Unique course offers overview of public health—for free

PH101
Learning the basics in Public Health 101

October 19, 2015 — Interested in the field of public health but (a) don’t know where to find a good class, (b) don’t want to spend money, and (c) don’t have the time for a full-length course?

Then a free “nanocourse” called Public Health 101—sponsored by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Postdoctoral Association and the Harvard Infectious Diseases Consortium—might be just the ticket. It’s a good way to get a “sneak peek,” at the field, said Christian Suharlim, MPH ’14, research associate in the Center for Health Decision Science and PDA president.

On October 6, 2015, a large crowd filled Harvard Medical School’s Tosteson Medical Education Center amphitheater to attend the first session of the two-part flagship course, which is part of a series called PH101.

The three-hour class included short lectures on core concepts of public health, such as epidemiology and statistical reasoning, environmental health, urban health, social and behavioral health, and health systems, policy, and management.

The second session of the course, which met a week later, involved interdisciplinary case-based learning that was specially designed for the course. Focusing on a real-world issue—the California drought—the case study presented a general overview of the relationship between drought and health and highlighted several public health areas of study, such as health policy, public health ethics, and the built environment.

“A big chunk of our attendees are undergraduate students who are trying to figure out if they want to explore the field of public health,” said Suharlim. “We also get a lot of health professionals—researchers, or people working in the health sector like hospital administrators—who have been hearing the term public health but want to know more about it.”

First offered in October 2013, Public Health 101 also provides opportunities for postdocs and research associates to gain teaching experience. The group of Harvard Chan School postdocs that developed the idea for the course wrote about its genesis and aims in a recent article in the American Journal of Public Health.

In addition to the flagship Public Health 101 course, there are several more focused courses offered each year as part of the PH101 series. Past nanocourses have included topics such as health and human rights, malaria, modeling infectious diseases, and metabolomics. Courses slated for the 2015-16 academic year will focus on environmental health, statistics and data, injury prevention, health decision science, and nutritional epidemiology. All are free and open to the public.

Feedback from students who took the Public Health 101 course this fall was very positive, Suharlim said. Most said the course made them more interested in pursuing additional training in public health, either through additional nanocourses or a degree program. And they liked the brief format. Said one student, “The case study brought a real-life problem to the table and how it applies to all aspects of public health.” Another called the course “a great way to learn about public health without a background in it.”

Check out the Public Health 101 website for information about future nanocourses or to join the mailing list.

Karen Feldscher

Photo: Bradley Coleman