Week Two

Foundations of Leadership: A Leadership Survey Course, 551.610.11

3 academic credits
June 13-15, 2011, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor: Ann-Michele Gundlach, EdD

In this course, students develop an understanding of the role of the organizational leader and the essential knowledge and skills the role requires. The course is designed to provide a framework for understanding the process of working effectively with and leading others. Drawing from a variety of disciplines, it places emphasis on the role of the leader in relation to organizational effectiveness, developing a vision for the future, leading change and building adaptive organizational cultures. Students taking this course for graduate academic credit will be evaluated based on class participation and a final paper. The paper will be due on a date identified by the instructor. No assignment will be accepted after August 5, 2011.   This course is limited to 25 students.

*May be used toward the Certificate in Health Finance and Management
*May be used toward the Certificate in Public Health Preparedness
Healthcare management sequence; public health leadership sequence; public health practice sequence.

Causes and Consequences of Obesity, 313.686.11

3 academic credits
June 13-15, 2011, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor: Sara Bleich, PhD

Provides students with an in-depth understanding of the global obesity epidemic and the major challenges to reducing the prevalence of excess body weight. Lectures will be inter-disciplinary and focus specifically on the global prevalence of obesity (including variation among sub-populations), the direct and indirect consequences of obesity, the primary and distal causes of obesity, methodological issues related to the study of obesity, and promising interventions/policies to address the problem of obesity. Encourages students to think creatively about the nature of the global obesity epidemic and possible ways to reduce population prevalence. Students taking this course for graduate academic credit will be evaluated based on class participation and in-class assignments (including one quiz). Each of the in-class assignments will emphasize a core theme from the course.

Obesity sequence

Obesity Economics, 313.687.11

1 academic credit
June 16, 2011, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Instructor: Kevin Frick, PhD

Introduces students to the economics of evaluating obesity. Focuses on attributable health care expenditures, quality adjusted life years, productivity changes, consumer sovereignty, and the incentives and regulations that can be used to change individual adult, parent, and child behavior. Students taking this course for graduate academic credit will be evaluated based a final paper. The paper will be due within a month of the conclusion of the course, on a date identified by the instructor. No assignment will be accepted after August 5, 2011.

*May be used toward the Certificate in Public Health Economics
Obesity sequence

Obesity, Business & Public Policy, 300.860.11

2 academic credits
June 17-18, 2011, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Instructor: C. Alan Lyles, ScD, MPH, Rph

Discusses the roles of the public and private sectors, and their interactions, in the sustained rise in the proportion of Americans who are overweight or obese. Supply and demand, mediated by public policies and cultural preferences, contribute to a complex web of influences on this development. This infrastructure of obesity (Acs and Lyles, 2007) is resilient to simple fixes and students explore the framework of public, private and individual roles in influencing obesity and health weight. Students taking this course for graduate academic credit will be evaluated based on a short paper. No assignment will be accepted after August 5, 2011.

Obesity sequence

patient- centered outcomes research, 300.863.11

2 academic credits
June 14-15, 2011, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Instructors: Jodi Segal, MD, MPH and Albert Wu, MD, MPH

Patient-centered outcomes research is the generation and synthesis of evidence that compares the benefits and harms of alternative methods to prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor a clinical condition, or to improve the delivery of care. The purpose of this research is to assist consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policy makers to make informed decisions that will improve health care at both the individual and population levels. This course introduces students to the motivation and methods of patient-centered outcomes research (including comparative effectiveness research). Reviews the problems faced by decision makers across the US health care system. Describes key historical developments in this field including recent health care legislation; explains the role of stakeholders; and key methods used in comparative effectiveness research. At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to: describe the role of comparative effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research in improving health; including the place of patient-centered outcomes research in the U.S. research portfolio, the identity and agendas of stakeholders, and the policy implications of this research. They will illustrate the difference between efficacy and effectiveness research, and choose appropriate study designs depending on the question. Students taking this course for graduate academic credit will be evaluated based on a take home examination with a selection of 3 of 6 questions to answer in depth. This examination will be due within a month of the conclusion of the course, on a date identified by the instructor. No assignment will be accepted after August 5, 2011.