Epidemiology
10 credits
This module considers the basic concepts of epidemiology and will give you the knowledge and skills to access, describe and interpret epidemiological data, including:
- the main research designs used in epidemiology
- the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of study and how the evidence obtained contributes to the assessment of causality.
- how to carry out critical appraisal of published papers
- other important epidemiological concepts including bias, confounding, basic infection rate and demography
Fundamentals of Public Health
10 credits
An introduction to all of the fundamental and central concepts within public health including:
- Health Inequalities
- Determinants of Health
- Health Economics
- Health Promotion
- Health Protection
- Sociology of Health
- Global Public Health
- Health Systems UK and non-UK
- Public Health Policy
- Public Health Practical Skills
Global Health
20 credits
Study a wide overview of global public health issues, in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and other global health policies. You will gain insight into ethical and economic issues within which health care is delivered in resource rich and resource poor settings.
Medical Statistics
10 credits
Learn the basic concepts of medical statistics and develop the knowledge and skills to analyse univariate data. Explore the basic principles and application of medical statistics in epidemiology.
Planning and Evaluating Public Health Interventions
10 credits
Develop skills in planning and evaluating interventions including public health programmes, services and policies.
You will cover the full intervention cycle:
- assessing need and priorities (including health needs assessment, health equity audit and health impact assessment)
- intervention planning (including programme theory and choosing interventions)
- monitoring and evaluation (including quasi-experimental study designs for assessing outcomes)
The course assessment include writing a protocol for a public health intervention (individual coursework). Students may submit an optional formative assessment (of no more than half a page). Verbal feedback is provided to support the writing of this protocol
Population Health Improvement
10 credits
This module provides you with an overview of the concept of health improvement. You'll explore the different approaches to health improvement, including building healthy public policy, individual versus population approaches and ethical implications.
Research Methods for Applied Health
10 credits
Gain the skills to develop and deliver a research proposal from beginning to end, including:
- refining a research topic/idea into a manageable research project
- writing and refining a research question, aims and objectives
- sources of data, including new technologies and searching
- study design for feasibility and practicality
- qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups, other data sources)
- quantitative data collection (eg survey design)
- qualitative data analysis
- ethics and research governance (GCP online task)
- basic theory around mixed methods
- introduction to patient and public involvement (PPI)
- dissemination/writing/presenting research
- introduction to project management including financing
- CASP for critical appraisal
Communicable Disease Control and Health Protection
10 credits
This module focuses on the aspects of communicable disease control and health protection including the dangers of infection, chemicals and radiation hazards in the UK and globally. You'll learn about surveillance, the principles of outbreak management of communicable (infectious) diseases, immunisation, vaccination, and a range of communicable (infectious) diseases (e.g. respiratory, gastrointestinal, blood-borne, sexually transmitted, vaccine-preventable, healthcare-associated). Along with the theory of chemical hazards and radiation hazards and their impact on human health, and the principles of chemical and radiation incident management.
Data Organisation and Management in Epidemiology
10 credits
The module will provide students with knowledge of the use of statistical analysis software for organising and manipulating data. This will include an understanding of the importance of adequate data management prior to the commencement of statistical analysis and how to use advanced functionality to ensure that data management is carried out efficiently and with the potential for errors minimised.
Developing and Leading Global Healthcare Systems
10 credits
What is a healthcare system? What is the relationship between the state and a healthcare system? What does a healthcare system do? This module will answer these questions and more. You'll be introduced to health and healthcare systems, their structure, components and organisations. Compare health care systems to assess their strength and weaknesses, and learn key frameworks for health systems strengthening.
Further Medical Statistics
10 credits
This module introduces students to a higher level of statistical methods, building on the content of the Medical Statistics module (EPID4030) and including statistical regression modelling techniques.
For example, students will learn to interpret and apply the techniques of multiple linear regression, logistic regression, rates and survival analysis in a statistical software package
Health and Society
10 credits
This module will introduce you to the sociological and anthropological perspectives on health, illness and healthcare. You'll analyse the ways patterns of health, illness and disease vary in relation to gender and other aspects of social groups.
Health Economics
10 credits
The module will:
- Introduce students to a sociological perspective on health, illness and healthcare
- Consider the ways in which patterns of health and illness vary across different social groups
- Consider the ways in which our society responds to illness
- Critically explore the role of medicine in society.
Understanding, Predicting and Changing Health Behaviour
20 credits
Explore the cognitions and cognitive determinants of health-related behaviours in detail, through the study of a range of key models. You will also develop an understanding of changes in these behaviours and the intention-behaviour gap.
Other topics include:
- the role of information in health-related motivation and action
- how social influence techniques can maximize the impact of health promotion
- how the manner in which messages are processed determines their impact on attitude change
- the role of self-efficacy in motivation, health behaviour and health
- elicitation research, intervention design and evaluation
- behaviour change techniques and their relationship to psychological theories
Public Health Nutrition
20 credits
This module will provide an integrated programme of epidemiology, basic nutrition, molecular science and public health nutrition and policy to examine the relationship between nutritional status and human health and disease.
The emphasis of the module will be to apply evidence-based nutritional science across the lifespan to the development and implementation of preventive public health strategies.
Public Health Sustainability, Climate and Environment
10 credits
This module provides an introduction to issues relating to sustainability, climate, and the environment in the context of public health worldwide. It aims to address key emerging issues relating to social and economic factors impacting sustainability, the health and health systems implications of a changing climate, and the relevance of environmental factors for individual and public health.
Promotion of Workplace Health and Wellbeing
20 credits
The module aims to provide students with knowledge about the interface between health, attitudes and behaviour change with particular emphasis on work-related issues.
Qualitative Methodology and Analysis
10 credits
The module will provide students with:
- an understanding of the basic concepts of qualitative research, and of the relations between quantitative and qualitative research
- an understanding of how qualitative research can be used to investigate matters pertinent to public health
- basic skills in appraising qualitative research papers and reports
- preliminary skills in designing qualitative research – in terms of recognising the sorts of questions and areas of investigation relevant to qualitative research, and appropriately selecting methods of data collection and analysis
- preliminary skills in conducting and writing up collection and analysis of qualitative data.
Systematic Reviews
10 credits
The module will enable students to develop the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct a systematic review of a topic relevant to their own area of health or healthcare practice.