EPID Course Descriptions
EPID 511 R.
Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH
Industrial Hygiene: Hazard Identification and Evaluation
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Basic concepts include identification
and evaluation of toxic substances and physical agents in the workplace and
in the environment, health effects of chemicals, epidemiology, toxicology,
biological monitoring, dermatosis, air sampling and regulatory aspects.
Fall
semester
EPID
512 R. Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH
Industrial Hygiene: Methods of Hazard Control
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Describes methods
of control of occupational and environmental hazards including
engineering controls, work practices, administrative controls,
personal protective equipment, respiratory protection through
the use of respirators and ventilation systems. Ergonomic hazards,
noise, hot and cold environments, and radiation also will be
addressed.
Fall semester
EPID
521 R. Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH
Regulation of Toxic Substances
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course
introduces the student to the administrative law and policy
issues. This course examines the Clean Water Act, Clean
Air Act, Resources Conservation & Recovery (RCRA), Federal Facility Compliance
Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability
Act (CERCLA-Superfund), Toxic Torts; Real Estate Issues; Recovery
of Money Damages; Criminal Law, Occupational & Mine Safety & Health
Acts (OSHA/MSHA), Workman's Compensation; Occupational Disease;
Victim Compensation, Safe Drinking Water Act; Pollution Prevention
Act, Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, RCRA & Superfund Regulations & Case
Law; State Hazwaste/Superfund Programs, Federal Insecticide,
Fungicide, & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA); Lead Based Paint Poisoning
Prevention Act, Radiation Law & Regulation; Transportation,
Marine Sanctuaries Act; International Environmental Law.
Spring
semester
EPID 533 Staff
Contemporary Issues in Addiction Prevention and Treatment
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course
is required for students in the Addiction Studies track of the
MPH Program. It will cover important contemporary issues regarding
substance addiction, including such items as current theories
of prevention interventions, the economics, of addiction treatment,
addiction in adolescents, and evidence-based practices for prevention
and treatment. Students will hear from a variety of professionals
working in the addiction field.
Spring semester
EPID 541 Mohammad
A. Karim, PhD
Principles of Waste Management
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Design and operation
of waste treatment, storage, disposal and control processes
will be covered. Design tanks, landfills, and incinerators will
be discussed in detail. Data acquisition and interpretation
methods needed for process control and monitoring will be examined.
Spring semester
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EPID 555 James Cisek, MD,
MPH
Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness
Semester course; 2 lecture hours. 2 credits. This graduate-level
course examines public health, legal, medical and surgical issues
related to terrorism examining biological, chemical and radiation
agents and the prevention and response efforts of local, state
and federal systems and agencies. Understanding of medical terminology
or knowledge in public health field preferred.
Summer semester
EPID 560 River
Pugsley, MPH
Fundamentals of Data Collection,
Management and Analysis
Semester course, 3 lecture hours, 3 credits. This is
a course for students/ professionals in public health, nurses
and physicians who are interested in conducting population-based
public health research. Complementary with EPID 571 and BIOS
543. This course will focus on principles and application issues
related with data collection, sampling strategies, data management
and data analysis based on various public health study designs.
This course will also introduce students to the major statistical
analysis programs: SAS. Using existing dataset, students will
be able to form the research questions, manipulate the dataset,
conduct the analysis, interpret and present results to address
practical public health issues.
Fall semester
EPID
571 Saba Masho, MD, MPH, DrPH
Principles of Epidemiology
Semester course; 3 lecture. 3 credits. Prerequisite: BIOS 543.
The course offers the theoretical foundations, concepts and
principles of epidemiological research methods utilized to examine
the distribution and determinants of diseases or other health
problems. It entails the understanding of measures of disease
frequency and association, descriptive and analytic studies,
community surveys, sampling, bias, confounding, surveillance,
outbreak investigation, screening and research proposal writing.
Furthermore, the course provides basic foundations for data
analysis and its translation into health care planning, management
and policy formulation.
Fall semester.
EPID 583 R. Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH
Industrial Ventilation
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Principles of design
and evaluation of local exhaust systems. Principles of airflow,
characteristics of pressure losses, and selection of air cleaners
and air moving.
EPID
600 C.M.G. Buttery, MD, MPH
EPID 600 On-Line (summer
only)
Link for International
Students - American Public Health Systems
Introduction to Public Health
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Describes the public
health system in the United States. Explores the disease prevention
and philosophy and foundations of public health management,
economics, law, ethics and education. Examines the use of
epidemiology and statistics to determine personal, environmental,
and occupational health problems.
