On this page, you will find the description, instructor(s) of record, unit value, and most recent syllabus for each course. NOTE: Syllabi are restricted to the berkeley.edu domain. To view syllabi, current students must log in with a CalNet ID. Prospective students without a CalNet ID may use this page to view course descriptions. For information about applying to the program, refer to Online Program Admissions Requirements.
Required Public Health Core and Breadth Courses
Your first-year class schedule is fixed and fulfills the required quantitative core and public health breadth courses. This foundational curriculum introduces subjects across public health, the first step toward understanding what courses you will choose in your next 4 semesters.
Through instruction, you will develop the skills necessary to carry out simple statistical analyses and interpret statistical results, with a focus on the role of probability and statistics in public health. The course is designed to be interactive and to provide opportunities to learn to “speak” statistics.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term and Spring Full Term
Instructor: Emily Place, PhD, MPH
Units: 4
Required Books and Materials
We will be using R, a statistical programming language, and RStudio, an integrated development environment. Both programs are free. You will learn how to install R and RStudio during the first week of classes.
Practice of Statistics in the Life Sciences
Fourth Edition (2018) by Brigitte Baldi and David S. Moore
You will learn about health policy and management and health care delivery systems, primarily from a United States perspective. Discover how health policy and management apply concepts from economics, organizational behavior, and political science to the structure, financing, and regulation of public health and the health care delivery systems.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 1
Instructor(s): Timothy Tyler Brown, PhD; Meghana Gadgil, MD, MPH, FACP
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Health economics.
Bhattacharya, J., Hyde, T., & Tu, P. (2013).
Macmillan International Higher Education.
ISBN-13:978-1137029966
ISBN-10:113702996X
– This book is available online through the UCB Library
Explore environmental agents and factors that contribute to disease in developed and developing countries: i.e. furniture flame retardants, combustion of biomass fuels, or the design of buildings and communities. You will receive an overview of core concepts and their applications in exposure assessment, toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term and Spring Full Term
Instructor(s): Amod Kumar Pokhrel, PhD (FA); Jay Graham, PhD, MBA, MPH (SP)
Units: 2
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
With a focus on major social, cultural, and bio-behavioral determinants of health as they relate to behavioral interventions and policies, you will explore key concepts and important approaches in health and social behavior; assignments will culminate in a final group project involving a community health issue.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term and Spring Full Term
Instructor(s): Evan Vandommenlen-Gonzalez, PhD, MPH (FA); Kira Jeter, MPH (SP)
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Intended as a first-class in epidemiology, you will study the principles and methods of epidemiology, including descriptive and analytic approaches to assessing the distributions of health, disease, and injury in populations. The emphasis is on developing an understanding of concepts, rather than quantitative methods, although calculations are involved.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term and Spring Full Term
Instructor(s): John M Colford Jr., MD, PhD, MPH (FA); Andrew Mertens, PhD, MA, MS (FA); Sandra McCoy, PhD, MPH (SP)
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Aschengrau and Seage. Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health.
2020. 4th Edition. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
(Note: the publication year is 2020)
This multidisciplinary course draws from current topics and emerging competencies in public health professions to guide you in the tools and practices that lead to better solutions. The topics are delivered by discipline experts with whom you will engage in hands-on workshops, lectures, and gatherings during a week-long campus visit.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 1
Instructor(s): Jodi Halpern, MD, PhD; Amy Slater, JD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
REQUIRED
Bargaining for advantage: negotiation strategies for reasonable people(Second Edition).
Shell, G. R. (2006). New York: Penguin Books.
– Available digitally through UCB Library
OPTIONAL
Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most.
Stone, D. (2010).
ISBN-10: 9780143118442
ISBN-13: 978-0143118442
ASIN: 0143118447
-Available digitally through UCB Library
Epidemiology & Biostatistics Courses
This introductory course will serve as the gateway for students into the world of applied IS. It has been designed keeping in mind students looking to gain a preliminary understanding of the principles and practice of IS. The module will provide a broad overview of the theoretical and evidence-based models and frameworks used in the field as well as the barriers and challenges faced by implementation scientists in the real-world application of evidence-based practices, programs and policies.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Instructor(s): Stefano Bertozzi, MD, PhD
Units: 1
Required Books and Materials
There are no required textbooks for this course. You will find all readings on the bCourses site.
