Health Sciences

This course seeks to ensure that students are familiar with and competent in a number of discourses or narratives of global health, and that it fosters critical, intellectual curiosity in a range of contemporary global health challenges that are currently being addressed by policy makers, international organizations, and public health specialists. The first half of the course provides students with all the conceptual and theoretical knowledge they will need to be able to explore and, hopefully, critically interrogate the case studies presented to them in the second half of the module. A key focus of the course is the media, both print and social. The media is an important vehicle for the construction and dissemination of global health discourses, and students learn how the media can (and do) frame global health issues in particular ways. This course encourages students to explore contemporary global health challenges from a range of diverse perspectives and disciplines, including cognitive linguistics, media studies, public health, anthropology, political economy, and international relations.

Taiwan has the fastest aging rate in the world. While encountering this important change, relevant health topics become important. This course examines the epidemiologic research and related topics on aging and common disease in the elderly. Students read essential literature in relation to the elderly. The first half of each lecture provides an overview of a specific topic and the latter half of class consists of literature discussion and critique. Students are required to prepare a final report. This course aims to bring topics related to aging and elderly disease to the practice of public health.

Thiscourse that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program in Health Economics and Management. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on how health services research can be used to support health care policymakers in shaping how health care is delivered and paid for, and to improve clinical practice through innovation. The course familiarizes students with the set of tools used to conduct Health Services Research and, through the use of case studies, underscores the need for an interdisciplinary approach to be able to identify the pros and cons of existing and new financial and organizational mechanisms. Specific topics may vary but include the organization of primary and managed care under the paradigm of patient centered healthcare systems, the issue of appropriateness in clinical practice, and the role of hospitals and medical research in evolving healthcare systems. Students analyze current and new models in healthcare financing and delivery and their implications for access, cost, and quality of care; model the links between organizational settings and economic and health outcomes; and apply different evaluation methods to systematically evaluate innovations in health programs and policies. Specific topics include: long term sustainability of health care systems, population health management, the organization of primary and intermediate care, the role of clinical governance tools, and the development of hospital networks. The course includes video materials presented in class. The course is based on traditional lectures and in class discussions. Assessment is based on a final oral exam during which the student can discuss a presentation on one of the themes dealt with during the course. Those who do not choose to give the presentation must take a written test to assess their ability to critically evaluate the themes of the course. In the written test, students are given outlines to develop two short essays in two hours. Students can choose the approach that is best given their experience and background. Students are expected to address the proposed themes with rigor and appropriateness and to keep in mind the interdisciplinary nature of the issues at stake.

The course explores the basic concepts of global health, trends and indicators, determinants, and interventions to improve health. The world has moved from the era of International Health to Global Health with the understanding that the matters regarding health is inseparable in accordance to the national boundaries. Global Health refers to the idea of approaching health issues together as a global citizen and this brings efforts from various actors including state governments, international organizations, private foundations and non-governmental organizations to more. Recently, more non-health related actors are increasingly getting involved with the issues of global health with the rise of new infectious disease in addition to accelerating burden of non-communicable diseases. Today, the issues of Health is reaching major areas that used to be dealt in the realms that were considered irrelevant to health including economy, politics, and international relations. 

This course introduces the fundamental principles behind methods in pharmaceutical modeling and provides hands-on experience with methods used in academia and industry. It focuses on mathematical models and computer programming for a quantitative understanding of diverse pharmaceutically relevant problems. This includes models at different scales, both for molecular and particle level properties, interactions between molecules and particles, and their interactions with the organism. The course uses practical examples to provide the theory behind methods used for pharmaceutical modeling and simulation of system behavior. It begins with a introduction and refresher of fundamental mathematical tools, then applies and modifies computer scripts that model the pharmaceutical systems, and discusses these models in relation to the literature.

The first part of this course focuses on the self, identity, health, and society. Core concepts within interdisciplinary approaches to health identities are explored, including biographical disruption, stigma, disability, and the self. Next, the course looks at experiences of health, illness, and impairment in society. A series of three case studies is presented in which staff from across the school (Clinical Psychology, Nursing Studies, Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Applied Social Sciences) offer accounts of their experiences working with people living with key health issues (e.g. chronic illness, dementia, or depression). Finally, the course studies organizational and societal responses. It outlines contemporary responses to the perceived challenges of providing health and social care in a globalized and growing population. Issues covered include patients as partners, empowerment, and person-centered care.

This course deals with the philosophical issues surrounding abortion, euthanasia and organ transplants. Through investigating the moral and ethical grounds on which decisions are made, students objectively and critically examine ethical problems.