The top 20 Public Health courses you need to take

1. Biostatistics in Public Health

This specialization is intended for public health and healthcare professionals, researchers, data analysts, social workers, and others who need a comprehensive concepts-centric biostatistics primer. Those who complete the specialization will be able to read and respond to the scientific literature, including the Methods and Results sections, in public health, medicine, biological science, and related fields. Successful learners will also be prepared to participate as part of a research team...

2. Epidemiology for Public Health

Thousands of new epidemiological studies are conducted every year and their results can have a profound impact on how we live our lives. Decisions regarding the food you eat, how much you exercise, where you live and what treatment you will follow if you get sick are made based on data from such studies. This specialization aims to equip you with the skills that will allow you to correctly interpret epidemiological research, consider its limitations, and design your own studies.\n\nThe first course of the specialisation, Measuring Disease in Epidemiology, looks into the main measures used in epidemiology and how these can inform decisions around public health policy, screening and prevention.\n\nThe second course, Study Designs in Epidemiology, provides an overview of the most common study designs, their strengths and limitations.\n\nThe third course, Validity and Bias in Epidemiology, builds on the fundamental concepts taught in the previous courses to discuss bias and confounding and how they might affect study results. It also provides the essential skills to prevent and control bias and confounding and critically think about causality.\n\nAt the end of this specialization you will have gained the essential skills to design and critique epidemiological research and you will be able to pursue more advanced courses in epidemiology. Although this specialization is part of the GMPH programme, it can be taken independently of the GMPH...

3. Breastfeeding: Public Health Perspectives

Engaging in this course will provide you with the opportunity to think about breastfeeding and its public health implications. The Socio-Ecological Model will be the framework of the course as we think about how each level of the Model (individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and public policy) impacts breastfeeding practices in the United States, and globally. Through short video lectures you will be introduced to relevant topics related to the public health perspectives of breastfeeding such as the maternal and child short- and long-term health benefits, economic and environmental impacts, the state of health profession curricula surrounding breastfeeding education, and breastfeeding practices of the LGBTQ+ community. You will apply this knowledge to critique breastfeeding literature, create a breastfeeding budget for a particular breastfeeding parent persona, and design an education material to promote breastfeeding. As you complete this course, you should feel confident in identifying the barriers to successful breastfeeding practices and understand how adequate breastfeeding will impact population health...

4. Epidemiology in Public Health Practice

This specialization is intended for people working or aspiring to work in the field of public health at the local, regional, and national level. Over five courses taught by faculty from the preeminent school of public health, you'll learn to use the core epidemiologic toolset to measure the health of populations, assess interventions, collect and analyze data, and investigate outbreaks and epidemics...

5. Foundations of Public Health Practice

This specialisation will enable you to reflect on and cultivate the behaviours you require to become an effective public health professional –whether as an academic, practitioner, clinician, manager or leader.The specialisation is shaped into four courses covering the origins of public health, health improvement, behaviour change, and health protection. The specialisation will draw upon learning from the Statistics for Public Health and Epidemiology for Public Health specialisations, and builds the foundations of public health knowledge.\n\nBy the end of this specialisation, you will be able to:\n\n1. Use the principles which underpin public health as a discipline in order to articulate public health objectives;\n\n2. Critically analyse public health challenges using data and health intelligence in order to characterise need and prioritise actions for key stakeholders\n\n3. Devise effective interventions using behaviour change theory and other public health approaches in order to improve population health outcomes;\n\n4. Assess both operational and strategic health protection threats in order to recommend appropriate management actions to relevant parties;\n\n5. Reflect upon one's own professional skills, attitudes, and behaviours in order to improve leadership capability and personal effectiveness in public healthpractice;\n\n6. Apply appropriate health protection, health improvement and disease prevention interventions in order to improve public health programmes...

6. Leadership for Public Health Crises

Leadership for Public Health Crises will enable current and prospective managers, directors, unit heads, and elected officials to effectively lead their organizational response to profound health-related emergencies and to build leadership capacity across multiple sectors, agencies, organizations, and divisions. This series of courses prepares graduate students (in, e.g., public administration, public health, social work, business, homeland security, education, and related fields) and practitioners in a range of roles in this broader arena who seek to attain or advance in leadership roles. The courses focus on foundational competencies required to confidently and competently lead in preparation for and response to far-reaching health-related crises, including communication, cross-agency collaboration, organizational contingency planning, and data analysis, especially as these relate to civilian sectors. To learn more about the Leadership for Public Health Crises specialization, please watch the overview video by copying and pasting the following link into your web browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHhzlgdHIxU...

