CPH Summer 2026 Offerings

Explores the principles and foundations of public health and its practice in the United States. Emphasizes the public health system's contributions to improving individual, community, and population health.

Explores the influences of stress on population-based health issues. The causes and pathways of the stress experience are explored from an ecological public health perspective. Theoretical aspects of stress and coping are considered, along with methods for relieving and preventing the stress response in both individuals and communities.

Focuses on foundational principles and practices of public health, including historical origins, professional competencies, ethics, core functions and essential services, determinants of health, cultural competence, and communication strategies for diverse populations.

Prepares students with a basic understanding of medical terminology needed to work in a wide variety of healthcare environments.

Introduces students to the history of health care delivery in the United States from pre-colonial times to the present. Exposes students to how healthcare services are organized, accessed, and delivered. Explores influences that impact access and healthcare public policy decisions; factors that determine the allocations of healthcare resources; the establishment of priorities within the healthcare system; and the relationship of healthcare costs to measurable benefits. Comparisons are made with healthcare delivery systems in other countries.

Exposes students to the major issues, laws, administrative processes, procedures, and psychological factors related to the human resource function in healthcare. 

Introduces theoretical concepts and their application to the leadership and management of effective health care organizations. Explores the structure and function of health-related organizations and selected administrative and operational issues in program development and service design, emphasizing strategies for effective performance management, decision making, and communication. Equivalent to NURS 436.

Uses Roemer's Model of Health Systems to examine resource allocation, management, and health outcomes in the United States and around the globe. The structure and functioning of national health systems based on geographic location and governance in developing and developed countries (democracies, monarchies, and communist nations). Resource allocation across the continuum of nations and relationship to national health needs, health status, and longevity are examined. Notes: An online course in comparative international health care systems. 

Examines how the central concerns in health law and policy - cost, quality, access, and choice – interact. Discusses state and federal quality-control regulation, including professional licensure, privileging, discipline and Medicare and Medicaid provider certification for health care organizations. Liability of health care organizations for quality failures, including the impact of ERISA preemption, is explored. Addresses the affect of nondiscrimination obligations as a matter of quality in health care is addressed. 

An introduction to basic information management in health care service organizations. Provides an overview of health information systems for selected administrative functions and clinical care services, including electronic data interchange for billing and claims management, institutional approaches to ensuring data security and privacy, and information management and decision support for managers and clinicians.

Introduces students to the design and use of various health and healthcare databases, and provides hands-on experience with database design and use. Reviews database management systems. Examines the application of databases for both clinical and managerial purposes.

Examines applications of information technology in healthcare. Considers a wide range of technology applications – from enterprise application systems to EHR (Electronic Health Records), to current trends in information technology and related regulatory initiatives. Examines how these technologies enable the healthcare industry to manage information and knowledge resources most effectively and deliver superior services to its customers. Equivalent to HAP 670.

Introductory research course designed to present basic concepts and methods of research. The research process is examined as a foundation for scholarship. Emphasis on critique and use of current nursing and research in clinical practice. 

Explores biological correlates of mental illness, including neuronal function, structure and connectivity, and peripheral alterations in biological functioning that contribute to mental disorders across the lifespan. Reviews genetic heritability and specific theories of etiology and diagnostic classifications. Develops interview and differential diagnostic skills.

Introduces students to nutrition as a scientific discipline, providing a working knowledge of basic nutrition including the sources and functions of the nutrients, the components of a healthy diet, and the relationship between diet and overall health. Students will learn about the processes of digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients, and several 'hot topics' in the field of nutrition.

An overview of the major concepts and perspectives of food security at the local, regional, and global levels. Explore and apply the definitions, means of measurement, and policy implications of food security from a multidisciplinary approach. 

Provides an overview of the social work profession, including its core values, ethics, and multidimensional competencies. The profession’s knowledge base is covered, with an emphasis on practice with diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. A unique intersectional and strengths-based person-in-environment perspective is used to explore strategies for promoting change through an anti-oppressive lens. 

Examines issues related to substance use, misuse, and disorder including key concepts, theories, programs, services, interventions, policies, and research regarding the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders (SUD's). Emphasizes promotion of well-being and recovery for those diagnosed with SUD's, with a special attention being placed on vulnerable populations.

Examine the social determinants of health and the application of this framework to social work and public health policy and practice interventions. Explore the many social justice factors that affect health and consider which community systems and social change approaches may decrease or eliminate health inequities. Equivalent to GCH 445.