Course Number:

Credit Hours:

4

Course Title:

Health Policy: Public Health in Crisis

Course Description:

Explores pressures facing U.S. public health practice and their implications for public health practitioners in clinical, legal, administrative, analytic, and communications disciplines. Includes increased emphasis on bioterrorism and emergency preparedness; ongoing weaknesses in disease surveillance and data collection; antiquated state and local laws; challenges to health promotion, disease prevention, and other population-level interventions; tensions between the public health and insurance systems; emerging infections, climate change, and natural disasters; significant disinvestment; and limited public health literacy among the public. This is an applied, advanced-level learning experience that requires completion of a focused, analytic public health project in service to students’ current clinical settings or to an alternative local- or state-level public or private public health agency.