course for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Track when it is implemented in 2007. If student chooses this track, this course will no longer count as an elective.)
This course will provide an introduction to the social, psychological, and behavioral issues that influence patterns of health and health care delivery. The focus is on the integration of the biomedical, social, psychological, and behavioral factors that must be taken into consideration when public health initiatives are developed and implemented. The course will be based on ecological theories of influences on health behavior. The course will also include the application of epidemiologic methods to the study of social, psychological, and behavioral influences on health, disease, and recovery/mortality. Prerequisites: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (URBA 5103).

URBA 5604: Communications Strategies in Urban Public Health: Theory and Application (3)
(This course may be counted a core course for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Track when it is implemented in 2007. If student chooses this track, this course will no longer count as an elective.)
This course explores current understanding regarding the best strategies for communicating about health promotion and behavioral risk reduction. Topics include theories of persuasive communications and health communication; communication strategies in face-to-face, small group, and broad-scale situations; social marketing and mass communication effects; and the role of social influence and networks. We will also focus on the patient-provider relationship through discussions of communication during the medical encounter; professional preparation and socialization; and patient expectations for care and emerging consumer trends. Prerequisite: Health Behavior and Risk Reduction (URBA 5103).








All students must complete a Culminating Experience.

The Culminating Experience allows the student to demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge and skills in an Final Project similar to some aspect of practice as a public health professional. The faculty uses the Culminating Experience to judge whether the student demonstrates proficiency in the competencies required for public health practice.

The Culminating Experience has two parts:
The Culminating Experience Planning Seminar
The Final Project (formerly called the Practicum)

The Culminating Experience Planning Seminar (URBA 5503) 1 credit
In the planning seminar, each student selects a topic and prepares a formal proposal for either a service or a research project and completes training in the protection of human research participants. The project must incorporate fieldwork related to the student's academic track. Planning often includes collaboration with a site-preceptor or research mentor. Students may register for the seminar only after completing at least twenty-one total credits, including all five core courses. The final proposal must be approved by the faculty advisor, the departmental Scientific Review Board, and the SUNY Downstate Institutional Review Board.

The Final Project (URBA 5500) 2 credits
The Final Project typically requires about 250 hours of field experience in a local, state, national, or international setting during which the student implements a planned activity with specific goals and objectives. At the completion of the experience, the student writes a scientific paper that presents a thorough consideration of the experience. In addition, the student makes a formal oral presentation of the work to the faculty and responds to extensive questioning by the faculty to demonstrate mastery of the core disciplines and competencies of public health.

Some examples of projects completed by MPH students are: