This course is the second in a series of two biology courses and follows Biology 1 for Health Studies Majors. In Biology 2, students study biology at the organism, population and ecosystem level of organization. Topics covered include evolution, biodiversity, plant and animal structure and function, and ecology. This course includes a virtual laboratory component which compliments topics covered in the assigned readings.
Course Code: BIOL 1122
Prerequisites: BIOL 1121
Credits: 4
This course serves as an introduction to the global structure and function of the human body including its systems and physiological processes that support the function of the systems: musculoskeletal, nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory organ systems. Introducing students to the concept of connecting form to function and to evolutionary history, students gain a primary understanding of anatomical and physiological terminology, cell and tissue types and basic biochemistry as it relates to human organ differentiation. Students also learn how to search and find the most up to date and freely accessible research in the field of physiology/anatomy and are introduced to the basic study designs employed in physiological/anatomical and medical research.
Course Code: CPH 2211
Prerequisites: BIOL 1122
Credits: 3
This course provides an overview of the process by which disease is transmitted. Topics to be covered include the microbiology of viruses, bacteria and other infectious agents; host-parasite relations and coevolution; vectors of transmission; and social network models of transmission. These concepts are applied to real world case studies where students learn how to prevent the spread of disease, handle highly infectious patients, and deal with the social ramifications of interventions such as quarantines.
Course Code: CPH 2212
Prerequisites: BIOL 1122
Credits: 3
This course provides a general background introducing the history of food, food preparation and food storage/preservation. Basic knowledge about food chemistry will be presented with respect to human energy balance and metabolism, macro- and micronutrient needs and food group functions, and the diseases of nutrient deficiency and excess intake. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role of diet in metabolic syndrome, the obesity epidemic in some societies, and the political and geophysical causes of famine in other contexts.
Course Code: CPH 2611
Prerequisites: BIOL 1122
Credits: 3
Health is a multidimensional concept with both a concrete and a social definition. In this course concepts of health and illness are explored to examine the ways in which the environmental surroundings, as well as the conditions under which we are born, grow, work, play, and age, shape our personal, community and population health. The course also investigates the structural and intermediary determinants of health such as social environment, social capital, behavior, and biology.
Course Code: CPH 2711
Prerequisites: BIOL 1122
Credits: 3
This course provides an opportunity for students to delve further into key topics including social inequalities and their potential impact on health, with emphasis on marginalized and stigmatized populations; the role of resource allocation in health care; public health programing and the role of the State in public health; the health care system as a social institution; and how the health care system interfaces with populations, communities, and individuals through key decision making processes and communications.
Course Code: CPH 2712
Prerequisites: CPH 2711
Credits: 3
This course examines the current understanding of human health and disease and students explore etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, outlook, and prevention of select diseases. Topics include conditions resulting from trauma; developmental, congenital, and childhood diseases; and diseases and conditions from each system in the human body.
Course Code: CPH 3210
Prerequisites: CPH 2211
Credits: 3
This course introduces student to basic concepts and methods of epidemiology and population health. In this course, students learn how to measure disease incidence, prevalence, risk, relative risk and related concepts. Students also learn how to design, analyze and interpret studies that deploy methodologies ranging from case-control, cohort and randomized control trials (RCTs). Problems that plague such studies are explored including attrition, censoring, biased sampling, model misspecification, confounding or lurking variables. Finally, disease transmission dynamics are addressed along with network models that attempt to describe them.
Course Code: CPH 3311
Prerequisites: CPH 2211
Credits: 3
This course provides a comparative analysis of the life course and stages from infancy through adolescence and adulthood, to old age and death. Various developmental processes are addressed, including socio-emotional, cognitive, and physical. Various perspectives are explored from the social scientific including an analysis of rituals and rites of passage and roles at various life states, to the biological where students study predictors of menarche, fertility, brain development as well as stages of physical and mental decline. Particular emphasis on cross-cultural differences in human development are explored throughout the course.
Course Code: CPH 3610
Prerequisites: CPH 2712
Credits: 3
Globally, the world is moving towards Universal Health Coverage, a concept built around the practical attainment of the basic human rights of health for all. At the most basic level, a Healthcare System is the organization of both human and monetary resources, institutions, and
service delivery outlets in order to meet the health needs of a population. These systems come in a variety of models which are influenced by the economic context, the values upon which the system is built and guided, and the socio-cultural context at the national and local levels. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the different models of Health Systems and Service Delivery Organization employed in various contexts around the world as a means of providing a holistic and balanced understanding of how health systems can and do function in different contexts.
