Introduces approaches used by various countries in solving their health and medical care problems, and the role of major international health organizations. Analyzes some of the current important issues in international health.

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

• Describe the health situation of a country using the concepts of demographic and epidemiological transition
• Identify and apply a wide array of indicators to the analysis of international public health problems
• Analyze a public health problem and recommend strategies using a problem-solving oriented approach
• Integrate human rights into the analysis of international public health problems
• Discuss economic, community, and social development issues as related to the definition of health problems and the development of interventions
• Recognize the role of health systems and the impact of health care financing mechanisms in international public health
• Recognize major environmental health problems in the international context
• Clarify topical interests in international public health

The course follows a problem-solving oriented approach. In the first part of the course, you will select a country of your choice and then describe the health situation and current top public health problems using different indicators and criteria. Your written report will summarize key dimensions of the epidemiological and demographic transition, compare the situation to other countries in the region, and define the top public health problems in the country.

In the second part, you will address an important public health problem in the country of your choice. Your written report will define the problem of interest, describe the activities to be carried out to address the problem, and identify the organizations involved and the indicators needed to monitor the implementation of the activities.

The course is composed of two modules: 

Module 1: Describing the Health Priorities of a Country
This module introduces the tools and concepts necessary to complete Assignment One, including demographic transition, epidemiologic transition, and levels of causality. This module takes a life cycle approach to health and nutrition and examines the specific problems that affect mothers, newborns, infants and children, school-age children and adolescents, and adults and the elderly. During this module you will select a country that will be the subject of Assignments One and Two. You will complete a series of tables to describe the social, economic, and health conditions in your country and start to answer the questions for Assignment One.

Module 2: Selecting Interventions and Partners
This module presents the tools and concepts necessary to complete Assignment Two, including prioritization of health problems, multilateral and bilateral organizations, and indicators for measuring the process and outcomes of health programs. You will complete tables to characterize the health problem that will be your focus for Assignment Two and identify its key determinants and key stakeholders. Finally, in this module you will take a critical look at the role of foreign aid in health and learn the importance of taking history into account when designing new health initiatives.

You will rely on the following course materials:

• You can buy the textbook, International Public Health: Diseases, Programs, Systems, and Policies, by Merson, M.H., Black, R.E., Mills, A.J. (Eds.). (2006). 2nd edition. From any online reseller or through the Matthews Johns Hopkins Medical Book Center.
   
• Matthews Johns Hopkins Medical Book Center
  1830 East Monument Street
  Baltimore, MD 21205 U.S.A.
  410-955-3931
  800-266-5725
  410-955-0576 (fax)
  http://www.cbamatthews.com/jhmedbook/

Additional readings are available via the E-Reserve system (if you are prompted for a password please enter 220601sph). If you run into difficulties accessing E-Reserves from home, you may need to download, install, and use VPN ("JHSecure Virtual Private Network Service") at http://www.it.jhu.edu/remoteaccess.html.

The course manual, which will be available in the course's Online Library, explains assignments, provides insight into exercise completion, and gives information for researching topics.

Your grade in the course relies on four types of assignments:

• 40%--Written assignment #1
• 40%--Written assignment #2
• 10%--Submission of any required table exercises
• 10%--Submission of any required Bulletin Board exercises

Please refer to the Course Schedule for all important assignment dates and deadlines.

Assignment Rules
Although you must write your assignment individually, students are encouraged to discuss the assignment questions.

Grading Process
The course's teaching assistants will perform the initial grading of all assignments. Assignments will be graded on different sets of criteria using the grading sheet shown in the Course Manual (available on the Course Content page after the course begins). After initial grading, a faculty member reviews the papers to ensure that the criteria have been applied equally.

Default Grade
In the "criteria for grading" section for each type of assignment, you will see that many of the questions have a "default grade." You will receive this grade if your answer is complete, but not "above average." Achieving an above-the-default grade requires that the answer be innovative, insightful, and/or particularly well researched (statements backed up by appropriate references).

Most of the grade for this course is based on two ten-page double-spaced assignments. Both assignments are based on a specific country chosen by the student. You are free to choose any country, be it low-, middle-, or high-income.

In Assignment One, you will describe the demographic and health situation in your chosen country, examine how your country's health indicators compare to others in the region, and describe how these indicators have changed over time. In the final question, you will state the criteria you think are most appropriate for selecting health priorities for your country and you will state what you feel to be the top health priorities of the country and justify the choices you made.

In Assignment Two, you will decide on a health problem that could be the focus of a three-year, $10 million grant given by a donor agency to improve health in your chosen country. You will argue for why the health problem or issue is the one that most warrants investment of additional resources at this time and you will describe how you would invest these resources to address the problem or issue you have selected.

Successful completion of Assignments One and Two requires searching for data on the internet, looking up scientific articles, incorporating concepts introduced in the lectures, and interacting with other students taking the course. Both assignments require the creation of a number of tables summarizing data about the country.

More detail on the assignments will be available when the course starts, including instructions for completing each question, websites for accessing demographic, health, social and economic indicators, and instructions for the format of the assignment.

Please submit all assignment-related activities and both assignments via the course Drop Box.

Primary Faculty
James Tielsch, MHS, PhD
Professor
Department of International Health, Room E5009
Email: introih@jhsph.edu
Fax: 410-955-2029

Teaching Assistants
Howard Choi, Department of International Health
Email: hwchoi@jhsph.edu
Michelle Mergler, Department of International Health
Email: mmergler@jhsph.edu

Course Administrative Assistant
Brenda Casey 
Email: bcasey@jhsph.edu

 There are two types of evaluation forms used for this class:

You are strongly encouraged to use both evaluation forms. We value student input when evaluating a course and student feedback often helps shape future course updates.