The program of study leading to the professional MPH degree is based on a series of foundation courses. In addition, MPH students concentrate in one of the following areas: Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology (11-month), Epidemiology/Biostatistics, Health and Social Behavior, Health Policy and Management, Global Health and Environment, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Interdisciplinary, Maternal and Child Health, and Public Health Nutrition.
The MPH degree is available in a residential program on campus or through an On-Campus/Online MPH program. The hybrid program requires two accelerated on-campus sessions, while all remaining coursework is completed online.
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)
The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) curriculum is based on a comprehensive body of knowledge in the field of public health and its related disciplines, and the investigation of significant problems in public health practice.
The following minimum requirements apply to all graduate programs and will be verified by the Graduate Division:
A bachelor’s degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution;
A grade point average of B or better (3.0);
If the applicant has completed a basic degree from a country or political entity (e.g., Quebec) where English is not the official language, adequate proficiency in English to do graduate work, as evidenced by a TOEFL score of at least 90 on the iBT test, 570 on the paper-and-pencil test, or an IELTS Band score of at least 7 on a 9-point scale (note that individual programs may set higher levels for any of these); and
Sufficient undergraduate training to do graduate work in the given field.
Applicants Who Already Hold a Graduate Degree
The Graduate Council views academic degrees not as vocational training certificates, but as evidence of broad training in research methods, independent study, and articulation of learning. Therefore, applicants who already have academic graduate degrees should be able to pursue new subject matter at an advanced level without the need to enroll in a related or similar graduate program.
Programs may consider students for an additional academic master’s or professional master’s degree only if the additional degree is in a distinctly different field.
Applicants admitted to a doctoral program that requires a master’s degree to be earned at Berkeley as a prerequisite (even though the applicant already has a master’s degree from another institution in the same or a closely allied field of study) will be permitted to undertake the second master’s degree, despite the overlap in field.
The Graduate Division will admit students for a second doctoral degree only if they meet the following guidelines:
Applicants with doctoral degrees may be admitted for an additional doctoral degree only if that degree program is in a general area of knowledge distinctly different from the field in which they earned their original degree. For example, a physics PhD could be admitted to a doctoral degree program in music or history; however, a student with a doctoral degree in mathematics would not be permitted to add a PhD in statistics.
Applicants who hold the PhD degree may be admitted to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program if there is no duplication of training involved.
Applicants may apply only to one single degree program or one concurrent degree program per admission cycle.
Required Documents for Applications
Transcripts: Applicants may upload unofficial transcripts with your application for the departmental initial review. If the applicant is admitted, then official transcripts of all college-level work will be required. Official transcripts must be in sealed envelopes as issued by the school(s) attended. If you have attended Berkeley, upload your unofficial transcript with your application for the departmental initial review. If you are admitted, an official transcript with evidence of degree conferral will not be required.
Letters of recommendation: Applicants may request online letters of recommendation through the online application system. Hard copies of recommendation letters must be sent directly to the program, not the Graduate Division.
Evidence of English language proficiency:All applicants who have completed a basic degree from a country or political entity in which the official language is not English are required to submit official evidence of English language proficiency. This applies to institutions from Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Latin America, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, most European countries, and Quebec (Canada). However, applicants who, at the time of application, have already completed at least one year of full-time academic course work with grades of B or better at a US university may submit an official transcript from the US university to fulfill this requirement. The following courses will not fulfill this requirement:
courses in English as a Second Language,
courses conducted in a language other than English,
courses that will be completed after the application is submitted, and
courses of a non-academic nature.
If applicants have previously been denied admission to Berkeley on the basis of their English language proficiency, they must submit new test scores that meet the current minimum from one of the standardized tests. Official TOEFL score reports must be sent directly from Educational Test Services (ETS). The institution code for Berkeley is 4833. Official IELTS score reports must be sent electronically from the testing center to University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Division, Sproul Hall, Rm 318 MC 5900, Berkeley, CA 94720. TOEFL and IELTS score reports are only valid for two years.
Not a requirement for Environmental Health Science and Global Health and Environment MPH students.
3
All of our MPH are expected to fulfill this requirement through PB HLTH 291A (PB W289 or PB 223C) or an equivalent. Note: DrPH student fulfill their leadership requirements through PB HLTH 290: Foundations of Public Health Leadership and Practice.
Environmental Health Sciences Concentration (2 year program)
Course List
Code
Title
Units
Courses Required for Concentration
Select at least one of the two options below for an essential methods course:
Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health (Students with a recent course in upper division statistics can opt out of this and take PBHLTH 245.)
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Drug Development, and Public Health
2
1
For second year IDV MPH students. First year students are welcome to sit in at times, especially when alumni and health professionals are invited to speak in class.
2
This course is offered every Fall semester. Seminar offered by other divisions related to infectious diseases studies may be counted on individual seminar course basis. Check with IDV for acceptable substitution.
This concurrent degree program is designed to examine research, practice, and policy at the intersection of urban planning, policy and design with population health. Special attention is given to understanding the forces that are shaping urbanization in the US and globally, what methods are necessary to analyze the relationships between urban policy and planning and human health, and to design and analyze interventions, frequently in partnership with community members and organizations, that can enhance urban health equity. The program prepares students for interdisciplinary careers in such fields as urban development, community health, housing, transportation, policymaking, and others. Graduates secure jobs working in government, international organizations, non-profits, academia/research and the private sector.
Candidates for this program are recruited and admitted through both the School of Public Health and the Department of City and Regional Planning. Students complete the core curriculum of each area, as well as the Health & Social Behavior track within MPH and an area of concentration in MCP. Visit the City and Regional Planning website for more information.
The three-year MPH/MJ allows students to combine their interests in public health, journalism, communications and media. The program is designed to produce public health professionals who are effective media practitioners and communicators as well as journalists with the training and knowledge necessary to cover public health and medical issues for online, print, broadcast and other media platforms.
Students select one of four public health concentrations (environmental health, infectious diseases, epidemiology/biostatistics, health and social behavior) and simultaneously develop their reporting and multimedia skills. The program explores how public health and journalism intersect and impact each other and prepares graduates for work in a variety of public health, media and journalism. Visit the Berkeley Journalism website for more information.
The MBA/MPH program provides a deep competency in business administration, integrated with up-to-the-minute knowledge of health policy and management and other health care concepts. Students in this program pursue a wide range of interests including global health, entrepreneurship/start-ups, biotech/medtech, provider and payer initiatives, and social impact. This track allows students to have an extended period at Berkeley to take more electives, develop business and leadership skills in a range of applied health care settings, and have two distinct full-time summer internships.
This is a 2.5-year concurrent degree program, offered in a long-standing partnership between Berkeley Public Health and the Haas School of Business. It has been in existence for more than 35 years, so it has a large community of alumni and provides students access to the top-notch career services and faculty mentors from both Schools.
From the ACA to the FDA, to issues of equity and access, the health policy realm is highly visible and complex. It is for students who want to master the analytical skills that support policy analysis and decision-making, as well as gain a deeper understanding of key healthcare issues.
Berkeley Public Health and the School of Social Welfare offer two options that offer interdisciplinary preparation in the fields of social welfare and public health leading to the Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health degrees, generally in less time than it would take to obtain these degrees independently.
For more information on the Berkeley Public Health Faculty, please visit the Faculty Directory website.
Courses
Public Health
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This course seeks to examine the ethical challenges inherent in public health practice, research, and policy. It covers a range of topics in ethics through cases representative of different public health dilemmas. The cases considered include treating homeless people with TB, rationing medical care in the United States, conducting HIV studies of maternal-fetal transmission in Africa, managed care policies and setting priorities, the deaf community and cochlear implants, and the societal implications of genetic information. The goal is to enable students to develop an analytical methodology that has practical application for their future work. Current issues in Public Health Ethics: Research and Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2009, Fall 2008
This course is designed to provide students with a brief introduction to the field of public health and a basic understanding of the contributions of the environmental, behavioral, and management and policy sciences to the practice of public health. Central foci of the course include the interactions of biology, behavior and environment; the community and population-based nature of public health; health disparities; the relationships among health care access, cost and quality of care; the performance of the health care delivery system; the concepts of risk and burden of disease; the importance of ecological and life course perspectives; and theory- and evidence-based public health research and practice. By the conclusion of this course, students will be able to discuss and describe seminal concepts and approaches, as well as current theories and methods underlying societal efforts to study and address key public health problems. Public Health Core Breadth Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Health policy and management applies concepts from economics, organizational behavior, and political science to the structure, financing, and regulation of the public health and health care delivery systems. This breadth course is designed to give MPH students a basic set of competencies in the domains central to the field. Health Policy and Management Breadth Course: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course will give an introduction to the major human and natural activities that lead to release of hazardous materials into the environment as well as the causal links between chemical, physical, and biological hazards in the environment and their impact on human health, including those related to climate change. The basic principles of toxicology, exposure assessment, risk assessment, risk perception, and environmental health policy will be presented. The overall role of environmental risks in the pattern of human disease, both nationally and internationally, will be covered. Environmental Health Sciences Breadth Course: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Health and social behavior uses theory and research from the behavioral sciences to explain the causes and health effects of salutary and risky behavior. Health and Social Behavior Breadth: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Today, graduates of public health programs must be prepared for evidence-based practice and the generation of practice-based evidence. They must have the ability to work in an increasingly interdisciplinary, interprofessional and cross-sectoral environment and settings. Foundations of Public Health Practice introduces 12 areas of critical public health content to bridge the chasm between public health practice and theory. This course serves as an orientation to the various subjects, fields, and concepts that students will encounter in their education. While no single professional is expected to be an expert in all of these practice areas, everyone must be aware of their importance. Foundations of Public Health Practice: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 2 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 First 6 Week Session
Health policy and management applies concepts from economics, organizational behavior, and political science to the structure, financing, and regulation of the public health and health care delivery systems. This breadth course is designed to give MPH students a basic set of competencies in the domains central to the field. Health Policy and Management Breadth Course: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This survey course covers the breadth of hazards from chemical, biological, and physical agents of concern to environmental health professionals. Lectures are presented by experts on particular topics that emphasize the activities involved in professional practice. Environmental Health Sciences Breadth Course: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 4 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Course focuses on social, cultural, bio-behavioral determinants of health & health behavior, issues related to social & behavioral interventions, policies aimed at improving community & population health. Students will have experience in/be able to apply range of Health & Social Behavior perspectives, approaches to critically analyze public health issues, conceptualize research & interventions at different levels of ecological model. Topics designed to convey key concepts, highlight approaches in Health & Social Behavior via lectures, readings, videos & online resources. Group assignments focus on community context & health. Will require students to synthesize/apply concepts from course. Assignments will culminate in a final group project. Health and Social Behavior Breadth: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Describe a range of major themes, theories and conceptual frameworks, research and practice approaches commonly encountered in Health and Social Behavior. Describe and apply ecological public health frameworks and concepts emphasizing multilevel interactions between biology, behavior, environments and the distribution of life opportunities. Describe the rationale for community involvement in public health actions and the key principles of community-based approaches to public health. Understand how socially constructed concepts of race, ethnicity, immigration, gender and social class influence health and structure population health inequities. Understand relationships between human behavior and public health to critically assess models of human behavior and to explore strengths-based, multi-level intervention design.