Fall semester (classroom)
Summer semester (Click here
to open the on-line syllabus)
EPID
602 C.M.G. Buttery, MD, MPH
Public Health Organization and Management
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course addresses
management and organizational issues in regards to public health
agencies. Students will learn about the different models for
structuring public health agencies, personnel management issues,
evidence-based public health program planning, financing and
budgeting issues.
Fall semester (Click here to open the on-line syllabus)
EPID 603 Jack
O. Lanier, DrPH, MHA, FACHE
Public Health Policy and Politics
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Provides an understanding
of the public health policy development process, the influence
of politics and special interest groups on this process, and
current governmental policies for the provision of major public
health services. The legislative process is a major focus of
the course.
Spring semester
EPID
604 R. Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH
Principles of Occupational and Environmental Health
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Basic principles
of occupational and environmental health are presented, with
emphasis on biological, chemical, and physical factors that
influence human health. Current workplace and public health
safety and regulatory issues are emphasized.
Fall semester
EPID 605 James
May, MD
Epidemiology of Health Behaviors
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: BIOS
543 and EPID 571. Provides an overview of the epidemiology of
specific health-related behaviors, the relationships between
these behaviors and health outcomes, and available evidence
for the effectiveness and appropriateness of various approaches
to modification of these behaviors. This material will be covered
in the contexts of theories of health-related behavior and of
methodological issues concerning the assessment of these behaviors
and their relationships to outcomes of interest. The applicability
of this material to underserved populations will be emphasized.
The course format, as far as possible, will be that of an interactive
seminar.
Spring semester
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EPID 606 Tilahun Adera, MPH,
PhD
Epidemiologic Methods
Semester course; 3 lectures. 3 credits. Prerequisites: BIOS 543
and EPID 571. This course focuses on examining the design, conduct
and analysis of major epidemiologic studies and the methods
to deal with the problems of bias, confounding, and effect modification;
using multivariate modeling techniques focusing on applications
of logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models to
answer relevant research questions; solving meta-analytic problems
using fixed and random effects models; understanding specific
research areas of disease screening and exposure assessment;
writing a research paper based on literature review and data
analyses of a large data set demonstrating application of essential
epidemiologic and biostatistical principles.
Spring semester
EPID
607 Staff
[Methods of] Nutritional Epidemiology
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course focuses
on methods of measuring exposures to dietary factors for epidemiological
investigations of diet-disease relationships and risk assessment.
An introductory course in basic epidemiology is a prerequisite.
Students learn to select the most appropriate method(s) of collecting
and analyzing food intake and to evaluate the adequacy of dietary
assessment methods used in published epidemiological studies.
Spring semester
EPID 608 Charles O’Keeffe,
MBA
Politics and Policy Planning for Addiction
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course is designed
to provide students of differing backgrounds with an understanding
of the process by which national addiction health policy is
formed and reformed using controlled pharmaceutical products
development examples. The course will examine competing interests
of the three branches of government as that policy is formed
and the interplay of those interests during the process.
Spring semester
EPID 610 Staff
Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: BIOS
543 and EPID 571. This course is designed to provide students
with an overview of the principles, methods and content of environmental
and occupational epidemiology with a focus on designing, conducting,
and interpreting studies on the effects of chemical and physical
agents. Students will critique published occupational and environmental
epidemiology studies, learn how to evaluate the potential for
cause-effect relationships, and become familiar with the role
of epidemiology in human health risk assessment. Each session
will include a seminar component where exercises are completed
and/or published papers will be critiqued and discussed.
EPID 615 Jill
Rowe, PhD, MPH
Public Health Issues and Interventions in Communities
of Color
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course is an overview of
many critical psychological, social, cultural, demographic, biological, and
other factors that influence lifestyle and disease susceptibility among minority
status ethnic groups and other medically underserved populations in the United
States. A lecture/discussion seminar format will be used, along with readings,
student presentations and guest lecturers working in the field, to: (1) improve
the students' understanding of the underpinnings of health status differences
across communities; and (2) provide students with tools that can be used in
developing effective interventions to address the misdistribution of health
risk behavior and disease burden.
Fall semester
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EPID 616 Norma
Geddes, RN, PhD
Public Health Education
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Provides the student
with an examination of theory and practice of public health
education. This examination represents an overview of selected
topics that are congruent to the Responsibilities and Competencies
for Entry-Level Health Educators. Specifically, course content
will be centered around assessing individual and community needs
for health education programs, coordinating provision of health
education services, acting as a resource person in health education,
and communicating health and health education needs, concerns,
and resources.
