Senior faculty present public health topics of current interest, such as health problems of industrialized and developing nations, health promotion and disease prevention, health care delivery systems, environmental problems and the spectrum of factors influencing the health status of populations and communities.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Have an expanded perspective on four major current issues in public health. This will include knowledge of the magnitude of the problem, recent relevant research findings, and intervention strategies.

Students will be evaluated on their “attendance/completion” of the online lectures, participation in the four LiveTalks, active and high-quality participation in the BBS, and performance on two written assignments. The weighting of these components are as follows:

• Active participation in the lectures, LiveTalks, and BBS: 30%
• Two written assignments: 70% (35% each)

You are required to participate in the course LiveTalks. If you cannot attend a LiveTalk during the allotted period, please let a TA know ahead of time about your absence and then listen to the archived LiveTalk.

You are encouraged to submit LiveTalk discussion questions to the BBS for the guest faculty speaker. For each module, we will open a separate BBS folder specifically reserved for posting LiveTalk questions. We will use these questions to guide each LiveTalk session. Please submit your questions at least 24 hours before the LiveTalk, as we will give these questions priority during the session. You may also post questions to the chat box during the LiveTalk itself, and we will do our best to respond to these as well.

You are required to contribute at least one BBS posting for each module. BBS discussions are meant to provide a forum for students to respond to the lecture, ask questions, clarify points of confusion, and generally discuss points of interest related to the lecture.

We will post a written assignment for each of the four modules in the course: you must complete two of the four assignments and submit your chosen assignments by the end of their respective modules. For example, if you elect to submit papers for Modules 1 and 3, you must submit them by the last day of Module 1 and 3, respectively (specific deadlines are indicated on the Course Schedule).

Each assignment will be graded on a scale of: Good, Satisfactory, and Rewrite.

• Good: You demonstrated critical thought in answering all portions of the question(s). The assignment was well written and submitted on time.
• Satisfactory: You completely answered all portions of the questions.
• Rewrite: You did not demonstrate a clear understanding of the topic, did not answer all portions of the questions, or your assignment was poorly written. You will be given the chance to resubmit your assignment within five days of receiving your original grade. Rewritten assignments can be rewritten up to a grade of Satisfactory.

Formatting: Please submit assignments using Microsoft Word. Your work should be 3-4 pages long, with double-spacing, one-inch margins, and 12-point Times New Roman. Please include your name and the assignment number in the upper-left corner of each page. We will return for reformatting any submissions that do not meet these specifications.

Submission: You are given two weeks to complete each of your two-selected module assignments. We will grant extensions only for emergency situations. Please do not contact your TA for an extension on the day the paper is due unless you truly have an emergency. You must submit your work to the online Drop Box at the time listed on the course Web site. We will penalize papers submitted after the deadline without written approval from the course TA.

Course Instructor Edyth H. Schoenrich, MD, MPH Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 615 North Wolfe Street Baltimore. MD 21205 (410) 955-1291 eschoenr@jhsph.edu Participating Faculty During each two-week module, students will have the opportunity to interact with the guest speaker through the bulletin board system (BBS) and the LiveTalk. Teaching Assistants Lydie Lebrun: llebrun@jhsph.edu Jennifer Mendel:jmendel@jhsph.edu Heather Fay: hfay@jhsph.edu