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course focuses on the primary factors that affect health and the interventions that can promote health. Students examine the determinants of health and the theory, history, types, ethics, and approaches of public health interventions. Community level interventions and multidisciplinary approaches receive special emphasis. The course stresses a rigorous critique of the outcomes of interventions and practical ways to improve them. Students take an active role in the design and conduct of the course. Public Health Interventions: Theory, Practice, and Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Previous experience with health interventions and doctoral student status or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2009
This course will delve into theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations in conducting physical and mental health interventions in diverse communities. Course emphases are: a) conceptualization and implementation of community interventions within ecological models and principles; b) logic models of intervention process and outcomes; c) comparing and integrating prevention science and community-based participatory approaches to intervention; d) strategies and challenges in replicating and diffusing community-based interventions across diverse settings; and e) cultural competency in community intervention development. Community-Based Research and Interventions to Promote Health: Theory and Methods: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
Focus on ethnic and cultural diversity in health behavior as a basis for public health programs. Consideration of U.S. ethnic minority groups and cultural groups in non-Western societies. Health status and behavior examined in context of relevant social and anthropological theory (social class, acculturation, political economy). Influence of socio-cultural background on concepts of health, illness, and health-seeking behavior. Implications for planning public health programs and policies. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Health Status: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
This course is an advanced alcohol research seminar in which presentations are made by alcohol research scientists nationally and internationally, as well as pre-and post-doctoral fellows, and focus on special topical areas related to psychosocial research in the field each semester. Areas covered include the epidemiology of drinking patterns and alcohol-related problems, issues related to treatment of alcohol-related problems, and health services research. Guest presentations are also provided (related to topics outside psychosocial research) to provide a breadth of understanding in the field. The seminar also includes sessions focused on methodological issues in alcohol-related research and grant writing, and has a research ethics component covering a number of sessions. Advanced Alcohol Research Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
Focus on ethnic and cultural diversity in health behavior as a basis for public health programs. Consideration of U.S. ethnic minority groups and cultural groups in non-Western societies. Health status and behavior examined in context of relevant social and anthropological theory (social class, acculturation, political economy). Influence of socio-cultural background on concepts of health, illness, and health-seeking behavior. Implications for planning public health programs and policies. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Health Status: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This course will examine ethnic and cultural differences in health status and behavior among historically marginalized communities in the United States, including African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, as well as sexual minorities and groups from non-Western societies. Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Health Status: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course provides a survey of theoretical perspectives and their application in analyzing the behavioral, social, and cultural dimensions of community health problems. An emphasis is placed on critically examining the strengths and weaknesses of particular theories for understanding and addressing complex community health problems. Theories of Health and Social Behavior: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Background in social and behavioral sciences. Consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Examines the role of mass communication in advancing public health goals. Reviews mass media theories in general, and theories of the news media in particular. Provides an in-depth understanding of media advocacy as a strategy for using news media and paid advertising to support policy initiatives at the local, state, and federal levels. Examples are drawn from a wide range of public health issues. Mass Communications in Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
Public health literature and practice make frequent reference to the terms culture, cultural competence, race, racism, ethnicity, and health disparities. Understanding these terms, their complex meanings and current application in public health practice is the subject matter of this course. By the end of the course students will be able to describe the concepts of culture, race, racism, ethnicity, cultural competence, cultural humility, health disparities and their use in public health theory and practice; identify and describe the application of these concepts in local public health practice; and demonstrate an understanding of these concepts and their application in public health practice through the completion of a group project. Culture, Public Health Practice, and Eliminating Health Disparities: From Ideas to Action in the 21st Century: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate students in Public Health or by consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Understanding and addressing persistent racial inequities in health status is a core public health problem. Ethnic minorities are much more likely to experience much higher rates of poor birth outcomes, infant mortality, infectious and chronic diseases, hospitalization rates, and early death rates from all causes. This course examines racial and ethnic health inequities as a function of social inequality. Topics are drawn from a social determinants of health framework emphasizing the importance of the economic, social, and political features that adversely affect the health status of many underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. from a multidisciplinary approach: Public Health, sociology, anthropology, and social welfare Research Advances in Health Disparities: Multidisciplinary Perspectives: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an understanding of how the media can be used to promote healthy public policy. The primary focus of the course is on "media advocacy." Students will learn how to frame issues from a public health perspective. In learning more about how the media operate, they will be better equipped to work effectively with journalists. Mass Communication in Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 6 weeks - 6-6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 6-6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course provides the necessary skills to plan effective public health programs. Examines principles and methods underlying program planning, emphasizing multi-disciplinary, collaborative and "real world" planning processes. Provides students with conceptual and experiential understanding of how to plan, conduct and present community health needs assessments by covering both theory and practical skills. Students will become familiar with the theory and methods related to ecologically valid assets-based and needs-based community health assessments and translate them into practice. Students will work with a community organization to apply the program planning principles and needs assessment taught throughout the course. Program Planning and Needs Assessment: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Students will work in a community organization to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in this class. Real world application of program planning principles and needs assessment will be taught throughout the course. Students will complete this course with the development of a complete program plan for a community organization or collect, analyze and present community health assessment data and develop feasible programmatic recommendations.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public health students
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2015
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the necessary skills to plan health programs. We will examine the principles and methods underlying program planning. Multi-disciplinary, collaborative planning will be emphasized. Program planning applications will be emphasized throughout the course by using case studies, specific illustrations, and online planning exercises. Program Planning and Development: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course will introduce first-year public health nutrition and other MPH students to critical issues in public health nutrition, and provide them with critical thinking skills to analyze these issues using scientific literature. Students will build group facilitation skills, library research skills, and professional advocacy skills. Second-year public health nutrition students and a panel of PHN graduates will speak to the students about valuable skills and competencies needed for work in public health nutrition. PH Nutrition Core Course: Critical Issues in Public Health Nutrition: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Master of Public Health students
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
Concepts, methods, and limitations in the determination of nutritional status; application of methodologies for determining and interpreting data; technical, social, and political implications of nutritional assessments and related community needs. Nutrition Status, Physical Activity, and Chronic Conditions: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
This course examines the historical origins of food and nutrition improvement programs in the United States, including the political and administrative conditions that led to the development of these programs. It also examines the goals, design, operations, and effectiveness of some of these programs: Food Stamp Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, Head Start, the Child Care Food Program, and the Elderly Nutrition Program. Food and Nutrition Policies and Programs: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2018
This course develops the ability to read published nutritional epidemiology research critically. Basic research methods in nutritional epidemiology will be reviewed, and issues in design, analysis, and interpretation unique to nutritional epidemiology will be addressed. This will be accomplished by readings and study questions, lecture/discussions, and problem sets. Nutritional Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
This course will use a case-based approach to examine the ways in which governments in developing countries design and implement policies and programs that affect food production and access to safe, affordable, and nutritionally adequate diets. In the course we will analyze, assess and evaluate ways to take action to ameliorate the major nutritional problems facing vulnerable populations in developing countries. Food and Nutrition Programs and Policies in Developing Countries: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session
Nutrition plays a vital role in human reproduction, child growth/development. Course provides an overview of the major nutritional issues for infants, children, adolescents, and reproductive age women in the United States. One module on malnutrition offers global content. Reviews programs, interventions aimed at improving MCH nutrition, builds student familiarity with evidence-based MCH nutrition practice guidelines. Demonstrates a methodology for applying this knowledge to food choices at a personal, programmatic level. Students will be asked to engage in a "hands on" experience with the USA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly The Food Stamp Program). Supplemental learning activities for this course are highly interactive Maternal and Child Health Nutrition: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: if student receives D or F grade
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021
This course will take a solutions-oriented approach to addressing the pressing problems in current food systems. We will explore strategies used by the disciplines of agroecology, policy, law, public health, and business in working to improve food systems and apply their varied approaches to real-world case studies. Through weekly readings, discussions, and problem-solving sessions with Berkeley’s leading food systems experts, students will gain a broad understanding of food systems and the leverage points that can be targeted to improve the health of people and the planet. Transforming the Food System: From Agroecology to Population Health: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: 1.
Define and explain food systems, explain interdependence within those systems, and understand their impacts on the health of people and the planet 2.
Identify leverage points for transforming food systems based on evidence 3.
Understand various strategies—legal, political, agro-ecological, economic, behavioral, etc.—that different disciplines use to target leverage points 4.
Articulate different perspectives on food systems issues and explain the pros and cons of strategies for food systems change 5.
Adapt communication styles to various audiences and media
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate student standing
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with advisor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Nutrition plays a vital role in human reproduction and child growth and development. This course provides an overview of the major nutritional issues faced by women of childbearing age, infants, children, and adolescents in the United States and around the world, with selected topics explored in greater depth. Nutritional problems are multi-factorial and occur at multiple levels and we will study them from a variety of viewpoints (biological, pyschological, socio-cultural, economic, political, and behavioral) as well as from individual and population perspectives. Participants in the course will become acquainted with nutritional research, policies, and interventions designed to enhance reproduction, growth, and development. This course will also explore health disparities in maternal and child nutrition in both a domestic and international context. Public Health Aspects of Maternal and Child Nutrition: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Course in epidemiology required; previous coursework in biology and nutritional science highly recommended
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2018
In the past decade, health systems and their role in global health have received increasing focus. While disease-focused, 'vertical programs', such as malaria and HIV/AIDs still command the lion's share of donor resources, it has become clear that the sustainability of disease programs depends on embedding them into a country's health system. This course provides a real world, practical understanding of health systems, based on a solid academic foundation. It introduces current debates about health systems, health financing, and universal health coverage in the international community. Students will use five key structural questions to analyze health care systems and their performance on quality, cost and access metrics. Comparative Health Systems: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course will explore issues related to maternal, child, and adolescent health throughout the life course with a focus on the social determinants of health, health disparities, and social justice. Discussion will focus on current issues central to maternal and child health policy and practice; the history and organization of MCH health services in the US; and analyze the ways in which the political context in the US and internationally affects the health and well-being of families, including critical examination of the ways in which knowledge about an issue, an understanding of the social strategies to address that issue, and political will are all leveraged to influence the creation of MCH policy. Foundations of Maternal and Child Health Policy, Practice and Science: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course is designed to provide an understanding of the epidemiology and etiology of critical health issues among adolescents, including complex contextual influences and individual processes related to this dynamic period of life. Each adolescent health outcome will be considered in light of developmental issues related to the pubertal transition and multilevel influences that contribute to adolescent health and well-being, including 1) biological, 2) cognitive, 3) behavioral, and 4) social-culture factors. The course will emphasize: empirical evidence for the etiology of adolescent health problems, documented risk and protective factors, and content and timing of preventive intervention efforts to ameliorate risk. Adolescent Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
The purpose of this course is to provide a conceptual and practical understanding of health needs and the strategies that can be used for conducting needs assessments in maternal and child health. The course is aimed at students who anticipate working in situations that involve measuring health problems in communities, planning for health services, and advocating or making decisions about the distribution of community health resources. Needs Assessment in Maternal and Child Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate student in Public Health
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Research methods and issues in perinatal and reproductive epidemiology with emphasis on methods of study. Specific adverse reproductive outcomes, risk factors, and prevalence will be discussed. Will include critiques of published studies and techniques of proposal writing. Reproductive and Perinatal Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in epidemiology or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course is designed to support MCH students complete their masters capstone project. Part I is offered in the Fall and Part II is in Spring. Practicum in MCH Data Analysis I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Formerly known as: PH 293-7 MCH Seminar.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
The course is designed to support MCH students working on their Master's Capstone project. The course goal is to support students in a variety of methodological issues and practical issues. The course is a combination of formal class meetings and one-on-one meetings. Practicum In MCH Data Analysis II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Formerly known as: 293-6 Practical Issues in MCH Data Analysis.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of seminar and 1-2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The purpose of this seminar is to learn how to critically review peer-reviewed articles in the field of maternal, child, adolescent and family health (MCAH). This is a required course for all Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health MPH students and some MCAH Specialty areas. Others may enroll with permission of the instructor. Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health Journal Club: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020