Spring semester
EPID 617 John McGurl, MD
International Health
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. The overall objective
of the MPH course in International Health is to draw on the
knowledge, skills, and experiences from a variety of disciplines
to define, critically assess, and identify global health issues
to target for prevention efforts. Students who take this course
will be exposed to international health professionals who will
share information relative to the broad arena of worldwide health
issues.
Fall semester
EPID 618 Rene
S. Cabral-Daniels, JD, MPH *Summer Semester
EPID 618 R.
Leonard Vance, PhD, JD, CIH *Every other Spring semester
Public Health Law
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Provides the student
with the structure of the legal system and statutes and regulations
governing state and local health departments. This course examines
the federal public health laws, medical malpractice, privacy
and confidentiality issues, mental health laws, abortion and
sterilization, patients rights, emergency medical care law,
human experimentation, rights of the terminally ill, AIDS law,
occupational and environmental health law, and health planning
and reimbursement law.
Summer semester
EPID 619 Staff
Intentional Injury
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Examines the number,
distribution, and impact of intentional injuries in the United
States, as well as some of the crucial psychological, social,
cultural, demographic, economic, biological, and other factors
associated with their cause, control, and prevention. Through
lectures and dialogue, expert panels, student presentations,
reading, and other assignments, students are expected to become
acquainted with theory and research findings from the behavioral
sciences, behavioral epidemiology, public health, and other
sources that are likely to contribute to: (1) a greater comprehension
of the magnitude and complexities of violence and intentional
injuries in American life and (2) advancements in our capacity
to successfully confront this epidemic with public health
and related measures.
EPID 620 Resa M. Jones, PhD, MPH
Cancer Epidemiology
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite:
EPID 571. Covers general principles of carcinogenesis and the
genetics of cancer; domestic and international patterns in cancer
incidence and mortality; cancer surveillance and screening,
and their relation to cancer prevention; epidemiologic characteristics
and risk factors for cancers to the lung, breast, prostate,
gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, bladder, endometrium, ovary,
cervix and skin, as well as cancer in children and young adults;
and the public health implications of cancer. Additional focus
on critical evaluation of different methodological approaches
used in cancer research and potential biases inherent given
study designs.
Spring semester
EPID 621 John Marr, MD, MPH, FACP
Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: EPID
571. This course will discuss the origins of epidemiology and
how epidemiology methods are continually applied to the study
of communicable diseases. Several infectious diseases will be
studied in depth to show the progression toward characterization
of the natural history of the diseases and how policies regarding
prevention have been defined. Smallpox, HIV/AIDS, the hepatitis
family of agents and a vector-borne disease will be studied.
In addition, the topic of antibiotic resistance will be covered
in depth. How the epidemiology of an infectious agent relates
to bioterrorism also will be discussed.
Summer semester
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EPID 622 Derek Chapman, MS, PhD
Maternal and Child Health
Semester course, 3 lecture hours, 3 credits. Prerequisite EPID
571. This course will expose students to current issues in maternal
and child health (MCH). Students will learn about key MCH topics
including family planning, low birth weight, infant mortality,
birth defects, injury prevention, and international MCH issues.
Students will be able to describe how epidemiology methods are
used to determine risk and protective factors for women and
children and describe how these data guide public health policy
and program planning efforts.
Fall semester
EPID 625 Hongjie Liu, PhD
Epidemiology III - Advanced Methods and Data Analysis
Semester course; 2 lecture and 1 laboratory hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites:
EPID 606 and BIOS 554 or equivalent. Focuses on development of analytical strategies
for data analysis guided by epidemiologic principles. Specific statistical modeling
will be tailored for analysis of data from cross-sectional, case-control and
cohort studies with emphasis on causal inference, prediction, controlling for
confounding and assessment of interaction and intermediate effects. Course topics
include logistic regression, Poisson regression, Cox proportional hazards model,
propensity score method, generalized estimating equations and path analysis
technique.
EPID 630 Staff
Public Health Issues and Approaches to Addictions
5-week intensive online course; 4 lecture hours. 4 credits. Open
only to students in the international program in addiction studies (Master of
Addiction Studies). Provides
an introduction to basic concepts and research methods in public health and
epidemiology as they relate to the study of addictions, as well as an in-depth
consideration of the personal, social, economic and cultural burdens/costs associated
with drug and alcohol abuse and dependence. Individual and community-based risk
and protective factors related to addictions, as well as primary and secondary
prevention efforts aimed at reducing the addictions-related public health burden
also are a focus. An online lecture format featuring presentations by leading
researchers and policy-makers in the field of addictions will be used, along
with readings, online discussions and writing assignments, to (1) gain a greater
understanding of the enormous costs of addictions at every level of society
and (2) introduce students to some of the current thinking and programs related
to the primary and secondary prevention of addictions.