This course provides hands-on experience for students to apply their learnings from “PH225AIntroduction to Applied Implementation Science” to global policy contexts. It has been designed to provide practical exposure to the world of IS, by employing the models and frameworks discussed in the introductory module to diverse public health programs around the world.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 2
Instructor(s): Stefano Bertozzi, MD, PhD
Prerequisite(s): PHW225A or Demonstrate substantial prior experience in the field of implementation science research and/or practice
Units: 1
Required Books and Materials
There are no required textbooks for this course. You will find all readings on the bCourses site.
This interdisciplinary regulatory science course brings together participants working in regulatory agencies, public health, law, medicine, business, and policy to gain an understanding of the most prominent product regulation issues in the US and abroad. Innovation is needed to address the 21st century’s evolving regulatory landscape, in the context of new technologies, new understanding of diseases, and a sharpened lens on safety. This new exciting area of science requires a new generation of trained regulatory experts and professionals in academic, government, industry, and public health sectors. Building regulatory capacity is important for the US as well as for the rest of the world. Aiming to address this demand for increased training, the course provides the information needed to understand the most important health practice and product regulation issues in the US and abroad from the perspective of current regulatory standards, their standards for evidence, and the role of innovation in regulatory science. The course features networking opportunities with experts from regulatory agencies, biotech, and the pharmaceutical industry. These guest lecturers will discuss the ongoing need for interaction between government, academia, industry, and the public.
This course provides a rigorous conceptual treatment of probability and statistics and a tour of linear and logistic regression as viewed through that lens. The focus is on understanding via computer simulation and diagrams rather than on algebraic manipulations. As such, this course will help students clarify the assumptions necessary to say a given statistical method is “valid” and how to precisely define such a notion of validity. Knowledge of R (tidyverse) and high school mathematics is required at the level of 142.
Term(s) Offered: Spring Full Term
Instructor(s): Alejandro Schuler, PhD
Units: 4
R proficiency level: 2 – Developing
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
You will further your exploration of principles and methods of epidemiology, including descriptive and analytic approaches to assessing the distribution of health, disease, and injury in populations and factors that influence those distributions. The emphasis is on concepts, rather than quantitative methods, but some basic calculations will be involved.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term
Instructor(s): John M Colford Jr., MD, PhD, MPH; Andrew N Mertens, PhD, MA, MS
Units: 4
Required Books and Materials
Recommended textbooks:
Rothman, K.J., S. Greenland, and T.L. Lash. Modern Epidemiology. 3rd ed. 2008, Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. (ME3 in the reading list).
Szklo M, Nieto JF. Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics. 4th ed. 2019, Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
In the past, we have required the purchase of these two textbooks. We highly recommend purchasing them, especially if you are focusing on epidemiology in your graduate studies. Modern Epidemiology in particular is a useful reference as it is denser and more encyclopedic than Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics. This course can be completed without purchasing both textbooks, as many of the chapters have been scanned and included in weekly readers. Scans of the textbooks are available as well for online borrowing via UC BEARS (UCB Electronic and Accessible Reserves System). The loan period is 2 hours, though your loan can be renewed if another student hasn’t checked it out after your loan period expires. You’ll need to use your CalNet authentication to check out either book. Links to the textbooks are below. Prior to borrowing, please read additional information and instructions on using this resource here.
You will examine the principles and methods underlying the use of R, emphasizing multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and “real world” uses. Throughout the course, You will learn real-world principles of data collaboration using R through discussion of case studies as well as through an applied project.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term
Instructor(s): William Wheeler, PhD, MPH; Lauren Nelson, MPH
Units: 2
Required Books and Materials
Required textbooks are both available online for free:
In this course we will discuss the theory behind effective graphical design, how to apply this theory to communicate health data to different audiences, and how to produce a variety of graphical types using primarily the ggplot command in the statistical analysis program R. There are two to three lectures per week accompanied by readings. Generally, the course content and assignments alternate weekly between theory and R programming. In the second half of the semester, we will also cover more advanced topics, including: mapping using geographical information systems (GIS); interactive graphics; Microsoft Power BI; and Tableau, with a focus on creating public health dashboards.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term
Instructor(s): Adrienne Rain Mocello, PhD
Units: 2 or 3
R proficiency level: 2 – Developing
Required Books and Materials
- Tufte, E. R. (2001) The visual display of quantitative information (2nd ed.). Cheshire, Conn.: Graphics Press.
- Wickham, H. and Grolemund, G. (2017) R for data science. O’Reilly. Available online for free.