This course introduces students to theories and concepts of leadership and explores ways of applying these to maternal, child, and adolescent health issues. This course provides opportunities for students to develop skills and resources for further developing their own leadership. The skills taught in this course will prepare students to become dynamic, thoughtful leaders in the field of MCAH with a particular focus on continued self-reflection and development to lead programs that address the diverse issues facing MCAH populations. Foundations of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Leadership: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The course examines the origins of health and human rights concerns and outlines a conceptual basis for human rights among health professionals. It provides an overview of the epidemiology of human rights violations worldwide and an analysis of the psychology of abuse. The course considers the role of health professionals in (1) documenting the health and social consequences of human rights violations and war; (2) treating survivors of abuse; (3) addressing specific human rights concerns of women and children; (4) identifying the impact of health policy on human rights; and (5) participating in human rights education and advocacy. The course will also examine issues of universality of human rights and cultural relativism and the role of accountability for the past abuses in prevention. Health and Human Rights: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Assessment of health status of mothers, infants, and children on worldwide basis; special emphasis on problems, policies, and programs affecting MCH and family planning in developing countries. International Maternal and Child Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Building upon expertise on migration from Mexico to the U.S., the goal of this course is to strengthen students' knowledge and understanding of public health issues of immigrants and the effects that migration has on the health/disease issues of communities in the countries of origin, transit, and destination. Students will explore successful public health intervention programs targeting these populations. Migration and Health: A U.S.-Mexico Binational Perspective: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
This course will serve students intending to conduct research, policy work, or program implementation in health services in developing countries. Topics covered will include definition and typology of private sector in various countries, theories of private sector regulation, motivation, and research. Methodological and practical issues in measuring provider importance, quality, and in influencing the activities of actors in private health delivery will be explored from viewpoints of both research and programmatic intervention. Private Sector Health Services in Developing Countries: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course introduces students to the basic principles of global public health that are used to improve population health at all levels. The course will start with an introduction to essential concepts from public health disciplines that are the foundations of global health practice. Students will then apply these concepts to current global health challenges through course activities, assignments, and readings that will provide a real world context. Global health experts will share their experiences and lessons learned from implementing global health research and programs. Throughout the course, students will gain critical and creative-thinking experience in applying tools and frameworks towards addressing diverse global health needs. Foundations of Global Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Course examines the determinants of family size and the role played by contraception, voluntary sterilization, and induced abortion in the transition to small families. It looks at the factors controlling access to fertility regulation in developed and developing countries and discusses the factors that have made for successful family programs as well as those that have generated controversy. The course looks at the relationship between family planning and the health of women and children and at the role of family size in economic development and environmental problems. It looks at advances in family planning, organization, and promotion of services and discusses ethical issues facing providers. Family Planning, Population Change, and Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course provides an overview to ethical issues within a global health context. The course starts with an introduction to ethical frameworks, theories, and historical references that elevate the ethics conversation to the global stage. The course will then link theory to practice as we delve deeper into ethical issues in research, experiential learning, and delivery. We will consider ethical questions about the discipline of global public health and the roles of governments, academic institutions, organizations, health professions, and members of the public as stewards of health. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the divers international perspectives on the concepts of ethics and health. Global Health Ethics: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This course is a team-oriented, project-based course designed around the case-based and learning-by-doing models. The critical elements of the human-centered design process – discovering, ideating, and prototyping – are learned through didactic sessions and an 8-week project students work on in teams. Working with community partners on a public health issue related to food, the student teams apply human-centered design skills to the problem, and design and pilot (when possible) a solution with and for their community partner. Eat.Think.Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
This is an interdisciplinary course which will adopt a broad-based ecological perspective of health and behavior. This class will emphasize the interconnected and multidirectional relationships between biology, behavior, and the social environment. This course will be conducted as a seminar series (with a focus on biological processes). We will investigate the assertion that biological, psychological, and social processes interact over a lifetime to influence health and vulnerability to disease (a developmental epigenetic perspective). Rather than focusing on "if" social factors can influence health and disease we will focus on "how" social factors may regulate/change biological measures. Three very general themes will be addressed: development, "social" neuroscience and gene-environment interactions as they relate to behavior. Topics such as constraints/plasticity and behavior, genetic determinism, vulnerability versus resilience, gene-environment interactions, fetal/developmental programming, and stress will all be touched upon. Biological Embedding of Social Factors: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of research, practice, and policy in the area of aging and public health. Topics will include the epidemiology of aging; race, class, gender, and aging; nutrition and the elderly; and current health policy surrounding aging. Themes running throughout the course and linking a number of the topics covered will include the diversity of the elderly; the importance of co-morbidity and functional health status in this population group; the family and broader environmental contexts in which aging takes place; and the influence of public and private sector policies on health and health-related behavior in the elderly. Weekly lectures by the faculty will be complemented by presentations by prominent Bay Area researchers in the areas of geriatrics and gerontology. This is the core course for the School of Public Health specialty in aging and public health. Aging and Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
This course will survey the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from a biological and public health perspective by reading original research papers in the fields of medicine, neuroscience, and epidemiology. The course will begin with a historical survey of the concept of AD, followed by a description of clinical and neuropathological features. Subsequent classes will cover the genetics and molecular biology of the disease, as well as biomarkers, epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, development of new diagnostic approaches, and ethical issues. The course will also serve as a model for the analysis of complex diseases with multiple genetic and environmental causes, and late onset neurodegenerative diseases. The course will also serve as a model for the analysis of complex diseases with multiple genetic and environmental causes and late-onset neurodegenerative disease. Biological and Public Health Aspects of Alzheimer's Disease: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The study of concepts, methods, rationale, and uses of evaluation research as they apply to health and social programs. Evaluation of Health and Social Programs: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course provides an overview of the concepts and methods of program evaluation. The course will be useful to those concerned with evaluation of health and social service programs. Participants will develop the critical skills necessary to assess the quality of evaluation research projects, to apply technical skills in professional practice, and to develop evaluation plans for a variety of heath and social programs. Evaluation of Health and Social Programs: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Spring 2016
The goal of this seminar is to provide doctoral and advanced master's degree students with an understanding of theories, principles, and strategies of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and related traditions. The advantages and limitations of this approach, skills necessary for effective application, and theory-driven case studies will be explored. Students undertaking a service-learning project applying CBPR may receive a 4th unit. Community-Based Participatory Research in Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
This course provides students with a thorough tool kit for designing survey questionnaires and for implementing telephone, face-to-face, and mail surveys. The three-hour weekly class sessions are designed to convey practical knowledge, with a case study approach used to complement each topical lecture. An SPSS laboratory is also given each semester. The course is an elective for Health and Social Behavior students, and many from the multidisciplinary program and other tracks in the school (including UCSF, e.g., nurses in their Ph.D. programs) have often enrolled as well. By the end of the semester, students will have designed, as their class project, a research project including a study design rationale, aims and hypotheses, data collection methods and measures, human subjects consent form, codebook and analysis plan. Social and Behavioral Health Research: Introduction to Survey Methods: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course is designed to familiarize students who have little or no experience in conducting qualitative research with the perspectives, methods, and techniques of a vast and contentious tradition of research. The course will cover some of the methods of data collections used in the conduct of qualitative inquiries, the analysis of textural data, the write-up of findings from qualitative studies, and the development of a qualitative research proposal. While learning about qualitative methods, students will gain an understanding of the qualitative research literature on a topic of their choice, as well as how to integrate findings from a variety of qualitative studies on a research question of topic. Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Public Health Research: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course provides students with a thorough tool kit for designing survey questionnaires and for implementing telephone, face-to-face, mail, and internet surveys. The two three-hour, weekly class sessions are designed to convey practical knowledge with a case study approach used to complement the topical lectures. An SPSS laboratory also is given each semester. Social and Behavioral Health Research: Introduction to Survey Methods: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2018
Introduction to federal-level health policy and analysis of government capacity in addressing major issues in health policy. The course explores structural impediments to reform in the US, regulatory decision-making -- particularly decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, and basic tools of policy analysis. Students will apply these tools in a seminar paper that analyzes a proposed or existing health policy or program. Health Policy Decision-Making: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course introduces the basic scientific principles of environmental health risk assessment, develops the understanding necessary to carry out and interpret quantitative risk assessments, and describes the context in which decisions manage environmental health risks are made. The course presents the quantitative methods used to assess the human health risks associated with exposure to microbial and chemical agents, focusing on the four major components of risk assessment: hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment and risk characterization. The course examines the application of environmental health risk assessment to contemporary issues including the associated complexities, challenges and controversies. Health Risk Assessment: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
A graduate seminar in practice-based means to advocate for health policy. This course focuses on data based strategies using persuasive written and oral communication skills necessary to preserve and/or improve the health status of populations. Students will develop research, organization, and coalition-building skills necessary to produce an effective advocacy campaign. The course identifies the roles of those involved in the making of policy and demonstrates the use of appropriate channels and technologies to influence health policy change. Health Policy Advocacy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020
This course will provide an intensive, case-based introduction to global health policy. Students will simulate working on teams asked to advise Ministries of Health in low- and middle-income countries and other global policymaking institutions grappling with health policy questions. Over a series of four cases, the course will introduce students to key concepts in health policy and economics, including allocating scarce resources, pandemic response, financial incentives to shape provider behaviors, and policies to influence the private sector to improve population health. Students will also become familiar with the major actors and institutions that shape international health policy. Global Health Policy: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020
This course serves as an introduction to key topics in health policy making in the United States, with a focus on policy analysis methods. Using the policy analysis framework of Eugene Bardach’s Eightfold Path first introduced in PBHLTH W200E, the course will explore the entire policy analysis process from the identification of a problem, to the evaluation of policy solutions, and finally to the techniques and formats for effective health policy communications. Health Policy Methods: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: •
Apply learned policy analysis skills to proposed and existing public health policies. •
Build critical policy analysis skills to identify and evaluate the methods used for developing policy alternatives and understand the impact of existing public health policies. •
Critique the role of research and evidence in public health policy formation and evaluation. •
Describe our country’s institutional players (i.e., legislative, administrative, judicial), their roles in policy making and how to influence policy outcomes. •
Leverage critical analysis tools of language and framing to develop and advocate health policies in verbal and written communication deliverables.
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
This course provides a foundation for understanding mental illness and mental health services and the evolution and current state of our thinking about them. It presents the most frequent varieties of mental illness and addresses their frequency of occurrence, and it addresses the social disability from mental illness and the societal response to mental illness. It also considers treatments, services, effectiveness, quality of care, and financing, as well as considering financing, legal issues, and special concerns and services for children and youth. In addition, the course provides a forum to critically examine the knowledge base on mental illness, epidemiology, policies, programs, and services as it presents major controversies and highlights the best available evidence. Mental Health Policies, Programs, and Services: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2013
In this class, we will construct a framework to formulate explanations for health care disparities and to construct responses that have the potential for a policy-oriented, and therefore widespread, response. Taking advantage of selected developments in social science theory and research that can provide insight into how health care disparities come about, we will draw from anthropological and psychological theories of cultural orientation, cultural framing of problems, and cultural identity; as well as drawing from psychological theories of stress and coping. We also will draw from sociological theories of individual and community poverty, and theories characterizing health care system design and service delivery. Understanding and Overcoming Health Care Disparities: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
The course examines the public policy institutions and processes influencing innovation, regulation, and payment for biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Topics include technology transfer and patent law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review for safety and efficacy, insurance coverage policy at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), coverage, payment, and benefit by private insurers for new technology, and cost-effectiveness analysis. Special topics vary from year to year. Examples and case studies are drawn from all three of the technology sectors. Health Care Technology Policy: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
The overall purpose of this course is to assist the student in managing health care organizations from a strategic perspective. This is accomplished by systematically addressing systemwide, organization-wide, group- and individual-level issues in strategy formulation, content, implementation, and performance. Emphasis is placed upon the manager's role in simultaneously taking into account a wide variety of internal and external factors to improve organization and system performance in meeting the health needs of individuals and communities. Emphasis is also placed on the development and implementation of strategies to meet multiple stakeholder demands, particular attention given to continuous quality improvement/total quality management. Strategic Management and the Health Sector: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Business Administration 205 or 224A and 223A or consent of instructor. Students are required to have a general background knowledge of the health services system
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course is designed as a first semester seminar for master's students in the Division of Health Policy and Management. The purposes of this course are fourfold: 1) to provide an overview of the U.S. medical and health care systems; 2) to provide an introduction to basic concepts and competencies in health policy analysis and health management; 3) to provide internship preparation and career development activities; and 4) to provide opportunities to develop relationships with 1st- and 2nd-year HPM students and with faculty, alumni, and healthcare leaders. Foundations of Health Policy and Management: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Health Policy and Management or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course is an integrative seminar that builds on the core curriculum requirements of the school and HPM specialty. Participants are master's degree students advancing to candidacy. After sharing their internship experiences and the impact on career decisions, the students are required to draw on situations from their internship to demonstrate what they have learned by leading fellow seminar participants in facilitated discussions, culminating in a specific management recommendation or policy position. Students will gain exposure to a range of HPM issues based on the experiences of their peers. Each student is also required to produce a 20-page paper and prepare and deliver a formal presentation to seminar participants and invited faculty. The paper will address an HPM topic of interest that has been selected by the student and approved by the course faculty and the student's academic advisor. Suggested formats for the paper are a policy or strategic management analysis, but other options may be proposed and approved by the instructor. Capstone Seminar in Health Policy and Management: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in HPM and completion of 297 internship
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course is an introduction to health care strategy in which students will have an immersive, practical, hands-on experience in the strategic management of a real or fictitious health care organization. This course will familiarize students with the requisite skills and techniques to lead strategic change at a division, department, or enterprise level within a health care organization. Strategy in Health Care Organizations: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: 1.
