Health Sciences

This course considers research and theories in nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral psychology. This course examines selected aspects of child health relating to nutrition, activity, and behavioral aspects in the lives of children. Sessions examine the development of unhealthy eating behaviors in children and describe biological, behavioral, and environmental factors of nutrition and activity with special attention to community and cultural contexts. A range of issues in selected areas of contemporary health policy are explored; including childhood obesity prevention through improved nutrition, avenues to the development of high diet quality, increasing physical activity in schools, and understanding intake and activity behaviors.

The course provides an introduction to e-health by introducing basic concepts and describe how added value can be created in health care processes by the use of e-health systems. The course also provides knowledge about process analysis and information security in health care as well as an overview of current e-health research.

This course encourages students to consider if, when, and how ethical considerations can or must play a role in the practice of the medical profession. Students are schooled in philosophical techniques that form the basis of sound ethical reasoning, become aware that the health sciences do not operate in a moral or philosophical vacuum, and that a good knowledge of both the older and recent ethical and philosophical debates is of the greatest significance. There are philosophical lectures, ethical discussions, and the study of practical cases that reflect the most important problems and topics that make up the moral and philosophical challenges of the medical discipline of today. Topics addressed include euthanasia, embryo research, HIV and Aids, imperiled newborns, gene therapy and cloning, involuntary psychiatric treatment, and allocation of limited medical resources.

The course takes a multi-disciplinary approach to examining theory and conceptual frameworks in public health, epidemiology, and health care administration. Students gain an understanding of major social, behavioral, cultural, environmental, ethical, and regulatory factors that affect the health of local and global populations. Students shadow healthcare service providers in government-sponsored clinics as well as other public health-focused non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to gain a better understanding of current health problems and hazards in Botswana. Students spend a week in rural Botswana observing in clinics for purposes of investigation, observation, and community education and to understand the difference between the health care delivery systems in urban and rural Botswana. Through observation and discussions with local healthcare professionals, a better understanding of current health problems and hazards in Botswana is developed. A final project is based in part upon the two field experiences.

This hybrid course combines the fields of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Global Public Health to look into infectious diseases that have caused pandemics in the past decades. The topics discussed in Infectious Disease Epidemiology include history, basic epidemiological concepts and terminology, descriptive epidemiology, the epidemiologic triad model, and vaccine efficacy and effectiveness. Global Public Health topics include social and political determinants of health, public health policies, laws and ethics, international cooperation in health emergencies, and also the One Health concept. The hybrid nature of the course is realized through three viruses that have caused major zoonotic/infectious disease outbreaks, which are retroviruses (i.e., HIV/AIDS), influenza viruses (i.e., H5N1, H1N1, H7N9), and coronaviruses (i.e., SARS, MERS, COVID-19). The global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is explored in the third part of the course. Factors affecting antibiotic use, both on macro and micro levels, are discussed and analyzed. The course ends by highlighting the “One Health” concept (i.e., human-animal-environment interfaces) in responding to zoonotic diseases and AMR threats, both now and in the future.

Students are placed in local community and non-governmental organizations to observe first-hand the diverse causes of disease including social, economic and environmental aspects. Regular hours in service to these organizations are supplemented by weekly lectures from medical doctors and other professionals involved in the ongoing work of Child Family Health International (CFHI).

This course introduces the entire biostatistical data analysis workflow in public health, from data management to data analysis and the interpretation of results, translating data into reliable and consumable information for knowledge discovery in public health. Particular emphasis is placed on the application of regression models in public health without the mathematical details and the proficiency in using statistical software to perform data analysis, integrating biostatistics, computer applications and public health for improving the health of mankind.