Description: How do we define what constitutes a public health issue? How do we empirically examine health disparities? In the fall semester, you will learn how to investigate and define a pressing public health issue using evidence-based approaches to public health, including calculating and interpreting epidemiological measures and performing statistical analyses, in either Excel or R (depending on your home department requirements). With support from SPH’s informationists, you will learn to identify appropriate resources to support their investigation of how key factors–such as nutritional, environmental, healthcare access and policies, and social determinants of health–impact your team’s public health issue. You will learn to analyze the relative contribution of these factors through key public health frameworks, such as the social ecological model, and through a systems-based approach to public health. Your learning will be supported by a series of formative assessments, including quizzes, reflections, response papers, and problem sets. The fall semester’s work will culminate in each team completing a public health report, an authentic summative assessment that showcases your learning over the course of the semester.
