Certificate Courses in Health Science

Certificate in Public Health and Health Services

The Public Health and Health Services Certificate Program provides students with an exploration and understanding of community and public health systems and issues.

 

Health Science 1: Health Education and Behavior

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: C_HS 2711

 

Health Science 2: Preventive Medicine & Social Determinants of Health

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: C_HS 2712

 

Health Systems and Structures

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: C_HS 3810

 

Community Health

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: ¬C_HS 3814

 

Certificate in Human Biology

The certificate in Human Biology enables students to gain a comprehensive understanding of human biology.

Biology 1 for Health Studies Majors

This course introduces main concepts in biology that are common to most living organisms. It covers topics in biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics, which illustrate how molecules are organized into cells. Cells constitute the basic unit of life, and genes are central to information flow within and between cells. In addition, this course makes use of assignments to introduce experimental methods and research data repositories. Through these activities, students learn how to approach a complex problem and find information relevant to a specific question or method. This course is designed both as a prerequisite to the study of biology at the organism or population level and as a general introduction to how biological knowledge is being produced.

Course Code: C_BIOL 1121

 

Biology 2 for Health Studies Majors

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: C_BIOL 1122

 

Human Anatomy & Physiology

This course serves as an introduction to the global structure and function of the human body, as well as its systems and physiological processes that supports the functioning of the systems. Topics to be addressed include musculoskeletal, nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory organ systems. The class will introduce students to the concept of connecting form to function and to evolutionary history. Students will gain a primary understanding of anatomical and physiological terminology; cell and tissue types; and basic biochemistry as it relates to human organ differentiation. Students will also learn how to search and find the most up to date and freely accessible research in the field of physiology/anatomy. They will be introduced to the basic study designs employed in physiological/anatomical and medical research.

Course Code: C_HS 2211

 

Nutrition

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: C_HS 2611

 

Certificate in Epidemiology

The Certificate in Epidemiology provides the student with a scientific foundation to describe and study issues related to the risk of disease and to organize and maintain data.

 

Epidemiology

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: C_HS 3311

 

Biostatistics

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.

Course Code: C_HS 4510

 

Biology 1

This course introduces main concepts in biology that are common to most living organisms. It covers topics in biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics, which illustrate how molecules are organized into cells. Cells constitute the basic unit of life, and genes are central to information flow within and between cells. In addition, this course makes use of assignments to introduce experimental methods and research data repositories. Through these activities, students learn how to approach a complex problem and find information relevant to a specific question or method. This course is designed both as a prerequisite to the study of biology at the organism or population level and as a general introduction to how biological knowledge is being produced.

Course Code: C_BIOL 1121

 

Human Diseases

This course examines current understanding of human health and disease. Students will 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: C_HS 3210

 

Certificate in Behavioral Health

The Certificate in Behavioral Health provides students with an understanding of how social, cultural, psychological, and biological factors contribute to health and behavior.

 

Human Development in a Global Perspective

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. Special emphasis on cross-cultural differences in human development are explored throughout the course.

Course Code: C_HS 3610

 

Psychopathology and Mental Health

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: C_HS 4241

 

Biology 1

This course introduces main concepts in biology that are common to most living organisms. It covers topics in biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics, which illustrate how molecules are organized into cells. Cells constitute the basic unit of life, and genes are central to information flow within and between cells. In addition, this course makes use of assignments to introduce experimental methods and research data repositories. Through these activities, students learn how to approach a complex problem and find information relevant to a specific question or method. This course is designed both as a prerequisite to the study of biology at the organism or population level and as a general introduction to how biological knowledge is being produced.

Course Code: C_BIOL 1121

 

Community Health

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: ¬C_HS 3814