- Batra, Neale, et al. The Epidemiologist R Handbook. 2021. Available online for free.
This 4-unit course will cover modern quantitative methods relevant to epidemiologic research drawing heavily on concepts covered in PHW250B and PHW241. Course topics include regression models for continuous and discrete outcomes, models for analysis of matched data, Kaplan-Meier estimation, survival distributions, and models for survival analysis. We will also cover methods for confounder selection, dose-response modeling, and interaction and effect modification. The course format will include up to 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of lab per week. The lectures are recorded, but there will be live computational activity sessions (which will be recorded for those unable to attend in real time). Completion of PHW250B (Epidemiologic Methods II) and PHW241 (Intermediate Biostatistics for Public Health) is required to enroll; completion of a course in R or practical experience with R is highly recommended.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term
Instructor(s):
Patrick Bradshaw, PhD, MS, MS
Sally Picciotto, PhD (Fall 2024)
Units: 4
R proficiency level: 3 – Proficient
Required Books and Materials
Vittinghoff E, Glidden DV, Shiboski SC, McCulloch CE. Regression Methods in Biostatistics, 2nd. 2012. (Electronic version available online through UC Berkeley Library website.)
With the ongoing “data explosion”, methods to delineate causation from correlation are perhaps more pressing now than ever. This course will introduce a general framework for Causal Inference in Public Health: 1) clear statement of the research question, 2) definition of the causal model and effect of interest, 3) assessment of identifiability, 4) choice and implementation of estimators including parametric and non-parametric methods, and 5) appropriate interpretation of findings. The statistical methods include G-computation, inverse probability weighting (IPW), and targeted minimum loss-based estimation (TMLE) with machine learning.
Term(s) Offered: Spring Full Term
Prerequisite(s): PHW241 or instructor permission
Instructor(s): Laura B. Balzer, PhD
Units: 4
R proficiency level: 2 – Developing
Required Books and Materials
You will learn why and how clusters of illnesses/epidemics are investigated. Methods and approaches required for such investigations will be discussed in detail, with a specific focus on basic concepts, developing case definitions, laboratories, surveillance, epidemiology of outbreak data, hypotheses, and communication of results, all in relation to outbreak investigations.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 2
Instructor(s): Wayne Enanoria, PhD
Units: 3
R proficiency level: 2 – Developing
Required Books and Materials
MacDonald P.D.M. Methods in Field Epidemiology, 2012; Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
ISBN-13: 978-0763784591
Building upon the competencies of epidemiology and biostatistics, we will explore surveillance, mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery (from natural and “man-made” emergency events). You will develop familiarity with the major categories and classifications of disaster events, including weapons of mass destruction, including how the public health system integrates with the National Response Plan and Framework.
Term(s) Offered: likely moving to Fall 2 as of 2025 (no offering in Summer 2025). To be confirmed!
Instructor(s): Eric Gebbie, DrPH, MIA, MA; Michelle Larson, PhD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Public Health Management of Disasters
Landesman, L. (2017). fourth edition. APHA Press, DC.
ISBN-13: 978-0875532790
ISBN-10: 9780875532790
-Available digitally through UCB library
Social vulnerability to disasters.
Thomas, D. S., Phillips, B. D., Lovekamp, W. E., & Fothergill, A. (Eds.). (2013). CRC Press.
– Available digitally through UCB Library
More than 1400 different infectious diseases recognized today are distinct from other diseases because they affect all human organ systems and contribute to the burden of many other types of disease: 175 new such diseases have emerged in the past 30 years. You will explore the framework through which all infectious disease problems can be addressed.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 1
Instructor(s): Eva Raphael, MD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
During this course, you will be provided with links to PDF files of articles and other materials from the UC Berkeley Library Collection.
Global Health Courses
Using the Murray-Frenk health systems framework, you will engage in a real-world, practical analysis of health systems, along with engaging in current debates about health systems, health financing, and UHC in the international community. Assess health system performance based on quality, cost, and access metrics.
You will apply essential concepts of global health to current challenges through course activities, assignment, and readings. Guest lectures will present global health experts detailing real world initiatives, encouraging critical thinking approaches through the application of tools and frameworks that address diverse global health needs.
Instructor(s): Hildy F Baker, PhD, MHS; Arthur L Reingold, MD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
During this course, you will be provided with links to PDF files of articles and other materials from the UC Berkeley Library Collection.
