Learning for Health Communities

This course addresses a critical need in the training and educating of professionals in local and state public health systems. It provides students with an overview of the science and practice of public health, with an emphasis on ‘hands-on' application of environmental health principles. Organized around five major sections (Overview of Public Health Systems; Recreational Waters and Waterborne Disease; Food Safety and Outbreak Investigation; Environmental Hazards; and Emergency Preparedness), classes cover the basic sciences, as well as legal authority, inspection procedures, code enforcement, due process, and disease investigations.

A combination of faculty and guest lectures, group work, critical readings, and case studies engage students inside and outside the classroom. Experiential learning is promoted through visiting a local health agency where students identify, research, and synthesize information about a community health problem, and design an educational intervention tool shared with the community.

This course promotes learning that is generated and retained beyond the classroom -- learning that enables students to do things in the real world. The approach is multi-faceted, built on solid environmental health principles, and includes the application of foundation knowledge to solve problems. The approach addresses the social and cultural implications of the local public health interventions, and includes reflection to fully appreciate the context in which our students will work.

The course received a BUSPH Teaching Award in 2008. Student comments included: “enabled me to apply what I learned”; guest lecturers were a strength”; “invaluable to understanding real world concepts”; and “public health scenarios were “priceless.”