Strategic Management Theory and Leading Practices. Students will learn this through a combination of lectures, readings from the textbook and business journal articles, and “how to” instructional videos. 2.
Real World Experience. Students will learn this through a combination of Executive Interviews, Case Studies, and personal reflection. 3.
Hands-on Practice. Students will learn this through a carefully designed, team-based practical experience in which they for a real or fictitious health care organization of their choice.
Student Learning Outcomes: Adjust organizational strategy in response to real-time crises.
Define and align their organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategy.
Learn how to define and measure key performance indicators (KPIs).
Learn how to successfully implement a strategy by creating a Strategic Roadmap, high level Project Plan, and Risk Mitigation Plan.
Learn various common strategies, including: Growth by Concentration/Horizontal Integration, Growth by Related Diversification/Vertical Integration, and Innovation.
Learn various tools and techniques that may be used in informing a strategy including: Value Chain Analysis, Benchmarking, SWOT Analyses, Root Cause Analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Model, Scenario Planning, and Balanced Scorecards.
Understand the important influences of leadership and culture on the successful execution of the strategy.
Understand the pros and cons of strategic alternatives including: Internal Development, Internal New Venture Creation, Investment in New Ventures, Acquisition, Mergers, Joint Ventures/Strategic Alliances/Partnerships, and Innovation.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2019
Introduction to health administration, focusing on theories of management, organizations, and environments as they relate to the administration of health services. Cases, simulation, and structured experiences will be used to tie theory to practice. Organizational Behavior and Management in Health Care: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
The course focuses on the quality of Health Care in the United States, including variations and determinants in quality and best practices in improving quality. Students will develop an understanding of conceptual frameworks for Health Care problem solving and quality improvement. As part of the class they will gain experience in designing a Health Care quality improvement plan. The course is designed for Graduate students interested in healthcare delivery. Health Care Quality: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Today, the health care system consists of a mixture of organizational forms that plan, regulate, and deliver medical care and other health services. The objective of this course is to consider 1) the structure of these organizations and the factors that affect their performance, as well as their growth and decline and 2) the role that health care managers play in the organizations in which they work. Organizational Behavior and Management in Health Care: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course introduces students to the economics of health and health care. In addition to familarizing students with the language and tools of health economics, the course will provide an overview of key institutional features of the health economy as well as important research findings in the field. These will be used to evaluate the economic logic and incentives in competing proposals for health care reform. Health Economics A: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
An economic and policy analysis of the health care system. It examines integration of the health care delivery system and the impact of competition and regulation on providers and patients. Alternative models of health care system reform are presented and analyzed. Health Economics B: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: A recent graduate course in microeconomics, a second-level undergraduate course in microeconomics, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2017
This course examines the economic theories and evidence underpinning population health interventions and policies. Topics include the economic evaluation of community and clinical preventive services, systemic population health management innovations, behavioral economics approaches, and policies targeting upstream social determinants of population health. A brief module on cost-effectiveness analysis is included. Economics of Population Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2015
This class is a survey of different health care systems in western and eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, and China. Other countries will be added to meet the interests of students. The course examines the structure and financing of the health system in each country and assesses the effectiveness, efficacy, and equity of each systems. Students will make a presentation on a country's health system and write a paper. Global Health Economics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing and knowledge of health policy and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This online course provides an overview of the United States healthcare system using a microeconomic lens. Students will be introduced to the microeconomic theory and empirical students that will deepen their understanding of how consumers, firms and the government influence healthcare expenditures (including its quantity and prices), healthcare quality, and patient health outcomes. These economic models will enable students to predict how changes in consumer behavior, the industrial organization of firms, and government policies affect healthcare and health outcomes. Health Economics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introduction to Health Policy and Management (PH W200E)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This 3-unit online course will explore the economics evidence base and tools for evaluating economic factors and interventions that shape the health of populations. The course will include a substantial economic evaluation module to teach cost-effectiveness analysis tools. Economics of Population Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate Standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 14 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course teaches students cost-effectiveness analysis and related tools in a compact 3-week online format. Students will learn when and why to use alternative economic evaluation methods to assess benefits relative to costs of health policies and interventions. They will also learn to interpret and critique such analyses, and to conduct basic cost-effectiveness analyses themselves. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 3 weeks - 5 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
This course covers finance and strategic financial management in the health services and products industry, including provider organizations, insurance firms, and biopharmaceutical and medical device companies. Cases are used to apply the financial analysis and planning skills learned in the course. Topic areas include financial statement analysis, pricing and service decisions, debt financing, venture capital, and private equity, IPO and public equity markets, risk and return, capital budgeting and project risk assessment, mergers and acquisitions, vertical and horizontal integration. Health Care Finance: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session
This 3-unit online course provides the student with an understanding of the importance of finance in healthcare and provides basic financial and accounting skills needed by all health professionals. The course introduces student to concepts in both financial and managerial accounting and teaches students relevant financial techniques used by managers and those charged with key capital investment decisions including: ratio analysis, cost-volume profit analysis, discounted cash flow and forecasting. Health Care Finance: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Students who have completed on campus PB HLTH 227A will not receive credit for W227A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
This course provides an overview of analytic methods that Master's students in health policy and management should be familiar with. Topics include linear regression, limited dependent variable models such as logit, design, and analysis of complex surveys (with weighted and clustered sampling), and quasi-experimental causal analysis. The course complements 245, with an emphasis on enabling nonstatisticians to interpret and critique applications in the HPM literature. Analytic Methods for Health Policy and Management: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 142 or equivalent (basic probability and statistics)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2015
This course will introduce students to basic operations research/management (OR/OM) methods and discuss how they can be applied in health care delivery settings. The class uses a problem-based, participatory approach to learning. Data management and analysis are conducted using Excel and STATA. Topics include process reengineering and job redesign, productivity and performance management, linear programming and operational decision-making, staffing and job scheduling, patient flow analysis, queuing theory and applications, forecasting, and supply chain management. Health Care Operations and Management Methods: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites:PB HLTH 142 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Exploration of common origins of urban planning and public health, from why and how the fields separated and strategies to reconnect them, to addressing urban health inequities in the 21st century. Inquiry to influences of urban population health, analysis of determinants, and roles that city planning and public health agencies - at local and international level - have in research, and action aimed at improving urban health. Measures, analysis, and design of policy strategies are explored. Healthy Cities: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Meeting the challenge of global sustainability will require interdisciplinary approaches to research and education, as well as the integration of this new knowledge into society, policymaking, and business. Green Chemistry is an intellectual framework created to meet these challenges and guide technological development. It encourages the design and production of safer and more sustainable chemicals and products. Green Chemistry: An Interdisciplonary Approach to Sustainability: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: One year of chemistry, including a semester of organic chemistry, or consent of instructors based on previous experience
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Letter grade.
Instructors: Arnold, Bergman, Guth, Iles, Kokai, Mulvihill, Schwarzman, Wilson
Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This course will review the methods for the design and analysis of impact evaluations relevant to health professionals, especially those working in low and middle-income countries. The class will emphasize the challenges involved in identifying the causal relationship between a program or project and its outcomes while providing students with some experience in drafting a proposal that might be submitted to a funding agency for support of an impact evaluation. For doctoral students the course may help concretely to identify potential dissertation projects; for masters students the course will provide skills
useful in obtaining a future job in the field. Impact Evaluation for Health Professionals: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public Health 142 or equivalent Probability and Statistics course
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
The process and principles of drug development will be discussed in the context of the FDA's mandate and reach (basic science, pre-clinical and clinical research, policy, law, and public health), emphasizing the impact of public health emergencies such as HIV on evolution of regulatory policies. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Drug Development, and Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: None
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This basic and introductory course in regulatory science addresses the demand for increased training in the US and abroad by providing an overview of the basic elements of regulation of health practice and health products; providing students with information needed to understand the most important health practice and product regulation issues from the perspective of current regulatory standards, their standards for evidence and the role of innovation in regulatory science. Regulatory Science, Drug Development and Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2018
The first half of the course focuses on the application of organization theories to health sector organizations. The second half of the course focuses on the application of public administration and political science theories to health sector organizations. Students will also be exposed to basic research designs, logic models and hypothesis development. Emphasis is placed on critique of existing theories and the associated empirical literature. This PhD seminar course is primarily intended for first year PhD students in the Berkeley PhD Program in Health Policy administered by the School of Public Health on behalf of the Graduate School. The course is also open with the consent of the instructors to students in other PhD programs, Theories and Methods in Health Policy and Health Services Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019
The first half of the course focuses on major economics theories and frameworks relevant to the study of health policy and health services research. The second half of the course focuses on the application of behavioral and social science theories and methods to population health research. Students will also be exposed to basic research designs, logic models, and hypothesis development. Emphasis is placed on critique of existing theories and the associated empirical literature. This PhD seminar course is primarily intended for first year PhD students in the Berkeley PhD program in Health Policy administered by the School of Public Health on behalf of the Graduate School. Theories and Methods in Health Policy and Health Services Research B: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
The Health Policy Research Colloquium series is a program of empirical research seminars focused on the most important issues facing patients, providers health care plans, purchases, and policymakers today. It provides an opportunity for Health Policy doctoral students across all stages of completion to meet regularly, analyse and critique ongoing research, and participate in stimulating discussions with faculty and guest speakers. Students are required to register for and attend the Health Policy Research Colloquium during their first two years of their PhD training. Health Policy Research Colloquium: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-2 hours of colloquium per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
This PhD dissertation seminar is restricted to advanced students (Year 3+) of the PhD Program in Health Policy. Draw together skills developed in coursework in the preparation and conduct of one’s own dissertation project. For students already advanced to candidacy, this will entail presenting research findings. For students not yet advanced, this will involve developing the dissertation prospectus. Students learn to incorporate colleague feedback to improve research projects. Practices associated with human subjects and ethics of research are also emphasized. Health Policy PhD Dissertation Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0-2 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
Course covers major topics in general statistical theory, with a focus on statistical methods in epidemiology. The course provides a broad theoretical framework for understanding the properties of commonly-used and more advanced methods. Emphasis is on estimation in nonparametric models in the context of contingency tables, regression (e.g., linear, logistic), density estimation and more. Topics include maximum likelihood and loss-based estimation, asymptotic linearity/normality, the delta method, bootstrapping, machine learning, targeted maximum likelihood estimation. Comprehension of broad concepts is the main goal, but practical implementation in R is also emphasized. Basic knowledge of probability/statistics and calculus are assume Introduction to Modern Biostatistical Theory and Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Statistics 200A (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Analysis of survival time data using parametric and non-parametric models, hypothesis testing, and methods for analyzing censored (partially observed) data with covariates. Topics include marginal estimation of a survival function, estimation of a generalized multivariate linear regression model (allowing missing covariates and/or outcomes), estimation of a multiplicative intensity model (such as Cox proportional hazards model) and estimation of causal parameters assuming marginal structural models. General theory for developing locally efficient estimators of the parameters of interest in censored data models. Computing techniques, numerical methods, simulation and general implementation of biostatistical analysis techniques with emphasis on data applications. Biostatistical Methods: Survival Analysis and Causality: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Statistics 200B (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2018
This course provides an introduction to computational statistics, with emphasis on statistical methods and software for addressing high-dimensional inference problems in biology and medicine. Topics include numerical and graphical data summaries, loss-based estimation (regression, classification, density estimation), smoothing, EM algorithm, Markov chain Monte-Carlo, clustering, multiple testing, resampling, hidden Markov models, in silico experiments. Biostatistical Methods: Computational Statistics with Applications in Biology and Medicine: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Statistics 200A or equivalent (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2013
This course and Pb Hlth C240C/Stat C245C provide an introduction to computational statistics with emphasis on statistical methods and software for addressing high-dimensional inference problems that arise in current biological and medical research. The courses also discusses statistical computing resources, with emphasis on the R language and environment (www.r-project.org). Programming topics to be discussed include: data structures, functions, statistical models, graphical procedures, designing an R package, object-oriented programming, inter-system interfaces. The statistical and computational methods are motivated by and illustrated on data structures that arise in current high-dimensional inference problems in biology and medicine. Biostatistical Methods: Computational Statistics with Applications in Biology and Medicine II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Statistics 200A-200B or Statistics 201A-201B (may be taken concurrently) or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009
Genomics is one of the fundamental areas of research in the biological sciences and is rapidly becoming one of the most important application areas in statistics. This is the first course of a two-semester sequence, which provides an introduction to statistical and computational methods for the analysis of meiosis, population genetics, and genetic mapping. The second course is Statistics C245F/Public Health C240F. The courses are primarily intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students from the mathematical sciences. Statistical Genomics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Statistics 200A and 200B or equivalent (may be taken concurrently). A course in algorithms and knowledge of at least one computing language (e.g., R, matlab) is recommended
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Spring 2017
Genomics is one of the fundamental areas of research in the biological sciences and is rapidly becoming one of the most important application areas in statistics. The first course in this two-semester sequence is Public Health C240E/Statistics C245E. This is the second course, which focuses on sequence analysis, phylogenetics, and high-throughput microarray and sequencing gene expression experiments. The courses are primarily intended for graduate students and advanced undergraduate students from the mathematical sciences. Statistical Genomics: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018
In this course, students will study biostatistical concepts and modeling relevant to the design and analysis of multifactor population-based cohort and case-control studies, including matching. Key topics include: measures of association, causal inference, confounding interaction, with modeling focusing on logistic regression. Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: 1. Calculate measures of disease incidence and occurrence. 2.