Ethical frameworks, theories, and historical references are used to elevate the ethics conversation to the global stage, linking theory to practice in research, experiential learning, and delivery. Consider ethical questions about the delivery of global public health and the roles of governments, academic institutions, organizations, health professions, and citizens as stewards of public health.
Instructor(s): Rohini J. Haar, MD, MPH; Rebecca Deboer, MD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
This course is designed for students who may be interested in working in countries where contaminated water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene (WaSH) are the cause of serious health problems. In this course, important concepts in WaSH will be covered so that students can understand what is needed to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a WaSH program. It emphasizes concepts that are needed to develop effective, appropriate, accessible and affordable WaSH interventions to reduce the global burden of disease.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 2
Instructor(s): Jay Graham, PhD; Anoop Jain, DrPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Health Policy and Management Courses
This course serves as an introduction to key topics in health policy making in the United States, with a focus on policy analysis methods. Using the policy analysis framework of Eugene Bardach’s Eightfold Path first introduced in PHW200E, the course will explore the entire policy analysis process from the identification of a problem, to the evaluation of policy solutions, and finally to the techniques and formats for effective health policy communications.
Over the course of 8 weeks students will learn, practice and refine policy analysis skills in a team setting through a series of practical exercises. We will touch on the role of research and evidence in forming health policy, and the critical use of data and visualization in health policy contexts. Topics will include current and pressing issues in American health policy with ongoing discussions on equity, intersectionality and racial justice in policy analysis and decision-making.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will gain both a solid understanding of, and the practical skills to complete, the following:
- Build critical policy analysis skills to identify and evaluate the methods used for developing policy alternatives and understand the impact of existing public health policies.
- Critique the role of research and evidence in public health policy formation and evaluation.
- Describe our country’s institutional players (i.e., legislative, administrative, judicial), their roles in policy making and how to influence policy outcomes.
- Apply learned policy analysis skills to proposed and existing public health policies.
- Leverage critical analysis tools of language and framing to develop and advocate health policies in verbal and written communication deliverables.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 2, Fall 2
Instructor(s): Irina Titova, MPH, MPP; Lizzie Jekanowski, MPH, MPP
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E.M. (2019). A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, (6th edition).
Meacham, M. (2021). Longest’s Health Policymaking in the United States, (7th edition).
Pennock, A. (2018). Writing Guide for Public Policy, (1st edition). CQ Press.
This course examines the policy framework for biomedical technology, including medical devices, drugs, diagnostics, digital therapeutics, and algorithms. Emphasis will be placed on the funding of research and development, the protection of intellectual property, FDA market authorization, insurance coverage, and algorithm design. While, the focus will be on the US, the course will examine industrial policy and innovation nationalism within a global context.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Instructor(s): James Robinson, PhD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
The focus is on your development of leadership skills in strategic planning, analysis, and implementation. Emphasis is placed upon the leader’s role in simultaneously taking into account a wide variety of internal and external factors to improve organization and system performance in meeting the health needs of individuals and communities. Prior professional or coursework experience required
Term(s) Offered: Summer 2
Instructor(s): Philip Chuang, PhD; Renee Clarke, MPH, RN, BSN;Tia Gangopadhyay, MPH
Required Books and Materials
Managing Health Care Business Strategy.
George B Moseley III. Second edition.
Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2018.
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy for Healthcare
Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2018.
A solid understanding of organizational behavior is critical for managing complex demands and arrangements in public health organizations. Through exploring the active theories and perspectives in management and organizational theory, you will gain a solid comprehension of a diverse set of frameworks and theories relevant to understanding healthcare delivery and public health organizations.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 1
Instructor(s): Hector Rodriguez, PhD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Hackman JR. Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performances. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press; 2002
Management of Healthcare Organizations: An Introduction
Olden PC. Management of Healthcare Organizations, An Introduction. Health Administration Press, 3rd Edition, 2019
The U.S. spends a great deal on health care, yet has relatively poor health outcomes, quality of care, and equity. You will examine how this situation can be improved by analyzing markets and government policy, including identifying contexts where the free market operates relatively well versus poorly and debating the role of government in health and healthcare.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 2
Instructor(s): Brent Fulton, PhD, MBA
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
The Economics of Health and Health Care, 9th ed. Folland, Goodman, Stano and Danagoulian New York, NY: Routledge, 2024
ISBN 978-1-03-230986-6 (hardback); ISBN 978-1-00-330840-9 (eBook)
See syllabus for purchase and rental options.
Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis tools are applied to the evidence base for population health interventions and policies. You will engage with community and clinical preventive services, systemic population health management innovations, behavioral economics approaches, and policies targeting upstream social determinants of population health.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Note that students may not take both 226C & 226F for credit. Please only register for one of these courses.
Instructor(s): William H. Dow, PhD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health: A Practical Approach, 3rd Edition.
Muennig, Peter and Bounthavong, Mark. (2016). Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1-119-01126-2
This book is available online from the UC Berkeley Library
Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis tools are applied to the evidence base for population health interventions and policies. You will engage with community and clinical preventive services, systemic population health management innovations, behavioral economics approaches, and policies targeting upstream social determinants of population health.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Note that students may not take both 226C & 226F for credit. Please only register for one of these courses.
Instructor(s): William H. Dow, PhD
Units: 1
Required Books and Materials
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Health: A Practical Approach, 3rd Edition.
Muennig, Peter and Bounthavong, Mark. (2016). Jossey-Bass. ISBN: 978-1-119-01126-2
This book is available online from the UC Berkeley Library
Through a case study format, employing the quantitative functions in Excel, you will gain the basic financial and accounting skills needed by all health professionals. Consider financial decision making in an applied manner, interpret financial statements and ratio analysis, and conduct investment assessments in discounted cash flow, healthcare pricing strategies, and cost-volume-profit/break-even analysis.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 2
Instructor(s): Kimberly MacPherson, MPH, MBA
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Nutrition & Community Health Sciences Courses
You will employ digital innovations and social media to promote healthy behaviors and policy in 6 online weeks. Several guests will visit the online class, including public health professional who are currently engaged in new media and digital communications activities.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 2
Instructor(s): Jennifer Lo
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
You will build the necessary skills to plan effective public health programs through examination of the principles and methods underlying program planning; With an emphasis on multi-disciplinary, collaborative, and “real world” planning processes, the course offers a real-world application of program planning principles, along with through critique and discussion of case studies.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 2
Instructor(s): Sharon O’Hara, DrPH, MPH, MS; Brigid Cakourous, DrPH, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Note: this course was previously numbered PHW206. The course content remains the same and fulfills the same requirement for the Public Health Nutrition Concentration.
This course covers core principles of nutrition and health and provides an overview of the major nutritional needs and issues faced by women of reproductive age, infants, children, and adolescents in the United States and globally, with selected topics explored in greater depth. This course will also explore disparities in various health outcomes related to maternal and child nutrition and provide students the opportunity to apply the course concepts at a personal and programmatic level.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 1 (moved from Summer 2 starting in 2023)
Instructor(s): Sarah Zyba, PhD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Nutrition Basics: An Active Approach
Zimmerman, Z. & Snow, B. (2021). v2.1. FlatWorld Knowledge
Electronic version available for purchase at: https://students.flatworldknowledge.com/course/2597084. (Online Access $29.95; Online Access + E-Book Download $49.95)
* Note that this book is not available through the library, but the 2021 version contains updated information so we do recommend purchasing the most recent version (in any one of the formats offered).
Nutrition assessment tools are used to evaluate an individual’s or population’s nutrition status and/or risk of specific nutrient excess or deficiency. This 3-unit course will discuss various dietary, anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical nutrition assessment tools and provide you with skills to determine which assessment tools are needed based on program/research project goals, how to interpret nutrition assessment survey results and apply them to populations, and critically evaluate the metrics used to define different types of malnutrition.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Instructor(s): Sarah Zyba, PhD
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Nutritional Assessment 7th edition by David Nieman
ISBN10: 0078021405
ISBN13: 9780078021404
Copyright: 2019
This course examines the historical origins of food and nutrition improvement programs in the United States, including the political and administrative conditions that led to the development of these programs. It also examines the goals, design, operations, and effectiveness of some of these programs: Food Stamp Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, Head Start, the Child Care Food Program, and the Elderly Nutrition Program.
Term(s) Offered: Fall 2
Instructor(s): Hannah Thompson, PhD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Though exposure to the “life course” of a public health evaluation, from initial planning to implementation and sharing results, you will design an evaluation that informs program and policy decisions, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Small groups will work together to develop a real-world evaluation plan.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 2
Instructor(s): Mara Decker, DrPH, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Evaluation Fundamentals: Insights into Program Effectiveness, Quality, and Value.
Arlene Fink. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications. 2015.
