International Health
View courses in
-
SPH IH 770: Poverty, Health, and Development
Poverty, Health and Development is the core International Public Health course for master’s students in the new University-wide Global Development Policy Program. The course also serves as an elective course for students in public health. The goal of this course is for students to explore the relationships between poverty, health, and development in low-income countries. While not a methods course per se, methods in public health, economics, statistics, and quantitative impact evaluation will be introduced and used throughout the course. -
SPH IH 771: Topics in International Health
This topics courses addresses a variety of topics pertinent to International Health. See the print or web-based School of Public Health semester schedule for more information. The topic in fall 2009 is Medical Anthropology in Public Health, 2 cr. The pre-requisite for the fall course is SPH SB721 or IH720. -
SPH IH 773: Financial Management for International Health
Health care managers must be prepared to talk about financial issues, analyze and interpret data, and make decisions using financial information. This course develops competencies in cost analysis, pricing, budgeting, and reading financial reports in international health settings where financial systems are weak and data not easily available. In addition to using principles of differential and full cost analysis, students gain skills in breakeven analysis and calculating mark-ups. Examples are drawn from hospitals, clinics, and revolving drug funds from developing countries. Students who took IH 763 cannot take IH 773 for degree credit. -
SPH IH 777: International Health Culminating Experience Writing Seminar
This seminar course has two main purposes: first, to enable participants to respond to one another's work, examine issues in the writing process, make improvements from draft to draft, and complete a well-researched, well-argued concentration paper; second, to explore issues in international health that are the focus of their research and emerge with a greater understanding of the questions they raise for policy and practice. Papers go through three drafts, and students will have the opportunity to give and receive feedback in peer review sessions. Background readings and regular participation in class critiques and discussions are required. Students must be working on their culminating experience to be enrolled in the class. -
SPH IH 781: Nutrition and Public Health in Lower Income Countries
This course introduces students to public health nutrition in the developing world. Topics include 1) the major nutritional challenges facing low-income countries (including macro- and micronutrient deficiencies, HIV and infant feeding, nutrition in emergencies and obesity) 2) nutrition through the life cycle 3) potential causes of poor nutrition including health behavior, societal norms, and economic factors 4) innovative approaches to addressing undernutrition 5) monitoring and evaluation efforts to track changes in nutritional status and feeding behaviors, and 6) policy-level responses to malnutrition, especially among women and children. While some class time is devoted to clinical nutrition, equal emphasis is placed on behavioral and programmatic issues including successful community-based nutrition interventions, national and international responses to under-nutrition and how these can be coordinated. This course also briefly reviews the evidence base for each approach. By the end of this course, students will be able to broadly describe the literature on international nutrition and to use Excel to clean and analyze data on infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. -
SPH IH 790: Leading Organizations to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals for Health
Meeting the challenge of the UN Millennium Development Declaration, “to promote a comprehensive approach and a coordinated strategy, tackling many problems simultaneously across a broad front’ will require inspired managers with strong leadership skills. Through collaboration with Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a leading management and health NGO, this course will prepare health managers, consultants, and donors to lead organizations to face priority health challenges and achieve results. Students will learn practical leadership and management skills and apply these skills in the complex conditions of health in the developing world. Students will have opportunities to work in teams to develop leadership practices, values and methods needed to lead and manage groups and organizations. The center piece of the program involves working virtually with an MSH field team in Africa, Asia, or Latin America to assess the current situation related to an MDG goal, develop a leadership challenge in collaboration with the field team, and make action plans to meet the challenge within existing resource constraints. In addition, the course provides opportunities to work with and learn about the work currently being done by Management Sciences for Health. Class meets 7/6-7/29/10. -
SPH IH 795: Global AIDS Epidemic: Social & Economic Determinants, Impact, & Responses
AIDS is one of the most important pandemics and human development challenges of our time. This course explores the determinants and impacts of the AIDS pandemic and examines best practices in prevention, care and treatment and impact mitigation. Students will explore the relationship between human rights, gender and vulnerability to HIV; examine effective multi-sectoral responses; and evaluate the benefits and limitations of major multi- and bi-lateral AIDS initiatives. Students will also examine the major debates in the AIDS field and explore different, at times contradictory, perspectives. -
SPH IH 802: Leading Community Health Initiatives: Medicine and Public Health as Partners
This course is designed for medical and public health students who seek the leadership skills needed to develop and implement community health initiatives. Students will work in theory and practice to address the question, “How can we as young physicians and public health professionals work with community partners to lead change for better health?” By the end of the course students will be able to work in teams to apply the Challenge Model to develop and implement a community-based health initiative in the context of and in partnership with a community health center or organization. Students may not take IH802 & MC802 for degree credit. -
SPH IH 803: Antimicrobial Resistance: Facing a Future without Effective Medicines?