Fit a logistic regression model or conduct a statistical test of independence, trend, goodness-of-fit, or homogeneity to assess statistical significance from a dataset, single 2x2 table, series of 2x2 tables, or stratified 2x2 tables. 3.
Estimate, obtain inference for, and interpret the following parameters: relative risk, attributable risk, excess risk, odds ratio (pooled, adjusted, log, stratum-specific). 4.
Summarize a study’s design, target population, null/alternative hypotheses, and identify potential sources of bias. Likewise, using the research goals and population information, propose and justify a study design. 5.
Draw directed acyclic graphs to show the causal relationships between covariates, intervention and outcome; and define the counterfactual outcomes of interest. 6.
Calculate and interpret logistic regression model coefficients in the presence of confounding and interaction, and for matched studies. 7.
Use tools in the R programming language to fit logistic regression models; test null hypotheses; and summarize, transform and visualize data. 8.
Discuss modern alternatives to the logistic regression model, including the Cox proportional hazards model and machine learning techniques.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites:PB HLTH 142, PB HLTH W142 or equivalent introductory course in statistics with consent of instructor
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020
In this course, students will study biostatistical concepts and modeling relevant to the design and analysis of multifactor population-based cohort and case-control studies, including matching. Key topics include: measures of association, causal inference, confounding interaction, with modeling focusing on logistic regression. Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: 1. Calculate measures of disease incidence and occurrence. 2.
Fit a logistic regression model or conduct a statistical test of independence, trend, goodness-of-fit, or homogeneity to assess statistical significance from a dataset, single 2x2 table, series of 2x2 tables, or stratified 2x2 tables. 3.
Estimate, obtain inference for, and interpret the following parameters: relative risk, attributable risk, excess risk, odds ratio (pooled, adjusted, log, stratum-specific). 4.
Summarize a study’s design, target population, null/alternative hypotheses, and identify potential sources of bias. Likewise, using the research goals and population information, propose and justify a study design. 5.
Draw directed acyclic graphs to show the causal relationships between covariates, intervention and outcome; and define the counterfactual outcomes of interest. 6.
Calculate and interpret logistic regression model coefficients in the presence of confounding and interaction, and for matched studies. 7.
Use tools in the R programming language to fit logistic regression models; test null hypotheses; and summarize, transform and visualize data. 8.
Discuss modern alternatives to the logistic regression model, including the Cox proportional hazards model and machine learning techniques.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: PH142, PHW142R or equivalent introductory course in statistics with consent of instructor
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
The course covers the statistical issues surrounding estimation of effects using data on subjects followed through time. The course emphasizes a regression model approach and discusses disease incidence modeling and both continuous outcome data/linear models and longitudinal extensions to nonlinear models (e.g., logistic and Poisson). The primary focus is from the analysis side, but mathematical intuition behind the procedures will also be discussed. The statistical/mathematical material includes some survival analysis, linear models, logistic and Poisson regression, and matrix algebra for statistics. The course will conclude with an introduction to recently developed causal regression techniques (e.g., marginal structural models). Time permitting, serially correlated data on ecological units will also be discussed. Longitudinal Data Analysis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 142, 145, 241 or equivalent courses in basic statistics, linear and logistic regression
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
An introduction to new information systems, such as the Internet and interactive television, and how they may be used to improve human health. The course has three objectives: first, to familiarize students with new information technologies; second, to review how these technologies will be used by public health professionals, consumers, health care providers, and others; and third, to study related ethical and legal issues such as privacy, access, and liability. The course is designed for people with minimal understanding of interactive technologies. Information Systems in Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This course examines the theory and statistical methods for analyzing data generated by adaptive group sequential designs. It also considers the construction of targeted adaptive group sequential designs that adapt in a way that is optimal for the estimation of a particular target feature of the data generating experiment (i.e., causal effect of the treatment). Topics to be covered include: sequential testing, adaptive sample size, martingale estimating functions to construct estimators, targeted maximum likelihood estimation for adaptive designs, targeted Bayesian learning for adaptive designs, martingale theory for the analysis of estimators for adaptive designs. Special Topics in Biostatistics: Adaptive Designs: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Prior biostatistics or statistics course or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
Big Data deluge now engulfs almost every brand of science and business, requiring expertise in combination of statistics and computing. This course aims to help students develop a set of useful skills to cope with the Big Data challenges, with particular focus on Public Health applications. It covers a wide range of modern statistics and machine learning techniques, as well as state of the art computational tools, and emphasizes statistical modeling and inference (e.g., how to properly formulate a hypothesis and a model, develop intuitive insights and interpretations, and evaluate uncertainty of the outcomes) and covers important computational and algorithmic components (modern computational paradigm of Map-Reduce). Big Data: A Public Health Perspective: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The following topics are discussed in the context of biomedical and biological application: multiple regression, loglinear models, discriminant analysis, principal components. Instruction in statistical computing is given in the laboratory session. Introduction to Multivariate Statistics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 145 or equivalent or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020 Second 6 Week Session
This course is designed to introduce principles and methods of epidemiology, including types and sources of descriptive epidemiologic data, analytic study designs (intervention trials, cohort, case-control, cross-sectional and ecological), screening, confounding and other types of bias, and causal inference. The course will provide a basic understanding of epidemiology for those pursuing a career in public health. Epidemiologic Methods I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 142 (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course is intended as an intermediate level course in the field of epidemiology. Topics include causal inference; measurement of disease rates; inferential reasoning; and research study designs including ecologic, case-control, cohort, intervention trials, and meta-analytic designs (potential sources of bias, confounding, and effect modification in each research design are explored in depth); topics in clinical epidemiology including the use of likelihood ratios, receiver operator curves, and the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of a test; and a brief introduction to logistic regression, survival analysis, and decision analysis. The readings from this course are drawn primarily from advanced epidemiology textbooks (Kleinbuam, Rothman, Miettinen). The course is intended to provide a firm foundation for students who will subsequently enroll in 250C. Epidemiologic Methods II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 250A or an equivalent introductory course in epidemiology or advanced degree (M.D., Ph.D., D.V.M.) in a biomedical field
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course will cover a series of advanced analytical methods for epidemiologic research, drawing heavily on concepts covered in PH 250B. The course consists of a series of modules, including modeling of epidemiological measures of effect, Bayesian methods, instrumental variable analysis, mediation analysis, missing data, sensitivity analysis and methods to address sources of systematic error in epidemiologic research. Hands-on application is emphasized. Class time will consist of lectures, class discussion, student presentations and a weekly practicum. Advanced Epidemiologic Methods: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 241, 245, 250B, 252, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 1998 10 Week Session
This introductory graduate-level course presents the principles and methods of epidemiology, including descriptive and analytic approaches to assessing the distributions of health, disease, and injury in populations and factors that influence those distributions. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of concepts, rather than quantitative methods, although calculations are involved. Through the combination of lectures, readings, critical review of papers, and problem sets, students without prior coursework in epidemiology will acquire the core competencies in epidemiology expected of all MPH graduates. Epidemiologic Methods: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Calculate basic epidemiology measures. Communicate epidemiologic information to lay and professional audiences. Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic research publications. Draw appropriate inferences from epidemiologic data. Identify key sources of data for epidemiologic purposes Recognize the important contribution of epidemiology to scientific, ethical, economic and political discussion of health issues. Understand basic ethical principles pertaining to epidemiologic studies. Understand public health problems in epidemiologic terms . Use the basic terminology and definitions of epidemiology.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites, although it is advantageous to have taken or be concurrently taking an introductory course in biostatistics (e.g., PH 141 or PH 142)
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This introductory graduate course presents principles & methods of epidemiology, including descriptive & analytic approaches to assessing the distributions of health, disease & injury in the population & factors influencing those distributions. Emphasis is on developing an understanding of concepts, rather than quantitative methods. Basic calculations are involved. Course consists of readings, critical review of epidemiology papers, brief video lectures to explain
key concepts, quizzes & exams that allow students to practice applying epidemiological concepts. Students without prior coursework in epidemiology will acquire the core competencies in epidemiology expected of all MPH graduates. Course shares the same content & learning of PH 250A Epidemiologic Methods I: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Calculate basic epidemiology measures. Communicate epidemiologic information to lay and professional audiences. Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of epidemiologic research publications. Draw appropriate inferences from epidemiologic data. Identify key sources of data for epidemiologic purposes. Recognize the important contribution of epidemiology to scientific and ethical discussion of health issues. Understand basic ethical principles pertaining to epidemiologic studies. Understand public health problems in epidemiologic terms. Use the basic terminology and definitions of epidemiology.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Concurrent or previous enrollment in an introductory biostatistics course (e.g., W142)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week 15 weeks - 3 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
This course is an intermediate level course in epidemiology. It replaces previously approved and delivered courses PHW250F and PHW250G. Topics include causal inference; measurement of disease rates; inferential reasoning; research study designs, ecologic, case-control, cohort, intervention trials, meta-analytic designs; potential sources of bias, confounding, effect modification in research design are explored in depth; topics in clinical epidemiology, likelihood ratios, receiver operator curves, the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of a test; brief introduction to logistic regression and survival analysis. Topics are covered at a advanced level than PH250A or PHW250. Readings from this course provide a firm foundation for PH250C. Epidemiologic Methods II: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: •
Apply causal frameworks to the assessment of causality in associations
•
Assess the extent of bias in studies and calculate bias-corrected measures
•
Calculate and interpret measures of disease and association.
•
Define the major study designs, including their strengths and weaknesses, and demonstrate their
appropriate applications
•
Define, calculate and interpret effect measure modification on different scales
•
Define, calculate and interpret power, sample size, confidence intervals and p-values.
•
Explain sources of bias in studies
•
Explain the purposes, mechanics and limitations of matching in study designs
•
Identify and apply appropriate analytic techniques for study questions, and interpret coefficients
and other quantities estimated using these techniques.
•
Identify appropriate applications of measures of disease and association.
•
Identify design and analysis approaches to reduce bias in studies
•
State the purposes of screening, and calculate and interpret screening measures.
