SCHOOL OF 2012-2013 - St. George's University

School of Medicine
Course Descriptions
literature, and computer applications are used to familiarize
students with public research methods in public health.
PUBH 835
Practical Data Management and Analysis
In this course, students will learn the concepts and practice
of sound data management, data editing, and cleaning, as
well as plan and conduct an analysis of actual public health
data. Students will use Epi Info to create data entry screens
and edits, enter and clean data they have collected, and
analyze data from a large cross-sectional survey, in addition
to an analytic epidemiologic cohort or case-control study.
The knowledge and skills acquired in this course will be
useful for anyone whose future plans include epidemiology,
biostatistics, or medical or veterinary research.
PUBH 837
Environmental Sustainable Development
Principle I of the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development (1992) states, “Human beings are at the
center of concerns for sustainable development. They are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with
nature.” The objectives of this course are to introduce
students to the definition and concepts of sustainable
development, and to explore the cross-cutting relationship
between health and sustainable development. The areas
of focus include energy for sustainable development,
atmospheric pollution and climate change, integrated
water resources management, integrated solid waste
management, health and sustainable development,
disaster reduction and management, biodiversity, trade
and environment, sustainable consumption and production,
sustainable tourism, agriculture, transport, human
settlements, international law, industrial development,
poverty, and national sustainable development strategies.
PUBH 841
Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology
The main goal of this course is to provide an introduction
to environmental and occupational epidemiology and
basic concepts, methodology, and practical usage in public
health. This course describes epidemiological methods
that are utilized to study risk factors in occupational and
environmental health. Students will critically analyze
epidemiological studies in occupational and environmental
health settings. Students will gain knowledge and skills to
evaluate environmental and occupational health problems
by using epidemiologic methodology.
PUBH 842
Intermediate Epidemiology
In this course, students will be exposed to a more in-depth
look at basic study designs, including the measures of
disease occurrence, measure of effect, and the concept
of validity and methods to deal with threats to validity, as
well as defining and assessing heterogeneity. This course
will also expose students to the most common analytic
methods used by epidemiologists.
PUBH 843
Infectious Diseases Epidemiology
During the first half of this course, students are introduced
to basic epidemiological concepts and methods, which
form part of the standard armament of all epidemiologic
activity. This includes the most common measures of
disease frequency, measures of effect, basic study designs,
concepts of validity, and basic statistical concepts. In the
second part of the course, emphasis is placed on how
these basic tools are applied in the disease dependence
context typical of infectious disease epidemiology. In
this part of the course, students will look at models for
epidemics, outbreak investigation and analysis, surveillance,
measurement of infectivity, contact patterns, and the
epidemiology of vaccination. During this part of the course,
an effort will be made to demonstrate the application
of these methods in the context of important infectious
diseases of human, animal, and zoonotic origin.
PUBH 844
Decision Making for Public Health Policy
This course is all about “doing the right things right.” It
gives an overview of different techniques for decision
making in health policy and management. Decision
making is an essential part of working as a public health
professional; it forms the critical link between theory and
practice, and thus assures implementation of the right
interventions with the maximum impact on the well-being
of the population or groups of patients.
PUBH 847
Water Resources Management
This course is designed to build upon the knowledge
gained in Introduction to Environmental Health (PUBH
807). Students will gain a basic understanding of watershed
hydrology and water supply as well as the physical and
social causes and public health significance of water
stress and water scarcity. Additionally, students will be
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