The global emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), coupled with a weak “pipeline” of new antimicrobials means there is a frightening possibility that we and our children will live in a world without effective antimicrobial agents. This course introduces students to the ecology, epidemiology,and health policy aspects of resistance to antimicrobial agents against important bacterial and viral infectious agents, providing a framework for considering the important local, national and international scientific and policy questions. Students will critically analyze appropriate research and programmatic approaches that could be effective in addressing this major public health problem. Specific topics include the basic physiology/ecology and evolutionary biology of AMR; mechanisms of resistance in agents of diseases such as TB, HIV, malaria; epidemiology/behavioral and environmental factors promoting and ameliorating resistance and the ecology of resistance/antimicrobials in the food chain. Students will also explore the clinical and economics impacts of AMR and local, national and international health policies for surveillance, prevention and control. -
SPH IH 805: Controversies in Global Control and Eradication of Infectious Diseases
This is an advanced level seminar course taught by two highly experienced public health researchers with special expertise in infectious diseases. It focuses on areas of active controversy regarding past and current eradication/control campaigns. This class will consider the biological, epidemiological, sociological, political, ethical, and programmatic features that allowed the smallpox eradication campaign to succeed. Other diseases that are currently candidates for global eradication campaigns that will be covered in this class include polio, measles, malaria, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and dracunculiasis. Public health policy decisions ultimately rest on basic and clinical scientific research. This course approaches this topic through a series of focused readings drawn from the primary scientific literature. Our goal is to prepare students to better participate in these debates themselves. -
SPH IH 808: Research Proposal Development: A Practical Approach to Team Grant Writing
The main objective of this course is to equip students to develop a research project in a developing country. The scope of the proposal can include baseline data collection for needs assessment, monitoring and evaluation of an existing program, or identification of predictors associated with health or disease outcomes. Students learn practical skills associated with writing a proposal including creating project objectives, sampling methods, calculating sample-size, developing a work plan and budgeting. Students work in teams throughout the semester to develop the proposal. Proposals from this class have successfully competed for funding. -
SPH IH 811: Applied Research Methods in International Health
The objective of this course is to teach student teams how to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data to answer study questions. Student teams will conduct a research study with multiple research methods including a cross-sectional survey and their choice from a variety of qualitative methods. The scope of the research questions addressed will be limited to minimal risk research conducted with students on the Boston University Medical Campus in the space of a semester. Each team will design a questionnaire, administer it, and enter and analyze the data using EpiInfo or other statistical software. In conjunction with the cross-sectional survey, each team will also use some form of qualitative method, such as in-depth interviews or focus group discussions (FGD). The student teams will integrate the results of the cross-sectional survey and the qualitative research and present a report with findings and recommendations to their peers and faculty members. Students completing the course will have the skills to be able to collect and analyze data in a wide variety of settings. -
SPH IH 820: Global Issues in Pharmaceutical Policy and Programming
Pharmaceutical policies are changing rapidly in developing countries. Ensuring access, maintaining quality, and promoting rational drug use are the priorities. This course examines national drug policies, selection issues, medicine pricing and availability, financing, health insurance, donations, and the role of the private sector and approaches to improving drug use. The impact of global treaties and particularly the TRIPS agreement WTO and access to AIDS drugs will be addressed. The course will also examine the role of global and bilateral donor programs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The course will utilize a seminar format and will require substantial reading to prepare for small group discussions and activities. -
SPH IH 854: From Data to Dashboards: Building Excel Skills to Support Health Program Decisions
In these uncertain times, managers need, more than ever, to make sound decisions based on data. Good spreadsheet models are important tools in this process. Build your Excel "toolbox" by learning and applying robust formulas, graphing and dashboarding techniques, and data analysis in a wide range of real-world case study examples, such as cost and utilization analysis, estimation of revenues and expenses, and performance dashboards to monitor and evaluate performance of health interventions. Students will have the opportunity to build their own models to apply to a health service challenge of their choosing. -