You will practice survey research in its different forms, including traditional pencil-and-paper surveys, telephone interviews, and web surveys. Using a project topic of your choice, you will develop a survey instrument and write a research plan to use that instrument. Start thinking about one of your favorite public health research areas!
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1, Summer 2
Instructor(s): Jylana Sheats, PhD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Ruel, E., Wagner III, W. E., & Gillespie, B. J. (2015). The practice of survey research: Theory and applications. SAGE Publications.
Blair, J., Czaja, R. F., & Blair, E. A. (2013). Designing surveys: A guide to decisions and procedures. Sage Publications.
Dietary patterns play an important role in non-communicable disease development and progression. In this course we will discuss how food impacts metabolism and health; trends in diet-related diseases in the United States; and the intersection of diet, culture, racism, and society and how they influence and affect both diet-related disease patterns and the solutions designed to address diet-related diseases in the United States.
Terms offered: Spring 2
Instructor(s): Sarah Zyba, PhD; Meghana Gadgil, MD, MPH, FACP
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
Spatial Data Science for Public Health Courses
Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly central to public health practice. Therefore, the goal of this course is to familiarize students with the principles, methods, and techniques necessary to apply GIS in diverse public health settings. Through weekly readings and discussions, case studies are presented to introduce the application of GIS technologies (including maps for visualizing clusters, mobile phone-Apps for data collection, and spatial analyses such as proximity analysis and relationships). The course includes assignments aimed at acquiring experience on the use of GIS for infectious disease control, disease cluster detection, environmental justice, health services data mapping, and others. The culminating project is a Story Map in which students use maps they’ve created as well as additional narrative text, images, and optional videos to tell a story that could be used for community health education or influencing policy. This is an introductory course that uses ArcGIS Online. There is no coding. There are no prerequisites.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 2
Instructor(s): Charlotte Smith, PhD, MA
Units: 3
Course # Prior to Spring 2025: PHW277
Which spatial data science course is right for me? The GIS Course Matrix might help you with your decision. There are two tabs in the matrix: the first tab provides a comparison of what our three OOMPH courses cover and the second tab compares all GIS courses offered at Berkeley Public Health. If you are considering the residential course options, please see our policy on taking residential courses in the Student Manual under “Program Requirements”.
Still have questions? Please reach out to your faculty advisor.
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
PHW272A is an introductory course in geographic information systems (GIS) that covers topics such as cartography and the processing, visualization, and description of spatial public health data. The course will introduce principles, methods, and techniques that enable students to acquire, manipulate and effectively display spatial data. As maps have become an increasingly popular and powerful means of communicating the spatial complexity of health and disease data, public health researchers and practitioners can increase the impact of their work by using GIS to convey information and synthesize data from multiple sources. The course will cover basic GIS concepts, such as coordinate systems, layering, buffering, joining, merging, and aggregating spatial data, conducting spatial queries, and appropriate visualization of spatial data. Students will gain hands-on practice working with and reporting on a range of spatial health data, through activities that teaches use of R as a GIS platform.
Term(s) Offered: Spring 1
Instructor(s): Amod Pokhrel, PhD, MS
Units: 3
R proficiency level: 2 – Developing
Which spatial data science course is right for me? The GIS Course Matrix might help you with your decision. There are two tabs in the matrix: the first tab provides a comparison of what our three OOMPH courses cover and the second tab compares all GIS courses offered at Berkeley Public Health. If you are considering the residential course options, please see our policy on taking residential courses in the Student Manual under “Program Requirements”.
Still have questions? Please reach out to your faculty advisor.
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Non-OOMPH Courses of Interest
*Please note: OOMPH students should refer to the policies under the “Enrollment in Residential Public Health Courses” section of the Student Manual and double check formats, schedules, attendance requirements and other course details before enrolling in any non-OOMPH courses. If you have any questions, please reach out directly to the instructors for assistance. OOMPH students must also consult with their program manager or faculty advisor before enrolling in any non-OOMPH courses.
The Anti-Racist and Racial Justice Praxis Spring Student Elective is a semester-long student elective course for continuing MPH and DrPH students. This class will cultivate champions to develop an anti-racist analysis of public health, present a set of anti-racist public health tools, and build skills necessary for advancing an anti-racist agenda within the field.