Explain the purposes and process of systematic review and meta-analysis.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: PBHLTH 150A, PBHLTH 250A or PBHLTH W250
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of web-based lecture and 2 hours of web-based discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course is intended as an intermediate level course in the field of epidemiology. Topics include causal inference; measurement of disease rates; inferential reasoning; and research study designs including ecologic, case-control, cohort, intervention trials, and meta-analytic designs. These topics are covered at a more advanced level than in PH250A or PHW250. The readings from this course are drawn primarily from advanced epidemiology textbooks (e.g., Kleinbaum, Rothman). The course is intended to provide a firm foundation for students who will later enroll in 250C. Epidemiologic Methods II: Part 1: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course is intended as an intermediate level course in the field of epidemiology. Topics include potential sources of bias, confounding, and effect modification in each research design are explored in depth); topics in clinical epidemiology including the use of likelihood ratios, receiver operator curves, and the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value of a test; and a brief introduction to logistic regression and survival analysis. These topics are covered at a more advanced level than in PH250A or PHW250. The readings from this course are drawn primarily from advanced epidemiology textbooks (e.g., Kleinbaum, Rothman). The course is intended to provide a firm foundation for students who will later enroll in 250C. Epidemiologic Methods II: Part 2: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course will review the theoretical aspects of causal inference, literature review, and meta-analysis, but its focus will be more on the practical aspects of these topics that are not commonly found in textbooks or presented in classes on epidemiologic theory. It is hoped that the student develops the day-to-day skills necessary to complete and present a well-documented, accurate, and thorough review of epidemiologic literature. Causal Inference and Meta-Analysis in Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Students in the first semester of the second year of the epidemiology/biostatistics Master's of Public Health program. (Students from other programs welcome.)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
This is an intensive, one-semester introduction to the R programming language for applied epidemiology. R is a freely available, multi-platform (Mac OS, Linux, and Windows, etc.), versatile, and powerful program for statistical computing and graphics (http://www.r-project.org). This course will focus on core basics of organizing, managing, and manipulating epidemiologic data; basic epidemiologic applications; introduction to R programming; and basic R graphics. Applied Epidemiology Using R: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021
The course examines principles & methods underlying the use of R, emphasizing multi-disciplinary, collaborative, & real world uses. We will emphasize practices for collaborative coding using Git/GitHub repositories for storing & sharing code to benefit not only your current collaborators but your most frequent collaborator. We will introduce best practices for organizing data & projects, how to create reproducible examples (a.k.a reprex) for when you get stuck and need to ask the R community for help (but can’t share a full dataset because it’s too large or contains confidential information). Application of principles will be taught through scenarios that public health practitioners encounter. R for Public Health: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives:
Effectively engage with public health practitioners in the use of R to address current public health and/or policy issues;
Apply knowledge of R to support ongoing analytic work in epidemiology and biostatistics; Create meaningful visualizations of data and have a basic understanding of tools available through R to present data (including R markdown, R Shiny)
Develop strategies for addressing issues that arise when combining data from multiple, complex data sources;
Identify best practices for project management, programming, and version control when contributing data to evaluate and/or support effective public health interventions;
Leverage existing open-source resources for continued learning and problem solving. Select appropriate methods for importing, cleaning, and analyzing data within R;
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course consists of two distinct components: (1) advanced treatment of epidemiologic methods: matched data, spatial analysis, logistic and Poisson regression models; (2) survival analysis: Kaplan-Meier estimation, survival distributions, parametric and semi-parametric survival analysis models. Students are encouraged to concurrently enroll in 248L which carries the prerequisite of a working knowledge of the statistical computing language R. The lab component will consist of formal presentations of R software applied to the topics covered in the primary lecture. Epidemiological Analysis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: B or higher in the following courses taken within the past 2 years: PB HLTH 250B (Intermediate Epidemiologic Methods), PB HLTH 241 (Categorical Data Analysis), and a course in linear regression analysis (PB HLTH 245, 145, C242C or equivalent), or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
This course will cover the basic tools required to both critically read modeling papers and to develop and use models as research tools. Emphasis will be placed on using models to understand infectious disease processes and to evaluate potential control strategies. The class meeting will consist of both lecture material covering conceptual issues and a computer lab to apply these concepts using standard infectious disease models. Modeling the Dynamics of Infectious Disease Processes: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Calculus (e.g. Math 1A-1B), statistical programming packages (247, 249, or equivalent)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Students learn (through lectures and graded student presentations and projects) to design clinical and population-level field trials. Topics: formulation of a testable hypothesis; identification of appropriate populations; blinding (including indices for assessment); randomization (including traditional and adaptive randomization algorithms); sample-size estimation; recruitment strategies; data collection systems; quality control and human subjects responsibilities; adverse effects monitoring; improving participant adherence; use of surrogate outcomes. Intervention Trial Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 245 and 250A (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course presents a general framework for causal inference using directed acyclic graphs, non-parametric structural equation models, and counterfactuals. Marginal structural models and causal effect estimation using inverse probability of treatment weighting, G-computation, and targeted maximum likelihood are introduced. In two-part presentations, students will define and implement research questions. Introduction to Causal Inference: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 241 or C240A (can be taken concurrently); 245 or similar course covering multivariable linear and logistic regression analysis; for epidemiology students, 250C, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-2 hours of lecture, 0-2 hours of discussion, and 2-0 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The course will be conducted as a seminar with readings and discussions on a range of more advanced topics. We will cover case-control designs; longitudinal causal models, identifiability and estimation; direct and indirect effects; dynamic regimes (individualized treatment rules); approaches for diagnosing and responding to violations in the positivity assumption. Additional topics may include stochastic interventions, community-based interventions, and Collaborative-TMLE. There will also be some guest lectures and presentations from current students and faculty members. Advanced Topics in Causal Inference: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public Health 252D or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, and 1 hour of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
A discussion of major infectious diseases with emphasis on disease surveillance, investigative procedures, and prevention programs. Emphasis is on current problems in health agencies at a state, national, and international level. Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Prior degree or courses in biomedical sciences and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
This course will integrate various social science disciplines and apply these perspectives to problems of HIV treatment and prevention, particularly in the developing world. Throughout the academic term, students will apply knowledge of behavioral science, epidemiology, quantitative and qualitative methods in the analysis of developing and evaluating HIV-related treatment and prevention interventions, including policy interventions. Course requirements will include the preparation of a major paper recommending interventions, country level budgets and evaluation designs for a specific developing country. Specific requirements for this paper will be distributed during the third class session. Behavior and Policy Science in HIV Treatment and Prevention: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
This course aims to enhance course participants' ability to articulate and examine ethical issues surrounding responses to public health/healthcare challenges whether routine or during catastrophe. Discussions will be based on presentations and assigned readings for the class, and with an expectation that students will incorporate their own diverse views and approaches to moral and logistical challenges. Ethical Challenges in Public Health Interventions: Catastrophic and Routine: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This seminar will explore current issues and controversies in public health approaches to sexual health promotion and STD control with a focus on pragmatic skills including program development and evaluation. Students will engage in independent research with interactive group discussions and student presentations. Sexual Health Promotion and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate students, undergraduates with consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2017
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an overview of outbreak investigations in public health. This course will teach students why and how clusters of illnesses/epidemics are investigated. Methods and approaches required for such investigations will be discussed in detail, using published and unpublished material from the scientific literature. Outbreak Investigations: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Students must be matriculated in the On-campus Online MPH Program in order to enroll in this course
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
Epidemiological methods for designing, conducting, and interpreting epidemiological studies of persons occupationally or environmentally exposed to chemical and physical agents. Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 250A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of session per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This is a breadth course intended to provide an overview of the field of social edpidemiology and its role in understanding the social determinants of population health and health disparities. Given the breadth of social epidemiology, 255A provides a systematic and selective overview of literature covering the history and development of the field, theoretical perspectives and conceptual approaches, major topical areas and current controversies related to theory, research methods and research findings. Principles emphasized throughout the course (ecological model, measurement and causality) will provide a framework for critical analysis and synthesis across content areas. This is not a methods course. Social Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. 142, 145, and 250A-250B recommended
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Fall 2013
This doctoral seminar is designed to provide an understanding of the complex (and often interactive) individual and environmental conditions that increase the risk of psychopathology in individuals across the life span. We will start by learning about general concepts important to an understanding of psychopathology and prevention of psychopathology, including the "biopsychosocial model," "psychological resilence," and different levels of preventive interventions. For each different area of psychopathology, we will consider: a) the core feature of disorder; b) key theory and empirical evidence regarding etiology and course, with a particular emphasis on understanding the range of risk and protective factors on the individual, family, and community level; and c) the implications of etiological understanding for public health efforts to prevent the particular disorder. Mental Health and Psychopathology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Open to doctoral students or with consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This course is designed to review, evaluate, and apply methods currently used in the field of social epidemiology. The course aims to teach approaches to forming clear research questions, and selecting the best method(s) to answer the questions posed. Initially we will discuss approaches to defining clear and specific research questions. We will then discuss recent controversies around the meaning of questions posed in social epidemiology, and the ability of currently used methods to answer questions in social epidemiology. Finally we will review, evaluate, and apply a range of different methods that are or could be used to answer questions in social epidemiology, again emphasizing the types of questions answered by these methods, and their ability to address the challenges to effectively answering questions in social epidemiology. There will be a mixture of discussion and lecture depending on the topic, with student participation and questions strongly encouraged. Methods in Social Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2012, Spring 2011
This course will address the role that structural inequalities assume in shaping reproductive health disparities. We will examine relevant epidemiological research, review and critique public health interventions, and discuss how research in this area can inform policy. The course will be organized around three modules, each linked to reproductive health: poverty, gender-based violence, and migration. Within each module, students will examine measurement, research design, and ethical challenges. Structural Inequalities and Reproductive Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 250A or equivalent, background in reproductive health
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2016
This course will cover basic principles of human/population genetics and molecular biology relevant to understanding approaches to molecular and genetic epidemiology: approaches to genome-wide association studies; application of biomarkers to define exposures; recent developments in genomics, epigenomics and other -omics, including next generation sequencing technology and genomics in personalized medicine and health. Hands-on computer and wet laboratory will provide experience with modern research tools. Human Genome, Environment and Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: College-level biology course or consent of instructor. Introductory biostatistics recommended
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This introductory course will cover basic principles of human/population genetics and molecular biology relevant to molecular and genetic epidemiology. The latest methods for genome-wide association studies and other approaches to identify genetic variants and environmental risk factors important to disease and health will be presented. The application of biomarkers to define exposures and outcomes will be explored. Recent developments in genomics, epigenomics and other ‘omics’ will be included. Computer and wet laboratory work will provide hands-on experience. Human Genome, Environment and Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introductory level biology/genetics course, or consent of instructor. Introductory biostatistics and epidemiology courses strongly recommended
Credit Restrictions: Students who complete PB HLTH 256 receive no credit for completing PH C256.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2017
This introductory course will cover basic principles of human/population genetics and molecular biology
relevant to understanding how data from the human genome are being used to study disease and other
health outcomes. The latest designs and methods for genome-wide association studies and other
approaches to identify genetic variants, environmental risk factors and the combined effects of gene and
environment important to disease and health will be presented. The application of biomarkers to define
exposures and outcomes will be explored. The course will cover recent developments in genomics,
epigenomics and other ‘omics’, including applications of the latest sequencing technology and
characterization of the human microbiome. Human Genome, Environment and Human Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introductory level biology course. Completion of introductory biostatistics and epidemiology courses strongly recommended and may be taken concurrently
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This introductory course will provide hands-on experience with modern wet laboratory techniques and computer analysis tools for studies in molecular and genetic epidemiology and other areas of genomics in human health. Students will also participate in critical review of journal articles. Students are expected to understand basic principles of human/population genetics and molecular biology, latest designs and methods for genome-wide association studies and other approaches to identify genetic variants, environmental risk factors and the combined effects of gene and environment important to human health. Students will learn how to perform DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction and methods for genotyping, sequencing, and cytogenetics. Genetic Analysis Method: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introductory level biology course. Completion of introductory biostatistics and epidemiology courses strongly recommended and may be taken concurrently with permission. PH256A is a requirement for PH256B; they can be taken concurrently
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-2 hours of lecture and 1-3 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
This course will teach students why and how clusters of illnesses/epidemics are investigated. Methods and approaches required for such investigations will be discussed in detail, using published articles from the scientific literature to provide examples. Outbreak Investigation: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 250A, 250B, or an equivalent introductory course in epidemiologic methods
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Summer 2021 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 First 6 Week Session
This one semester course is an intensive introduction to public health emergency preparedness and response, and covers the following topic areas: the role of public health in disasters; natural disasters and severe weather; intentional mass threats (CBRNE); biosurveillance: detecting and monitoring public health threat; post-disaster sampling, surveys, and rapid needs assessments; public health emergency incident management systems; emergency operations planning and exercises. Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Completion of one semester of graduate public health curriculum, or in public health practice
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Summer: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
For students with a basic understanding of epidemiology, biostatistics, and tumor biology. An introduction to the epidemiology of some major site-specific cancers, considering epidemiological approaches to the study of their causation, and implementation will be discussed. Cancer Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public Health 150A or 250A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course is designed to serve the emerging field of global disaster management. Topics include the analysis of past mega-disasters; global disaster trends; hazard identification, profiling, and analysis; concepts of risk and vulnerability and risk evaluation; structural and non-structural mitigation; multi-level disaster preparedness; pre-, peri-, and post-disaster response, including the provision of water, food, and shelter, and the management of volunteers; components of recovery, disaster effects on communities and societies; participation of governmental, non-governmental, and multilateral agencies and organizations in planning and response; role of the media, including social media. Global Health Disaster Preparedness and Response: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: if receive D or F grades
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 7 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2012, Spring 2011
Practical application of epidemiologic methods in the developing country settings, including surveillance, surveys, case-control studies, and intervention trials. The applications of these methods to the study of infectious and non-infectious disease problems common in developing countries will be presented. Practical Applications of Epidemiologic Methods in Developing Countries: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course presents general principles of microbial interactions with humans that result in infection and disease. Common themes are developed using examples of viral, bacterial, and parasitological pathogens that exemplify mechanisms of infectious disease. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, host immune response, diagnosis, treatment, and control will be presented for each infectious disease discussed. Principles of Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division course preparation in biology
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
This course presents general principles of microbial interactions with humans that result in infection and disease. Common themes are developed using examples of viral, bacterial, and parasitological pathogens that exemplify mechanisms of infectious disease. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, host immune response, diagnosis, treatment, and control will be presented for each infectious disease discussed. Principles of Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division course preparation in biology
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Module I: Practice in standard techniques for the isolation, identification, and characterization of infectious agents; laboratory safety. Module 2: Application of molecular methods to the identification and characterization of infectious agents, vectors, and hosts. Infectious Disease Laboratory: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 260A or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of laboratory and 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2018, Fall 2016
The course will cover general principles and practical approaches in the use of molecular laboratory techniques to address infectious disease epidemiologic problems. It is designed for students with experience in the laboratory or in epidemiology, but not both. The principles to be discussed will include the use of molecular techniques in outbreak investigations, characterizations of dynamics of disease transmission, identifying vehicles, and quantifying attributable risks in sporadic infections, refining data stratification to assist case-control studies, distinguishing pathovars from non-pathogenic variants of organisms, doing surveillance, and identifying genetic determinants of disease transmissions. 3-units if a five-page paper completed. Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 150A
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and .5 hours of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2017
The objective of this course is to provide M.P.H. and Ph.D. students with an appreciation and understanding of the complex issues involved in conducting scientific, laboratory-based investigation in developing countries. We will discuss the many obstacles to establishing and sustaining research projects, such as poor infrastructure, insufficient financial and material resources, and lack of scientific information and interaction. More importantly, we will identify innovative solutions to overcoming these obstacles. The first half of the course will consist of presentations by U.S. and developing countries investigators who have long-term research experience in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. We will also discuss related issues such as ethical considerations, equitable collaborations, research capacity strengthening. During the second half of the course, students will give presentations on topics of their choice. Infectious Disease Research in Developing Countries: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
The purpose of this course is to provide students with knowledge and approach to understand key principles that apply to infectious diseases recognized to be of major public health importance in the USA and globally. The students will learn about the important infectious disease issues and obstacles that arise at the population level, and how to address them through science, public health practices, and policy. Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: 1.