7. Participatory Approaches in Public Health

This specialisation guides learners through the process of designing an appropriate participatory approach to a given public health challenge, focusing on the history, theory and practice of participatory approaches to public health. You'll gain an understanding of the impact of social and cultural contexts in which public health programmes exist, as well as, why participatory approaches could better assist in meeting the population’s needs and solving certain health-related challenges...

8. Systems Thinking In Public Health

This course provides an introduction to systems thinking and systems models in public health. Problems in public health and health policy tend to be complex with many actors, institutions and risk factors involved. If an outcome depends on many interacting and adaptive parts and actors the outcome cannot be analyzed or predicted with traditional statistical methods. Systems thinking is a core skill in public health and helps health policymakers build programs and policies that are aware of and prepared for unintended consequences. An important part of systems thinking is the practice to integrate multiple perspectives and synthesize them into a framework or model that can describe and predict the various ways in which a system might react to policy change. Systems thinking and systems models devise strategies to account for real world complexities. This work was coordinated by the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, the World Health Organization, with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. Additional support was provided by the Department for International Development (DFID) through a grant (PO5467) to Future Health Systems research consortium. © World Health Organization 2014 All rights reserved. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health Organization to verify the information contained in this publication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages arising from its use. Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health has a non-exclusive license to use and reproduce the material...

9. Hypothesis Testing in Public Health

Biostatistics is an essential skill for every public health researcher because it provides a set of precise methods for extracting meaningful conclusions from data. In this second course of the Biostatistics in Public Health Specialization, you'll learn to evaluate sample variability and apply statistical hypothesis testing methods. Along the way, you'll perform calculations and interpret real-world data from the published scientific literature. Topics include sample statistics, the central limit theorem, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and p values...

10. Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice

Epidemiology is often described as the cornerstone science in public health. Epidemiology in public health practice uses study design and analyses to identify causes in an outbreak situation, guides interventions to improve population health, and evaluates programs and policies. In this course, we'll define the role of the professional epidemiologist as it relates to public health services, functions, and competencies. With that foundation in mind, we'll introduce you to the problem solving methodology and demonstrate how it can be used in a wide variety of settings to identify problems, propose solutions, and evaluate interventions. This methodology depends on the use of reliable data, so we'll take a deep dive into the routine and public health data systems that lie at the heart of epidemiology and then conclude with how you can use that data to calculate measures of disease burden in populations...

11. Introduction to Public Health

4.5

(112)

This super short course is designed to be a quick introduction for beginning students to the history of public health. The course is divided into eight topics. Specific areas that will be further explored in the course include: the definition and history of public health, understanding the determinants of health, and how disease prevention and health promotion relate to public health...

12. Simple Regression Analysis in Public Health

Biostatistics is the application of statistical reasoning to the life sciences, and it's the key to unlocking the data gathered by researchers and the evidence presented in the scientific public health literature. In this course, we'll focus on the use of simple regression methods to determine the relationship between an outcome of interest and a single predictor via a linear equation. Along the way, you'll be introduced to a variety of methods, and you'll practice interpreting data and performing calculations on real data from published studies. Topics include logistic regression, confidence intervals, p-values, Cox regression, confounding, adjustment, and effect modification...

13. Public Health Perspectives on Sustainable Diets

What we eat and how we produce that food have significant effects on human health and the sustainability of our planet. But what is a ‘sustainable’ diet? A sustainable diet, as defined by the FAO, promotes health and well-being and provides food security for the present population while sustaining human and natural resources for future generations. This short course looks at the urgent need to address the sustainability of our food systems, including better understanding the complex relationship between diet and climate change. We’ll explore current research on dietary shifts needed in high, middle, and low-income countries to achieve both sustainability and food security goals and discuss evidence-based strategies to promote sustainable diets. This course is offered by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and draws from our graduate-level food systems curriculum at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. You may also be interested in our eight-week flagship Coursera course, “An Introduction to the US Food System: Perspectives from Public Health”...

14. Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2

This course, Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2, addresses public health issues of people affected by disasters, both natural or conflict-related. It discusses the many changes that occur in people’s lives when they are uprooted by a disaster, including many important topics related to humanitarian crises, such as when there is an epidemic a public health emergency; what do we mean with the humanitarian development nexus; what are the basics of disaster epidemiology and surveillance; humanitarian principles; and other very relevant topics. We will explore what humanitarian interventions could look like if we want to mitigate the effects of disasters. This course is a follow-up to Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 1, which dealt with changes in disease patterns, access to health care, livelihoods, shelter, sanitary conditions, nutritional status, and other issues. The course content is a mix of theoretical knowledge and many practical examples from recent disasters. We think this course is unique because it contains so many practical ‘real-life’ examples and is taught be instructors and guest lecturers who together have over 200 years of experience in this field. The course consists of 10 modules totaling approximately 14-16 hours of delivered content with an additional 2-3 hours of self-work (quizzes and writing and evaluating a short peer-review assignment) as well as lively discussions forums. The first course, Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 1 (PHHC1), has been designed in a way that each module builds on the lessons of previous modules. However, the modules from this second course, Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2 (PHHC2) can be accessed in any order and some can stand alone. You do not necessarily need to do PHHC1 before PHHC2, but it might be helpful to take some or all of PHHC1, as some of the basic or fundamental issues are covered in this course. PHHC2 contains a somewhat more diverse set of topics than the previous course as it deals with more complicated issues. You do not have to pay for this course if you choose to enroll without a certificate. Sometimes referred to as auditing, enrolling without a certificate means that you will have access to all of the videos and discussions. The only difference is that you will not be able to take the quizzes to earn a certificate upon completion. Click the Audit or Enroll Without A Certificate link to sign up and begin the course. Visit the Learner Help Center for more details about your enrollment options...

15. Statistical Analysis with R for Public Health

Statistics are everywhere. The probability it will rain today. Trends over time in unemployment rates. The odds that India will win the next cricket world cup. In sports like football, they started out as a bit of fun but have grown into big business. Statistical analysis also has a key role in medicine, not least in the broad and core discipline of public health.\n\nIn this specialisation, you’ll take a peek at what medical research is and how – and indeed why – you turn a vague notion into a scientifically testable hypothesis. You’ll learn about key statistical concepts like sampling, uncertainty, variation, missing values and distributions. Then you’ll get your hands dirty with analysing data sets covering some big public health challenges – fruit and vegetable consumption and cancer, risk factors for diabetes, and predictors of death following heart failure hospitalisation – using R, one of the most widely used and versatile free software packages around.\n\nThis specialisation consists of four courses – statistical thinking, linear regression, logistic regression and survival analysis – and is part of our upcoming Global Master in Public Health degree, which is due to start in September 2019.\n\nThe specialisation can be taken independently of the GMPH and will assume no knowledge of statistics or R software. You just need an interest in medical matters and quantitative data...

16. Climate Change, Sustainability, and Global Public Health

The third course of the Impacts of the Environment on Global Public Health specialization will introduce you to two major environmental health challenges facing the world today. The first is climate change –the preeminent threat to public health today, and a threat that will impact every human and ecosystem on the planet. We will evaluate the causes and impacts of climate change, as well as policies and approaches that can be used to reduce the impacts of climate change on human health. The second is sustainability, a concept that can be applied to reduce the impacts of human activities on the environment as well as human health. We will explore different sustainability frameworks, as well as the effects of different energy generation sources on the environment and public health...

17. Non Communicable Diseases for Public Health.

4.9

(80)

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading killer diseases globally causing 7 out of every 10 deaths globally. 70% of the deaths caused by these diseases occur in low- and middle-income counties, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The Non-Communicable Diseases For Public Health Course will introduce the learners to what non-communicable diseases. The main aim of this short course is to enhance literacy on non-communicable diseases in a bid to improve better health outcomes through the application of the course content to daily life. This course can be taken by individuals, community health workers, teachers, students and even parents in a bid to learn about various non communicable diseases and on how to prevent and control them. The course contains 9 modules and has been developed in simple easy to understand language that can be understood by the general population. It adapts the use of videos, images and audios to enhance learning. The course will also provide additional course content and research papers required to giver the learner deeper understanding of the topic. We are hoping that through this course, you will be more informed, you will have fun while learning and that you will share your learnings with someone else. Information is power and relevant information on non-communicable diseases has never been important as it is currently. Learn, share, practice...

18. Impacts of the Environment on Global Public Health

In this specialization, you will explore how many public health outcomes are directly influenced by human contact with the environment. The four courses in this series will introduce you to the environmental health sciences (EHS) discipline; you'll examine the hazards of air pollution, water pollution, solid and hazardous waste, radon, and noise; identify the major challenges posed by climate change and unsustainable practices; and use risk assessment to evaluate the health of population, advocate for environmental justice, and improve global health. Based on global and diverse cases, open-access readings, and engaging video lectures, you will learn how we can assess the effectiveness of policies designed to address and reduce the environmental threats to our health...

19. Qualitative Research Design and Methods for Public Health

This specialization will enable public health professionals and researchers to design effective qualitative studies addressing a range of public health issues, select and implement appropriate qualitative methods to meet their study's objectives, and generate and analyze qualitative data...