Term(s) Offered: Spring Full Term
Prerequisite: HSB Breadth Course (PHW200G)
Instructor(s): Zea Nachama Malawa, MD, MPH; Jenna Gaarde, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course. Videos and other resources are found on weekly course pages. A weekly course reader in pdf format which includes video transcripts and course readings will also be available on the course site for you to download.
Students learn (through lectures and graded student presentations and projects) to design clinical and population-level field trials. Topics: formulation of a testable hypothesis; identification of appropriate populations; blinding (including indices for assessment); randomization (including traditional and adaptive randomization algorithms); sample-size estimation; recruitment strategies; data collection systems; quality control and human subjects responsibilities; adverse effects monitoring; improving participant adherence; use of surrogate outcomes.
Term(s) Offered: Spring Full Term
Instructor(s): John M Colford Jr., MD, PhD, MPH
Units: 2
Required Books and Materials
The following readings are required (specific chapters and sections assigned throughout the semester):
- Fundamentals of Clinical Trials (5th ed) by Friedman et al – Electronic version available for free download through UC Libraries (Fundamentals of Clinical Trials)
- Randomised Controlled Trials (2nd edition) by Jadad et al
- Impact Evaluation 2nd edition by Paul Gertler (free download): http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/sief-trust-fund/publication/impact-evaluation-in-practice
- A great resource for impact evaluations and trials by JPAL: Resources and Tools for Impact Evaluation
This class is an introduction to the use of the SAS programming language for managing, cleaning and analyzing biomedical data.
Term(s) Offered: Spring Full Term
Note: this is a Residential course with optional (online) synchronous sessions. No required attendance on campus.
Instructor(s): Sadie Costello, PhD, MPH
Units: 2
Required Books and Materials
The Little SAS Book: A Primer
5th Edition, Lora D. Delwiche, Susan J. Slaughter, SAS Institute.
Skill development and professional preparation for graduate student instructors in public health courses. Preparing for and leading discussion sections. Designing writing prompts. Preparing and creating problem sets. Working with students one-on-one. Grading students’ writing and exams. Self assessment. Developing a course syllabus. Use of technology in public health classes. Required for first-time public health GSIs who are not participating in an SPH divisional pedagogy course.
Term(s) Offered: Fall Full Term, Section 2
Note: this is a Residential course with optional (online) synchronous sessions. No required attendance on campus.
Instructor(s): Jylana L Sheats, PhD, MPH
Units: 2
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course.
More information about this course can be found in the ‘First-Time TA Requirements’ section on this page.
The BPH Changemaker Microcourse offerings are a mixture of in person, fully online, zoom based and hybrid courses that combine in person workshop(s) with online zoom sessions. Many of the class zoom sessions are scheduled for 5 -7 in the evening. These microcourses are open to all BPH graduate students. You can find more detailed information including links to course syllabi here and course specific scheduling information on https://classes.berkeley.
Term(s) Offered: refer to the course info document
Note: Some courses do require attendance on campus. Please make sure to read course descriptions thoroughly.
Units: 1-4
Alternative Options for Summer 1 Term
Course covers global Public Health effects of war in context of war’s destruction of the health care infrastructure within the Social Ecological framework. Topics include war’s impact on infectious disease & as barrier to control of vaccine-preventable diseases; maternal child health; health of those displaced; psychosocial toll & environmental health consequences. Curriculum focuses on ongoing global conflicts & ramifications of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, includes modules focusing on public health prevention approach to war & research methods for studying health outcomes in conflict zones. Students work in teams & apply the course material to a specific war that they will follow. Panel discussions to feature veterans & refugees.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 1
Note: This is a fully asynchronous course. No required attendance on campus.
Instructor(s): Pauline B Lubens, PhD, MPH
Units: 3
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course.
More information about this course can be found here.
This course examines health at the individual and community/global level by examining the interplay of many factors, including the legal, social, political, and physical environments; economic forces; access to food, safe water, sanitation, and affordable preventive/medical care; nutrition; cultural beliefs and human behaviors; and religion; among others. Students will be expected to read, understand, and use advanced materials from diverse disciplines. Class accompanied by case-based discussions. This class is the Summer Session version of PH 112; same units and content, increased lecture and discussion hours.
Term(s) Offered: Summer 1
Note: This is a Residential course with optional (online) synchronous sessions. No required attendance on campus.
Instructor(s): Arthur L Reingold, MD and Hildy F Baker, PhD
Units: 4
Required Books and Materials
No required text for this course.
More information about this course can be found here.
Note: This course cannot be taken for credit if you have completed PHW212.