understand definitions used in discussing, describing, and reporting about infectious diseases.
2.
understand US and WHO-recommended immunization practices and policies, as well as common obstacles to their universal implementation.
3.
propose new ideas about how to address obstacles related to immunization policies; challenges in developing new vaccines.
4.
know about the major drug-resistant infectious disease problems in the US and abroad; factors that select for drug resistance, and what needs to be done to prevent and control the spread of drug-resistant infections.
5.
describe hospital infection surveillance systems; hospital infection control stewardship principles.
6.
understand the rationale behind screening tests for HIAIDs and other STIs.
7.
describe approaches to hepatitis screening, blood donation and blood bank screening for hepatitis viruses; differences in TB contact tracing programs in the US and elsewhere; BCG vaccination vs preventive treatment for latent TB infection in the USA.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Students must be matriculated in the On-campus Online MPH Program to enroll in this course
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
Analysis of viral and host factors that play a role in viral diseases of medical importance. Four units of credit given to doctoral students who write a research proposal on a topic other than that proposed for their dissertation. Advanced Medical Virology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course for graduate students will explore the molecular and cellular basis of bacterial pathogenesis. The emphasis will be on model bacterial pathogens of mammals. The course also will include some aspects of bacterial genetics and physiology, immune response to infection, and the cell biology of host-parasite interactions. Taught concurrently with. Students enrolled in 262 also will be required to attend a weekly discussion of the primary literature, both current and classic. Each student will be required to present one paper. Molecular and Cellular Basis of Bacterial Pathogenesis: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 260A, 260B, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course will be the principal immunology course for students in the field of public health. It is designed to teach both the basic biology of the human immune system and its response in health and disease, especially the specific response of the human immune system to major human pathogens. Four areas will be explored: 1) components of the immune system (spectrum of cell types and cell products); 2) different arms of the immune system including humoral, cell-mediated, innate, and mucosal immunity; 3) specific immune response to infection caused by viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic pathogens; and 4) disorders of the immune system unrelated to infectious disease. Through this course, students should not only gain a basic understanding of the human immune system, but also learn the functions and responses of the human immune system to diseases of infectious and non-infectious nature, and the relevance of these interactions in the context of public health problems. Public Health Immunology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 260A (prior or concurrent). Graduate standing. Public Health majors by consent of instructor
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for 263 after taking Molecular and Cell Biology 150.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Examination of scientific, social, and policy dimensions of issues involving infectious diseases. Students select one topic for in-depth analysis and present findings in a public debate. Topics vary from year to year. Current Issues in Infectious Diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Second-year Infectious Diseases MPH students only
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2017
Advanced course in the molecular aspects of parasite immunology, molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, and genomics. For each parasite, the following areas will be covered: biology; disease spectrum; epidemiology; pathogenesis, immunology; and vaccine development. The lectures will focus on "state-of-the-art" research in relation to molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis, parasite adaptations for survival within the host, and strategies for drug and vaccine development and disease control and prevention. Course content will rely heavily on current literature. Molecular Parasitology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Upper division courses in molecular biology, parasitology, biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, or consent of instructor. Familiarity with reading primary research is recommended
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 10 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Topics include the basic biology of cancer; molecular biology of tumor viruses; mechanisms of viral carcinogenesis; characteristics of virally transformed cells; the challenge of proving the viral etiology of human cancers; the epidemiology, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of virally caused human cancers. The course format will include lectures and reading/discussion of original research publications. To be taken for three units if a term paper is written and for two units without a term paper. Viruses and Human Cancer: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Course in basic virology or microbiology
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course will cover public health, microbiological, social, and economical issues related to foodborne diseases. Three areas will be explored: 1) categories, clinical manifestations, and disease processes of foodborne illnesses; 2) etiological agents causing foodborne illnesses; 3) investigation and prevention of foodborne illness. The course will discuss different types of foodborne diseases, clinical manifestations, and the interactions between etiological agents (pathogens and non-pathogens) and human hosts. We will cover pathogens that are the most frequently associated with foodborne illness including bacterial and viral pathogens such as Salmonella, E coli, hepatitis viruses and Norwalk-like gastroenteritus viruses. We will also study non-pathogen agents such as heavy metal, pesticide, and toxic chemicals. Futhermore, the course will discuss how to identify the etiological agents in outbreaks and possible measures that can be taken to minimize the risk to the public including vaccines and education. Finally, we will explore the social and economic issues involved in the food production, distribution, and consumption that contribute to foodborne diseases. Foodborne diseases: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of microbiology
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This is a graduate (Ph.D. and MPH) level course designed to describe the major zoonoses and their life cycle, disease manifestations, epidemiology, and methods for prevention and control. Available treatments, diagnostics, and public health and agriculture surveillance and “forecasting” programs will also be discussed. The most recent research on the molecular and cellular basis of the mechanisms and consequences of the “species” jump from other animals to humans will be reviewed. The global nature
of zoonotic diseases and the integration of multiple disciplines (molecular biology, immunology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, ecology, animal science, veterinary medicine, etc.) will be emphasized. Zoonotic Diseases: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Recognize, understand and be able to describe the public health importance of presented zoonotic diseases Understand the agent’s life cycle (agent, host, and environment interaction), including the source(s) or reservoir(s) and host range Understand the factors involved in the susceptibility and resistance of the human host to the
cross-species transmission of disease
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public Health 260A or equivalent Infectious Diseases course (may be taken concurrently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This course will look at and evaluate the principles underlying the control of infections in hospitals, the causes of these infections, current important topics in this field and future trends. Students will gain an appreciation of the national and local programs involved in HAI's, their major causes, antimicrobial control, and specific agents and procedures causing HAI's. Hospital Associated Infections: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2017
Principles underlying the use of air monitoring methods in industry and the environment. Topics include behavior of gases, vapors, and aerosols; mechanisms of absorption and elimination of inhaled toxicants; methods for measuring of airborne chemicals and particles. Characterization of Airborne Contaminants: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in environmental health sciences or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Readings and lectures in occupational biomechanics. Topics to be covered are muscle, tendon, and joint biomechanics, material handling models, mechanisms of injury, hand tool design, and instrumentation issues. Students will prepare critical reviews of recent publications and design an engineering intervention to reduce work-related risk factors. Ergonomics Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 269C or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Topics in environmental medicine will provide students with an overview of the health impacts, disease mechanisms, and public health controversies related to selected environmental exposures. The course will cover established environmental diseases as well as impacts of some emerging exposures of concern. The focus will primarily be on pathophysiology, issues related to exposure pathways, and the susceptibilities of specific human populations. No prior medical knowledge required. Current Topics in Environmental Medicine: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2017
Students will identify the components of occupational tasks that contribute to musculoskeletal injury, quantify the risks using the most relevant ergonomic assessment tools, and integrate that information into conclusions regarding the acceptability of the risk. This course will challenge students to assess many practical examples from a wide variety of workplace sectors, including manufacturing, health care, agriculture and others, and interpret data from sources that will not always agree, so that the decisions can be made and defended. Introduction to Physical Ergonomics: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 8-5 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This survey course covers the breadth of hazards to chemical, biological, and physical agents of concern to environmental health professionals. Lectures are presented by experts on particular topics that emphasize the activities involved in professional practice. Students will also meet twice monthly with the instructor to discuss advanced readings and assignments related to the lecture topics. Students will conduct a project on a topic of current interest in some aspect of environmental health (under the guidance of the instructor). This course is designed for MPH students in Environmental Health Sciences and other graduate-level students interested in an overview course on environmental health. Introduction to Environmental Health Sciences: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: One epidemiology course; one biostatistics course (may be taken concurOne Epidemiology course; one Biostatistics course, can be concurrent. rently)
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Direct and indirect methods and procedures for the estimation and control of human exposure to chemical, physical, and biological agents of concern to health in the community and in occupational settings. Includes review of measurement technologies, exposure assessment strategies, and multipathway analyses used by regulatory agencies. Also covers exposure control options and strategies, including administrative procedures, personal protective equipment, and various engineering control approaches. Exposure Assessment and Control: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the School of Public Health or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Introduction to toxicology covering basic principles, dose-response, toxicity testing, chemical metabolism, mechanisms of toxicity, carcinogenesis, interpretation of toxicological data for risk assessment, and target organ toxicity. Toxicology I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2019, Spring 2017
This course will focus on cutting-edge issues involving real-world toxicology in drug discovery, pesticide regulation, stem cell research, etc. Many well-known toxicologists, regulators, and consultants from pharmaceutical companies, petroleum industry, private consulting firms, non-profit institutes, federal and state regulatory agencies in the Bay Area will be invited to talk to our participating students. Some of the speakers are our school's alumni who understand exactly what our students need to know before entering the real world. Learning outside the classroom will be another major focus and different from other existing toxicology courses offered at Berkeley. This new class will provide students a chance to visit some of the real-world sites allowing students to see and feel what they really need to know and to learn. To better prepare our students for the real world, we will use combined teaching/learning styles including lecture with discussion sections, site-visits, hand-on experience in a toxicology laboratory, and student group assignments or projects. Practical Toxicology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 270B or Nutrition Science and Toxicology 110 or equivalent course in toxicology
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
The course covers monitoring, control and regulatory policy of microbial, chemical and radiological drinking water contaminants. Additional subjects include history and iconography of safe water, communicating risks to water consumers and a bottled water versus tap water taste test as part of the discussion on aesthetic water quality parameters. Drinking Water and Health: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, students will be expected to:
Recognize the global occurrence of waterborne contaminants and related health impacts.
Understand water quality monitoring and control of key water quality constituents.
