Core Courses

GLOH 5501: Biostatistics
Fall semester, 2 credits

This course is designed for introductory biostatistical theory and application for students pursuing a master’s degree in fields outside of the Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Biomathematics. Students first learn the four pillars of exploring and displaying data appropriately, exploring relationships between two variables, issues of gathering sample data, and understanding randomness and probability. On these pillars, students then can develop the platform for statistical inference including proportions and means, multiple regression, and ANOVA.

GLOH 5503: Epidemiology Methods
Fall semester, 2 credits

This introductory graduate course presents the basic concepts and applications of epidemiology in multiple domains of global health, including epidemic investigations, population health measurements, screening and prevention strategies, and common study designs for causal inferences.  We will practice using epidemiology to better understand, characterize, and evaluate global health challenges and strategies.  The class will engage students in active and collaborative learning through lectures, readings, team activities, case studies, and group projects.  Students without prior coursework in epidemiology will acquire the core competencies in epidemiology research expected of all Master-level Global Health graduates.

GLOH 5504: Introduction to Quantitative Data Analysis
Fall semester, 1 credit

The purpose of this course is to develop students’ understanding of what types of quantitative datasets exist in global health, how to access them and how to use them for basic statistical analysis.  Students will learn about dataset structure and how to select variables for analysis of global health questions.

GLOH 5517: Health Economics and Financing
Fall semester, 3 credits

This course provides a structure for understanding and analyzing health and health care issues. The course will develop tools needed to analyze issues and problems in the sector, and review the incentives and solutions that have been tested across low, middle- and high-income countries to improve the equity, efficiency and impact of health care investments. It will address issues surrounding public and private delivery and finance and analyze how these interact, and discuss alternative policies for promoting effective and affordable health care services. The course focuses on tools and policy levers in the health sector that apply to health care delivery and finance in all countries, and evidence and experience from countries at different levels of income will be drawn upon to illustrate good and bad practice applying the tools learned in the course.

GLOH 5520: Health Policy and Systems
Fall semester, 3 credits

Health policy and health systems are among the most important determinants of population health outcomes. This course provides essential skills to formulate health policy, and to understand, analyze, and evaluate health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Weekly meetings provide a forum for discussing and analyzing many important areas, including governance and performance issues for health systems and health programs. Additionally, special attention will be paid to health system reform and the processes for developing an implementing improved policies. Because health systems exist within larger socio-economic and political contexts, this course also examines the interaction of these issues and system design and performance. The course also situates current trends in health systems within other relevant trends in development practice.

GLOH 6604: Qualitative Research, Monitoring & Evaluation
Spring semester, 4 credits

This course is broken up into two parts. The monitoring & evaluation session will give students a basic overview of the process and best practice in monitoring and evaluating global health programs, especially those funded by major donors.  The part of the course will focus on how to develop indicators, logical frameworks, theories of change and design and implement mixed methods evaluations that will be used to adapt and improve programs.

The second part of the course will focus on qualitative research. Research is central to understanding global health problems, and informing the design, delivery and evaluation of solutions. Of particular value are observational methods that embrace the realities of context, the complexities of behavior, and the intersecting and multiple determinants of health at individual, community and institutional levels.  In this hands-on part of the course, students will develop skills in qualitative and mixed methods research, inclusive of literature review, formulating research questions, identifying what kinds of methods are best suited to address them, planning fieldwork, and analyzing and communicating research findings. Structured and unstructured observations, interviews and participatory methods will be applied in and beyond the classroom, with an emphasis on reflexivity and ethical conduct.  Students will learn best practices in developing guidelines and questionnaires, and organizing field notes and data.  They will also experiment with qualitative analysis techniques such as the development and application of codes, the identification of themes and patterns, data displays and data verification strategies.  As a final assignment, students will develop a research protocol for funding.