The public health profession has grown dramatically over the last 125 years. What was once a part-time job for physicians and political appointees has evolved into a vital career with numerous specialty branches. Today, public health professionals can specialize in fields as diverse as family health sciences to molecular microbiology. Our primary objective in Public Health Practice is to help you learn as much as you can about your area of special interest in this complex field.

Consider enrolling in this course if you would like to learn more about the following:

• The government's role in public health
• Policies that affect defined and vulnerable populations
• The policy-making process
• Legal, social, and/or political strategies to address health problems
• Human and monetary resources
• Planning a budget that deploys and leverages resources
• Mobilizing public opinion through the media
• Obtaining funding sources
• Avoiding panic when disaster strikes

We will identify and describe sources of data, and we'll review and analyze empirical literature from both the United States and developing countries using a standard problem-solving approach.

Lynn R. Goldman, MD, MPH
Professor
Chair, Interdepartmental Program in Applied Public Health

Henry Taylor, MD, MPH
Senior Associate
Department of Health Policy and Management