Public Health 105: Intro to US Health Care

This course provides students with an overview of the US health care system. We will discuss the development of the US health system, how it is currently organized and the challenges faced in California and in the greater US. We describe how the major providers and funders of health care work together, where problems or gaps arise, how previous attempts to improve coverage and access to health care have worked, and how the new health care reforms are likely to change the way health care is delivered and financed.

Public Health 106: Health Policy

The course is designed to provide undergraduate students with an overview of health policy and related policymaking processes in the United States (U.S.). Students will learn about a range of local, state, and federal policies to improve population health outcomes, including health care policies (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) and public health policies to promote health, prevent disease, and address health disparities. The course employs an interdisciplinary approach to describe the federal and state health policy process and explores political, social, and economic determinants that shape the U.S. health care system and health policies, such as underlying values, stakeholders, and political institutions. The course also integrates health policy research to better understand past and present-day dilemmas.

Public Health 203: Research Methods in Public Health

The primary goal of the course is to build a solid understanding of the logic of social science applied to public health.  As the first research methods course, it is intended to prepare students for future work in methodology. This course emphasizes a mixed methods, team science approach to public health research. More than one-third of class time will be spent concentrating on the process of defining research problems, the logic of research design, and other underlying research issues. The remainder of the course will examine a limited number of techniques – for measurement, for design and sampling, and for analysis of data. No prior statistical background is assumed. Much of the course’s themes is examined through the lens of a recent prominent social science study: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Opportunity study.

Public Health 216: Health Policy Research Seminar

The objective of this graduate seminar is to examine key health policy research topics and methods used in the field. The course is designed to provide students with an overview of health policy issues and research in the field while simultaneously developing rigorous critical analysis and research skills. Students will learn about a range of local, state, and federal policies in the United States (U.S.) to improve population health outcomes, including health care policies (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) and public health policies to promote health. They will also learn about the health policymaking process. Research articles in leading peer-reviewed journals in the fields of health policy, public health, health services research, economics, and political science will be emphasized.