Appreciate the complexities of the regulatory process as it pertains to public drinking water systems in the US and abroad.
Read and synthesize published and unpublished sources of information regarding drinking water and health. Prepare a literature review in journal submission format.
Using an established rubric, review and comment on a literature review (prepared by a fellow student). Rank the paper as acceptable, acceptable with minor revision, acceptable with major revision, unacceptable.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2013
The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database utilized by provides estimates of illness, injury, and death by disease type, age, sex, and world region in a consistent and coherent manner. The course will explore the ways such a detailed database makes possible a wide range of new types of analysis of health priorities and the relationship of database will also be introduced. This seminar will also provide an opportunity for reading and discussion of the basic assumptions, data limitations, critiques, and methodological difficulties of the GBD. It is intended to be a true seminar relying heavy on class participation. The homework assignments will be greatly facilitated by use of computer spreadsheets. Global Burden of Disease and Comparative Risk Assessment: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. Introductory epidemiology (250A or equivalent) is recommended
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Scientific knowledge and analyses are important to the development of public policies that address the impact of the environment on health. The limits of existing knowledge and uncertainties in research results create significant challenges in applying science to answer critical questions. This course critically examines how scientific information is used in policy decisions. Case studies of current issues address characterization of scientific knowledge, interpretation of science in policy contexts, scientific integrity, and factors in addition to science that influence decisions. Assignments prepare students to effectively translate technical knowledge for multi-disciplinary and lay audiences and to participate in public policy proceedings. Core materials address differences between regulatory and market-based approaches; emerging paradigms including the precautionary principle and environmental justice; and key elements of risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Science and Policy for Environment and Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course explores the Public Health effects of global climate change: physical basis of climate change, including causes & projections; burden of disease stemming from global climate change, emphasis on impacts in the developing world, global & local equity issues, interaction between climate change mitigation/adaptation activities & existing global health initiatives; direct exposures (extreme heat, drought, precipitation, sea-level rise), indirect exposures (vector-borne & zoonotic diseases, ecosystem disruption, water quantity & quality, land arability & food production, population displacement). After taking this course, students will be well positioned for further work on global environmental change and health. Health Implications of Climate Change: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Green chemistry seeks to promote the design and adoption of safer chemicals and materials. The development and adoption of safer chemicals and materials depends on solving a number of design and selection challenges. The Greener Solutions course pairs interdisciplinary teams of 3-5 graduate students with a partner organization seeking to solve these challenges in a specific application. This 3-unit interdisciplinary, project-based course is intended for graduate students in public health, chemistry, environmental studies, and engineering. The course draws on students’ disciplinary expertise and teaches new skills to identify safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals currently used in a product or manufacturing process. Greener Solutions: A Safer Design Partnership: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Not yet offered
Course is an overview on work as a key social determinant of health. The workplace is commonly viewed as a setting for health promotion of individual behavior change, while its potential to be a source of critical exposures that directly impact health, safety & well-being of working populations is often overlooked. Purpose of the class is to help public health practitioners build a framework for understanding the role that work & workplace conditions play in individual & community health, to introduce strategies that address work-related health inequities & facilitate the development of concrete skills in these areas. The course emphasizes worker & community organization & participation in effecting social justice & public health change. Social Justice and Worker Health: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: Define the concept of a healthy job, and describe work as a social determinant of health with an emphasis on its impact on the lives of low-wage, immigrant, and other vulnerable workers and communities.
Describe the “landscape” of work and labor dynamics, including current issues and topics in worker health and safety and the populations most affected by workplace hazards and risks.
Discuss basic theoretical and experiential concepts underlying the following public health strategies:
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Community organizing
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Labor organizing
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Training for action
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Effective partnerships
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Work-related policies
Practice skills in community organizing, popular education, training for action, and building effective partnerships that are all essential to professional community-based practice in public health.
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with advisor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
The course will provide a basic foundation in the physical mechanisms of, responses to, and health implications of climate change. We will explore the variety of epidemiologic, risk assessment, and statistical methods used to understand the impacts of climate change on health across diverse demographic groups. The public health implications, positive and negative, of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change will be elaborated, including discussions of ethical, political, and economic aspects of these efforts. Students will be responsible for leading class discussions and presenting a poster on their choice of a topic related to climate change and health. Health Implications of Climate Change: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: The material will be presented with minimal expectation of a background in physical science, although some additional reading may be needed for students with no university science courses. A background in epidemiology is also helpful, but not necessary
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Geographic information systems (GIS) have emerged as an important tool for performing health and environmental analyses. GIS is generally seen as a spatial analysis system for the organization, storage, retrieval, and analysis of data for which the location and other spatial attributes are considered important (e.g., incidence of a specific disease condition in relation to a pollution source). GIS also encompasses the organizational structure, personnel, software, and hardware needed to support spatial analysis. For many health and social scientists, GIS has evolved into a new lens for viewing their work. The course will provide students with an introduction to this exciting and expanding field of inquiry. On successful completion of the course you should possess the following skills and knowledge: 1) A basic understanding of the fundamental geographic and cartographic concepts that underlie GIS. 2) Working knowledge of ArcGIS, a powerful "desktop" GIS software package that runs in a Windows environment. 3) Introductory knowledge of past, present, and possible future applications of GIS for health and environmental studies. Geographic Information Science for Public and Environmental Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Introductory statistics course or equivalent
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
Using published studies as examples, we will focus on key epidemiologic methods as they arise in the study of environmental hazards in the community and workplace. Selected topics include the validity of exposure assessment for both community-based and workplace-based studies, specific forms of selection bias (e.g., healthy worker survivor effect), measurement error (e.g., exposure misclassification), time varying confounding, and analytical methods to model exposure-reponse (e.g., person-years, causal models, spatial anaylsis, and nonlinear models) in environmental and occupational epidemiology. Grades will be based on class participation, homework, and final project. Case Studies in Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Public Health 250C and 241
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course introduces geographic information systems (GIS) for the processing, visualization and description of spatial public health data. We will introduce principles, methods, and techniques for acquiring, processing, and manipulating spatial data. We will cover basic GIS concepts, such as coordinate systems and cartography, layering, buffering, joining spatial data, and conducing spatial queries. The role of locational information in aiding in the prevention of disease will be covered and discussed. Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2018
This course will cover the theory and methods behind the analysis of patterns of health and disease in space. Students will increase their proficiency in the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to public health data, and will learn how to perform a wide variety of space and space-time analyses. The course will introduce statistical techniques for describing, analyzing and interpreting layers of mapped health data, including the acquisition and classification of remote sensing data. Applied Spatial Data Science for Public Health: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
The course takes a global perspective, examining the environmental phenomena that influence the transmission of infectious diseases. The epidemiological significance of environmental processes are explored, including weather, climate extremes, hydrology, development projects, and land usage change. Analytical tools are discussed and critiqued with respect to their ability to resolve the role of environmental factors in shaping disease distributions and pathogen fate, transport, and persistence. Environmental Determinants of Infectious Disease: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2014
This is an advanced level course designed to cover current issues related to the biological and analytical aspects of vaccine development and utilization. Latest developments in recombinant vaccine technology, vaccine delivery systems, "naked DNA" vaccines, "designer" vaccines, new adjuvants, anti-tumor vaccines, epidemiological approaches to assess vaccine efficacy, effectiveness, and safety will be discussed and covered. Current Topics in Vaccinology: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 250A, 260A, and 264 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021
This course will familiarize students with the principles, methods, and techniques necessary to apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in diverse public health practice settings. Case studies will be presented to introduce the application of GIS technologies for rendering disease surveillance maps, developing effective spatial data visualization, creating compelling and credible spatial risk maps, and acquiring and processing positioning information for health applications. Applied GIS for Public Health Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for PB HLTH W272B after completing PB HLTH 272B. A deficient grade in PB HLTH W272B may be removed by taking PB HLTH 272B.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 6 hours of web-based lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
This course presents a brief introduction to the emerging field of spirituality and health. We examine scholarly and scientific views of links between spirituality, religion, and health. Topics include highlights and overviews of the rapidly emerging scientific evidence base, public health relevance, collaborations with faith-based organizations, and other practical applications. Public Health and Spirituality: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Completion or concurrent enrollment in at least one other course in public health, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 10 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Injuries are a major and often neglected health problem with substantial human and economic costs. Injuries are the leading cause of death from the first year of life to age 45, and the leading cause of lost potential years of life. This course provides an historical and conceptual framework within which to consider injuries (both intentional and unintentional) as social, and public health problems. Through review of epidemiology and intervention studies, course work will consider the causes and consequences of traumatic injury within developmental, social and economic contexts. Particular emphasis is placed on alternative strategies for injury prevention and on the relative benefits of intervention at different levels. Public Health Injury Prevention and Control: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This course applies principles of engineering, behavioral science, and vision science to preventing traffic collisions and subsequent injury. A systematic approach to traffic safety will be presented in the course, and will include (1) human behavior, vehicle design, and roadway design as interacting approaches to preventing traffic crashes and (2) vehicle and roadway designs as approaches to preventing injury once a collision has occured. Implications of intelligent transportation system concepts for traffic safety will be discussed throughout the course. Traffic Safety and Injury Control: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This seminar is required for preventive medicine residents, but is also open to other physicians and medical students interested in preventive medicine and public health practice. It provides an overview of preventive medicine practice, especially those areas covered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine examination in public health and preventive medicine. The objectives of this seminar are to review basic principles and practices of health care organization and financing, quality assurance, clinical practice guidelines, clinical preventive services and health care delivery for the underserved and to describe the role of the preventive medicine physician in health care organizations. Preventive Medicine Residency Seminar: Managed Care and Preventive Medicine: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: MD or medical student
Credit Restrictions: Two hours of seminar per week for eight weeks.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
This seminar is required for preventive medicine residents, but is also open to other physicians and medical students interested in preventive medicine and public health practice. It provides an overview of preventive medicine practice, especially those areas covered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine examination in public health and preventive medicine. The objectives of this seminar are to review basic principles and practices of public administration as they relate to the management of a governmental public health agency and to describe the role of the preventive medicine physician as a leader and administrator in those agencies. Preventive Medicine Residency Seminar: Public Administration: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: MD or medical student. MD or medical student
Credit Restrictions: Two hours of seminar per week for eight weeks.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 8 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Summer 2021 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2020 First 6 Week Session, Summer 2019 First 6 Week Session
This hybrid seminar course consists of both online and face-to-face instruction, with the objective of mastering, at least partially, the following competencies: basic leadership skills for public health leaders, ability to design and conduct a needs assessment and stakeholder analysis, the ability to critically analyze a public health journal article, the ability to conduct an ethical analysis in public health, basic negotation skills, and the ability to complete a Human Subjects Protocol (IRB) application. Interdisciplinary Health Seminar: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 7 weeks - 5 hours of web-based lecture, 4 hours of lecture, and 4 hours of web-based discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 5 hours of web-based lecture, 4 hours of lecture, and 4 hours of web-based discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
A discussion of current developments and issues in public health of interest to faculty and students of the department as a whole. Content varies from semester to semester depending upon current issues and interests. Health Issues Seminars: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
Series of skills-based workshops and sessions to introduce students to specialized leadership competencies needed in the public health workplace. These workshops complement the School of Public Health’s (SPH) core curriculum and are selected based on the Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice, and regular feedback from public health practitioners, faculty and students. Workshop facilitators include UC Berkeley faculty, public health practitioners and consultants with expertise in the topic areas. Designed to teach the core public health skills relevant to pre-internship preparation and prepare students for professional success. Cases draw on past scenarios/challenges experienced in the PH field. Preparation for Public Health Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of workshop and 1 hour of discussion per week
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020
Discussion and analysis of dissertation research projects, as well as of conceptual and methodological problems in planning and conducting health research. Doctoral Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016
Supervised experience relevant to specific aspects of public health in off-campus organizations for graduate students. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsor and written reports required. Field Study in Public Health: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-12 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
Skill development and professional preparation for graduate student instructors in public health courses. Preparing for and leading discussion sections. Designing writing prompts. Preparing and creating problem sets. Working with students one-on-one. Grading students' writing and exams. Self assessment. Developing a course syllabus. Use of technology in public health classes. Required for first-time public health GSIs who are not participating in an SPH divisional pedagogy course. School of Public Health Schoolwide Pedagogy Course: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of session per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Public Health/Professional course for teachers or prospective teachers
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
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