SPH IH 870: Managing Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies
The incidence and severity of public health emergencies due to violent armed conflict and natural disasters continues to affect large numbers of people and even larger amounts of property. Complex humanitarian emergencies (CHEs) now affect most regions of the world, and the violent and chaotic nature of CHEs has produced an enormous burden on relief efforts due to population displacement, morbidity, and mortality. This course prepares participants to function effectively in emergency relief situations. Topics covered include causes and consequences of disasters, initial responses, and meeting basic needs such as food, water, healthcare, and shelter. Specific attention will be paid to potential public health problems and interventions. This program also emphasizes critical field management, coordination, logistical skills, project design, and monitoring and evaluation. Methods to phase out emergency relief efforts and manage the transition to longer-term sustainable development are also explored. -
SPH IH 871: Advanced Topics in International Health
This advanced topics courses addresses a variety of topics pertinent to International Health in greater depth. They may or may not be offered in any given semester. See the print or web-based School of Public Health semester schedule for more information pertaining to the advanced topics course for a specific semester. -
SPH IH 880: Confronting non-communicable diseases in the developing world: the burden, costs and health systems challenges
A combination of lower fertility rates and changing environmental factors and lifestyles has led to aging populations and epidemics of tobacco addiction, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, and other chronic ailments, aggravating the persisting burden of infectious diseases in the developing world. This advanced course aims at providing a thorough understanding of the risk factors, epidemiology, burden, and economic consequences of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases and the fundamental policy considerations regarding intervention strategies for their prevention and control in resource constrained settings. This overall goal will be achieved by marrying economic approaches with those of epidemiology, clinical medicine and public health. -
SPH IH 881: Evidence-Based Program Design for Reproductive Health
This course focuses on the evidence underpinning strategies to address major reproductive health RH) problems among adults in developing countries. For each RH problem, we will consider the key factors contributing to possible solutions – e.g., biological, social, epidemiological, health system, political and technological factors. Topics will include: maternal mortality, cervical cancer, family planning, abortion, HIV/AIDS, and infertility. Students will chose a specific topic and evaluate the evidence base, and write a 15-page program recommendation document for a ministry of health, NGO, or international agency. -
SPH IH 885: Global Trade, Intellectual Property and Public Health
On the broadest level, any person interested in international public health, needs to know about globalization and trade. Globalization rewards creative and technically skilled workers and places its largest pressures on lower-skilled workers. A specific example of globalization is that of India and their embrace of new intellectual property (IP) laws. The implementation of these IP and trade rules lies somewhere between outright opposition to reforming global IP rules and an unthinking acceptance that doing so will encourage biomedical innovation and improved health outcomes. The effects of stronger IP standards on health and innovation in medicines and diagnostics are ambiguous and thus need to be subjected to empirical analysis. This course will explore the complex and ambiguous relationship between global trade, intellectual property and its impact on public health. -
SPH IH 887: Planning and Managing Maternal and Child Health Programs in Developing Countries
This course provides a practical framework to enable students to design, manage, and evaluate services for children and women, with an emphasis on child health. The course covers the major health challenges with a focus on children and explores specific interventions to address these challenges. Topics covered include diarrheal disease, acute respiratory infection, immunization, malaria, micronutrient deficiencies, HIV/AIDS, safe motherhood and neonatal health. The final six weeks of the course will give students the opportunity to identify the technical, political, organizational, and environmental factors necessary for a successful program. Students will work in teams to respond to an RFP for improving the health of women, children, or newborns in a developing country. Teams will attend a bidder’s conference and then prepare and present a written and oral proposal to an outside grants committee. Students cannot take both IH744 and IH887 for MPH degree credit.
Note that this information may change at any time.
