One of the best things about the fall semester is that I get to teach a different type of class – an online Global Public Health class for graduate students. My online Global Public Health (MPH 6007) course is apart of my Ethnic and Rural Health Disparities (ERHD) Graduate Certificate online program and it is designed to get our graduate students to think outside the general framework and structure of our typical public health course. That’s probably why I truly get overly excited about teaching this class each fall semester.
Additionally, what makes this class so special is that there is always new global public health issues in the news each year and particularly this time of the year so I can usually include these global public health events into my lectures. This also allows students to see how important this class is to them and brings the practical basis of this course directly to them.
What’s particularly special about this global public health class is that I use my podcast and webcast lectures the best way that I can to HIGHLIGHT the key issues from the weekly material. Moreover, the online videos that I use throughout the semester provides students with a better understanding of the specific global public health issue.
Thus far in the semester, all the students have been very much involved in the lecture material and are truly engaged in the weekly discussion board sessions. As each week goes by, I can tell that the students’ perspectives are changing and they very much are embracing a more broad approach to global public health!
That’s why the course objectives are so important for this class. They are:
1. Identify and assess the major components of medical anthropology and public health as they relate to global public health issues.
2. Identify and discuss the major global public health concerns of specific populations from one country to another.
3. Apply principles and strategies derived from medical anthropology and public health toward planning, implementing and evaluating global public health intervention programs.