Course Code: CPH 3810
Prerequisites: CPH 2712
Credits: 3
Community Health is an evidence-based practice for preventing and reducing population-wide levels of public health problems such as crime, disease, and poverty (CDP). CDP are responsible for the rates of morbidity and mortality in every community in the world. The CTC uses a public health approach to address community-wide health and behavioral issues and this course provides students with the basic knowledge needed to help create and sustain CTC awareness. The course also examines the functions and structures of the communities and covers the five implementation phases of the CTC model which involves understanding the concept and role of key leaders and community work-groups.
Course Code: CPH 3814
Prerequisites: CPH 2712
Credits: 3
Students complete a formal, supervised internship in a government, private or nonprofit organization in which they gain real-world experience in one or more of the following areas: prevention of sickness and injury; detection and control of diseases; education of individuals, groups and communities to promote health and healthy lifestyles; policy and/or program development; advocacy for quality healthcare that is equitable and geographically accessible; research in any of these areas. Students complete and are graded on a written project paper due at the end of the internship experience.
Course Code: CPH 3995
Prerequisites: By permission only for CPH majors with over 100 credits
Credits: 6
This course introduces students to a wide range of topics in the burgeoning field of genetics and evolutionary biology. Topics to be covered include the structure and function of DNA; Mendelian inheritance and deviations from this assumption; aspects of evolution including the neutral theory; selection; drift; and evolutionarily stable strategies; sexual versus asexual reproduction; behavioral genetics and the concept of heritability; and gene-by-environment effects. Through the use of educational technology, students explore their own analyses of these areas throughout the course.
Course Code: CPH 4212
Prerequisites: CPH 3311
Credits: 3
This course serves as an introduction to a wide range of mental health topics beginning with definitions of normality and abnormality with respect to human behavior, and including the concepts of stigma and othering. The social and genetic bases for major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression are also explored in depth. Students explore definitions of mental illness and how the existence of certain disorders remains a source of debate. Various perspectives and treatments are included such as Freudian/psychoanalytic, cognitive behavioral and psychopharmacology; mental health as a neglected global public health issue will also be covered with an emphasis on application of concepts to real world challenges at the individual, community and population levels.
Course Code: CPH 4241
Prerequisites: CPH 3610 and PSYC 1111
Credits: 3
Biostatistics provides an introduction to selected topics in statistics as they apply to biological and health issues. In discussing different forms of biological/medical/health data and the tools used to analyze them, students learn how to describe the central tendency and variation in data. They also unpack the relationship between sample statistics and population values (i.e. inference) and are introduced to concepts such as hypothesis testing, power analysis and study design, and sampling approaches. This class requires lab work; students will organize, code and analyze data using open source computing packages.
Course Code: CPH 4510
Prerequisites: MATH 1280 and CPH 3311
Credits: 3
Health Policy today is determined by the goals and actions of health related decisions in a given society. As such, health policy can define the vision for the future by identifying priorities, roles and responsibilities, and affecting change, preferably towards the betterment of health for the population. This course examines the development and the use of health policy with specific emphasis on management, economics of care, the development of health systems and services, and health politics. In understanding constructions of health policy, students explore key aspects of health management, and gain a practical skillset for the integration and implementation of policy at various levels of health provision, care, and leadership.
Course Code: CPH 4810
Prerequisites: CPH 3610
Credits: 3
Bioethics focuses on the ‘reasonableness’ of human choices and actions that typically occur in health sciences practice, such as end-of-life decision-making, artificial reproduction / genetic manipulation, medical research practices and population-level allocation of health resources. The course begins with a general consideration of ethics before delving into medical practice and bioethics in particular. Students learn to debate ethical issues such as conflicts in honoring patient requests, when randomized trials are acceptable, how to think about rationing limited health or nutritional resources, and appropriate responses to patient requests to be informed about health and longevity prospects. One goal of this course is to raise awareness and inform students about the moral choices and decisions that are a part of health care careers.
Course Code: CPH 4812
Prerequisites: CPH 3610
Credits: 3