EPID 631 Staff
Addiction Policy
5-week intensive online course; 4 lecture hours. 4 credits. Open
only to students in the international addiction studies program (Master of Addiction
Studies). Designed
to provide students of differing backgrounds an understanding of the process
by which international addiction health policy is formed and reformed around
the use and misuse of both licit and illicit drugs. The course will look at
the epidemiology of addiction around the world and the relationship between
the burden of addiction and the corresponding effects of national and international
drug policies.
EPID 642 Staff
Advanced Epidemiological Protocol Design
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: EPID
571, EPID 606, BIOS 553 and BIOS 554 Develops skills needed
to design and describe in written format a valid and appropriate
epidemiology study to address specific hypotheses. Hypotheses
and possible design methods will be discussed in class and subsequently
students will present (both orally and in written form) a research
design to include a critical review of the literature and hypotheses
to be tested. The proposal must address sample size and power,
exposure definition, methods for accurate exposure assessment,
prevention of measurement errors, and statistical methods proposed
for analysis. Doctoral students only.
Spring semester
EPID 690 Hongjie Liu, PhD
Journal Club
Semester course; 1 lecture hour. 1 credit. Talks given by students
and faculty describing and critiquing recent published research
or review articles. Graded as "S," "U" or "F."
Doctoral students
only.
Spring and fall semester
EPID 691 Dr.
Gonzalo Bearman
Contemporary Issues and Controversies in Public Health
Semester course; 3 credits. On-line course through Blackboard - Spring Semester
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EPID 691 Cornelia Ramsey, PhD, MSPH
Special Topics: Community-based Planning & Evaluation
This course explores best practice models of health promotion/disease prevention design, implementation and evaluation including the Precede-Proceed model. Emphasis will be placed on the development of community health promotion programs and working with multidiciplinary teams for optimal impact. Course will also explore the FORECAST formative evaluation model.
EPID
691 Paula Inserra, PhD, RD
Special Topics: Principles of Human Nutrition
Semester course, 3 lecture hours, 3 credits. This is
a graduate level course designed to provide students with an introduction
to the basic principles of nutrition science. It is recommended
for graduate students who have not had prior nutrition courses.
Subjects include: an introduction to the basic nutrients with
special emphasis on their food sources, and functions, and metabolism
in the human body. Other topics include food selection and diet
planning for optimal health, dietary assessment, evaluation of
nutritional information, and the relationship between diet and
health. Additional topics may be covered according to student
interests.
Summer semester
EPID 691 John
Marr, MD, MPH, FACP
Special Topics: History of Public Health
Semester course, 1 lecture hour, 1 credit. Sessions will
discuss the origins of medical practices and the evolution of
scientific thinking that eventually transformed itself in what
today we know as public health. Beginning with primitive practices
and paleo-medicine and ancient Old World cultures and civilizations,
the students will become acquainted with the major influences
and individuals who set the stage for the advent of public health
practices in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Fall semester
EPID 692 Staff
Independent Study
Semester course; research 1-6 variable credits. This course provides the opportunity
for students to explore a special topic of interest under the direction of a
faculty member. A proposal must be submitted for this approval and credits are
assigned commensurate with the complexity of the project. Arrangements are made
directly with the appropriate faculty member and department chair.
EPID 693 Lisa Anderson, MPH
Public Health Internship
Semester course; internship, 1-6 credits. Students will spend 180
hours in a planned, supervised experience with a community agency. Such agencies
might include a local or state health department or other public health agency.
Arrangements are made directly with the faculty adviser. Graded as "S," "U" or "F."
EPID 694 Staff
MPH Program Research Project
Semester course; 9 clinical hours. 1-6 credits. Each student will complete a
research project that demonstrates the application of the knowledge acquired
in the MPH Program. The student will answer one or more relevant research questions.
The final product is a scholarly written report of publishable quality. A proposal
must be submitted for approval and credits are assigned commensurate with the
complexity of the project. Arrangements are made directly with the faculty adviser.
Graded as "S," "U" or "F."
Offered every semester
EPID 697 Staff
Directed Research in Epidemiology
Semester course; 1-15 credits. Research leading to the PhD degree. Graded
as "S," "U" or "F." Doctoral
students only.
* For all non-EPID course descriptions, see the Graduate and
Professional Programs Bulletins at: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/faculty/gpbulletin/
