August, 2012
San Diego State University
Graduate School of Public Health
Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
PH 626: International Health Epidemiology Practicum (3 units)
Fall, 2012
SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Esmeralda Iniguez-Stevens, PhD, MPH
Email: iniguezstevens@gmail.com
Office Hours: After class or by appointment
TA: Amanda Rodinelli
Email: ajrondinelli@gmail.com
Protocol P.I.: Molly Moor
Email: mollymoor@hotmail.com
Course Location:
Time:
Adams Humanities 2134
Thursday, 4:00 PM-6:40 PM
OVERVIEW
This course is the product of years of collaboration between the SDSU Graduate School of
Public Health, the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC)Medical School, in Tijuana,
and UCSD’s School of Medicine.The course activities will center arounda4-day semi-annual
community service and research field trip (also known as VIIDAI, or Inter-institutional Teaching,
Service and Research Field Trip)to San Quintin, Baja California. The target communities are
mostly rural indigenous groups.
This is an exceptional opportunity for students to learn first hand the public health challenges in
a developing country and gain experience in implementing field epidemiology research projects.
It is highly desirable that participating students have the ability to communicate in Spanish.
However, that is not a requirement to enroll in the course, since we anticipate enough language
skills among all student and faculty groups to be able to accommodate the motivated nonSpanish speaker. Student must be willing to be part of a culturally sensitive bi-national team
and flexible enough to do whatever is necessary to contribute to the overall success of the
experience
Each year, the health issues to study are determined by faculty, after consultation with
community leaders, and based on available information and resources. Previous research
topics have included infectious diseases (e.g., tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS), nutrition (e.g., anemia),
family planning and environmental health issues (e.g., water quality, lead exposures). Students
will work with one another, the faculty and with Mexican colleagues on one of more research
and service teams. Students will participate in the development of study protocols and data
collection forms, community mapping, field data collection, data entry and analysis and report
preparation. At the end of the semester, each team will produce a consultation report, which will
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actually be used by Mexican health authorities and UABC and SDSU faculty and staff for public
health planning and interventions in the target communities.
Prerequisites: Public Health 601 and 602.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon the completion of this course, the students should be able to:

Recognize, understand and explain unique global, borderand migrant health issues and
appropriate strategies to address them;

Describe methods to investigate health issues in communities living in developing
countries

Recognize important socio-cultural factors to consider in field research projects, such us
poverty, indigenous cultures and languages, gender issues, safety, etc.

Learn practical skills for the design and implementation of field epidemiologic and/or
environmental research projects in developing countries, including:
o
o
o
o
o
o

Design of data collection protocols and tools;
Household survey sampling methods
Culturally appropriate interviewing and other data collection techniques
Human subjects issues in international research
Safety issues
Data analysis and report preparation
Gain practical experience in collaborating in a public health project as part of an
international multidisciplinary team.
GRADING POLICY
Basis of Grade:
Class and field activities participation
Final Report
40% (30 points)
60% (70 points)
Grading standards and interpretation of grades:
A = 93-100% (Superior)
A- = 89-92%
B+ = 84-88%
B = 79-83% (Adequate)
B- = 74-78%
C = 60-73% (Less than adequate)
F = <60 (Failure)
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COURSE ORGANIZATION AND REQUIREMENTS
The course will consist of:
1) Lectures and discussionsof the readings; lecture notes and readings will be posted on
Blackboard prior to each class
2)Team work to contribute to the study protocols and data collection tools;
3)Field trip to San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico (October 19-22, 2012); and
4) Data entry and report preparation.
5) Student presentations
IMPORTANT:
Participation in this course requires payment of an additional fee of $190.00 to cover for
lodging and food expenses for the 4-day trip to San Quintin (details will be provided by
the instructor).
Class and Field Activities Participation (40%): Students are fully expected to become familiar
with the required readings and actively participate in class discussions and study materials
development. Your attendance at each class is also fully expected. Students are also expected
to participate in all required field trip activities, including data collection and assistance with
logistics.
Written Report (60%):Students will be assigned into one of the four project groups. Each
group will collect data, complete data entry, analysis and report preparation. The report should
be up to 15 pages in length, double spaced. Thefinal reportwill bedue on 12/13/12and should
be submitted by email to the instructors or posted on Blackboard no later than 5:00 p.m. on the
due date.Discussion and brief presentations of the reports will be conducted the following week.
Final report content:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Title page with team members names
Introduction
Review of critical literature
Materials and methods
Results
Discussion of key findings including recommendations for furthering knowledge on the
research topic
g) References
h) Additional tables and graphs can be inserted in an appendix which will not be included in
the final page count.
COURSE OUTLINE & ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES
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August, 2012
8/30
Lectures:Course Overview, San Quintin Community Background
(Iniguez-Stevens)
Workgroups: Division into Fall 2012 Teams
Logistics: Maggie Santibanez: VIIDAI Paperwork
Homework:Readings on Blackboard& Research Anemia
9/6
Lecture: Guidelines for Project Report (Intro to
Surveys/Database/brochure/maps/database) (Iniguez-Stevens)
Workgroups: Group Planning– Project, Survey
DUE:Volkmann Readings
Guest Lecture:Drug scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence in
San Quintín, Baja California, Mexico (Mr. Tyson Volkmann)
Guest Lecture:Anemia (Moor)
Workgroups:Project Planning
DUE: Anemia Readings
Lecture: Data Management & Protocol Development (Iniguez-Stevens)
Workgroups – Project Planning/Preliminary Project Topics
DUE: Trip Fees
Lecture: One Health (Dr. Ferran)
Discussion – IRB Consent Forms/Draft Implementation Plan (Moor)
Workgroups:Project Planning/Final Formatted Questionnaires (English
& Spanish)/
9/13
9/20
9/27
10/4
Lecuture: EpiInfo (Ms. Amanda Rodinelli)
DUE:Project Topics
Workgroups: Project Planning, Survey Piloting, Codebook & Database
Development
10/11
Student Presentations:Background, Hypothesis, Draft Tables
DUE: Data Management Books; Report Draft (Background,
Methods/Analysis Plans)
Final Preparations for Trip (Iniguez-Stevens, Moor)
10/18
Final Trip Preparations (Iniguez-Stevens, Moor)
10/19-10/22
Field Trip to San Quintin (Baja California)
10/25
No Class
Report Preparation
11/1
No Class
Report Preparation
11/8
Trip Debriefing – Project Updates (Iniguez-Stevens)
DUE: Final Descriptive Tables
Team Presentations: Descriptive Tables/Final Analysis Plan
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Workgroups: Final Project & Data Preparation
11/15
No Class – Tables Due 11/16
11/22
Thanksgiving
11/29
Group Presentations – Analysis
Workgroups
DUE: Second Draft of Paper
No Class
Final Presentation Preparation
Final Team Project Presentations
DUE: Final Report
12/6
12/13
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