INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH 10-832-440 Spring 2013 Day and Time: Location: Instructor: Thursday 6:10 to 9:00pm Campbell A5 College Ave. Campus Elizabeth Amaya-Fernandez, MPH Health Education Specialist Health Outreach, Promotion and Education Course Assistant: Saba Khan E-mail: sabakhan@eden.rutgers.edu Credits: 3 credits, and additional 1 credit for Alternative Spring Break Instructor’s Contact Information: 8 Lafayette Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Phone: 848-932-1965 E-mail: eamayafe@echo.rutgers.edu Office hours by appointment on Tuesday 12:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. and Thursday 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK/READING Global Health 101 by Richard Skolnik, MPA; ISBN-13: 9780763734213 Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder; ISBN: 0812980557 Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; ISBN: 9780307267146 Additional required readings as assigned will be posted on the course SAKAI site. COURSE OBJECTIVE At the end of this course students will be able to: 1. Identify, understand, and incorporate the global health vocabulary, the basic methods used to assess global health, and the tools to locate and understand additional global health information. 2. Understand the wide range of global public health issues and the various approaches nations adopt to deal with them. 3. Identify the public health problems facing low- and middle-income countries today, and identify their greatest challenges 4. Demonstrate knowledge of population groups that are at increased risk of poor health and familiarity with policies and programs designed to reduce health inequalities. “charity, vertical, humiliates. solidarity, horizontal, helps.” – Eduardo Galeano COURSE REQUIREMENTS Each class will contain several components: lecture, discussion, group activities and the occasional guest speaker. CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION: Students in the class are crucial to shaping the course - identifying topics, engaging in critical discussion, researching information and perspectives, and designing strategies for action. Therefore, it is critical that each student attends and participates in every class. Student responsibilities include: Prompt attendance Completion of assignments and readings Active participation in class sessions Participation in online component Communication in timely manner regarding any concerns/difficulties related to the course Frequent and regular visits to the course SAKAI site at http://sakai.rutgers.edu. Instructor responsibilities include: Respect for students as co-learners in course Adapting the course framework to needs, interests and concerns of students Availability by appointment for meetings with students; availability by phone and e-mail Maintaining the SAKAI course website to accurately reflect the requirements of the course SAKAI This class utilizes SAKAI to manage the course, its assignments, requirements, announcements, and readings. All students are REQUIRED to log into SAKAI in order to access these functions from the beginning of the course until the end. Important updates, announcements and other useful information will be posted to the SAKAI site on a regular basis. All written assignments are to be submitted through the SAKAI Assignment function as a word document. No hard copies will be accepted and will be considered late submissions. PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE Students are expected to arrive promptly and attend every class. Classes missed without a valid excuse (illness or family emergency) will result in points deducted from the Attendance & Participation portion of your grade. Late arrivals will also affect the Attendance & Participation portion of the grade. In the event of an emergency or illness requiring you to miss class or if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/ to indicate the date and reason for your absence. Do not e-mail the instructions. An email is automatically sent to us. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain notes or handouts and other updates from a classmate, not the instructors. Assignments due on the date of a missed class are still due and should be submitted through the SAKAI site. Each student is encouraged to participate fully in all class discussions, especially in discussions related to the weekly reading. A lack of class participation will negatively impact your grade. ASSIGNMENTS The course will be a process in which the goal is to stimulate your thinking through readings, experiential exercises and through the interchange of ideas. Students are expected to do: READINGS - Complete readings before class. The textbook chapters should be read by the date of the assigned reading. Supplemental readings posted on Sakai will also be required for certain topics. Half the Sky should be read by February 28th, Mountains Beyond Mountains should be read by April 11th. CLASS PARTICIPATION - Participate fully by asking questions, providing appropriate comments/opinions, and participating in the class/group discussions about your countries. COUNTRY CURRENT EVENTS/SOCIAL MEDIA—(100 Points) (Begins January 31st) You are required to read and bring to class an current event (past 18 months) article from a newspaper, weekly magazine, website related to the country you chose or were assigned. It must be relevant to the topic that will be discussed in class that week. You will also be required to create a Twitter account and follow this class at Twitter.com/Ruglobalhealth. Your account must be set up by January 31st. Every week starting on January 31st, you must “tweet” your current event by putting up a link for your article and briefly explaining how and why you think your article relates to the topic that will be discussed in the upcoming lecture. All “Tweets” must be in by 6pm EST before every lecture on Thursday. Come to class with your article prepared to discuss it. Twitter account must be made by January 31st as the first tweet is due before class on January 31st. POLICY MEMO-(75 Points) write a policy memo as the Minister of Health requesting assistance for your country’s greatest need addressed to the World Health Organization. No more than 3 pages typed. (Instructions are posted on Sakai)—Due April 4, 2013. ONLINE QUIZZES- (two quizzes, 50pts each) o Quiz 1 - Skolnick Chapters 1,2,3,6 ; Sakai Readings o Quiz 2 – Mountains Beyond Mountains ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK – Health Experience in Nicaragua Students will have the option of traveling with the professors and other Rutgers staff and faculty to Managua, Nicaragua for a week during spring break. Students will be responsible for the travel costs which will be 1600 dollars. The cost of the trip will include travel, lodging, most meals, and transportation while in Nicaragua. Students will have the opportunity to meet with health professionals and students in the country. Anticipated visits will include: Ministry of Health, local and rural health clinics, hospitals, USAID, International NGOs, US embassy and with the National University of Nicaragua. Students will earn one credit. A final presentation for the Rutgers community will be required prior to the end of the semester. GRADING PHILOSOPHY & OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Your grades are assigned following the Grading Philosophy of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy. Final grades are not negotiable, each student receives the grade s/he has earned. A Excellent, shows initiative, synthesizes and integrates assigned material with external sources and own thinking; 92-100% B+ Very good work, innovative thinking or excellent integration of work of others, 88-91% B Exceeds minimum requirements, either shows own thinking or synthesizes and integrates assigned material with external sources; 81 - 87% C+ Good understanding of assigned material, but no effort to integrate own thinking or that of others; 78 - 80% C Average work that meets the minimum requirements but does not show consistent understanding of material, poor quality; 70-77% D Meets minimum requirements but does not show understanding of material, poor quality; 60-69% F Unacceptable, does not meet minimum requirements; 0-59% OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Students requiring accommodation due to a disability (learning, physical, emotional) must present proper documentation at the beginning of the semester. Cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players and other mobile communication devices must be turned off or silenced during class. Out of respect to your classmates and instructor, no texting or phone calls are permitted during class. If issues arise that impact your class attendance or work or if you have a grade dispute, you must make an appointment to meet with the instructor in person during office hours. These issues will not be discussed or resolved via phone or email. Laptops or other electronic devices are permitted in class for taking notes and accessing pertinent information related to the lecture. Students found working on other assignments, checking e-mail, or doing anything else not related to the course will be forbidden from utilizing laptops in class and will have points deducted from the Participation portion of their grade. ASSIGNMENTS All assignments are to be submitted via SAKAI. Assignments submitted late will lose points. Each day an assignment is late, points will be deducted from the total points awarded. All written work must be spell-checked and edited for correct grammar and syntax. Points will be deducted for poor spelling, grammar and syntax. MIDTERM EXAM: The midterm exam will take place during class on Thursday March 1, 2012 FINAL EXAM: The final exam will take place on Thursday May 2nd, 6:10-9:00pm Campbell A3 GRADING Everyone has the opportunity to build his/her grade. Each assignment has a designated number of points. The number of points awarded for each assignment depends upon whether or not the requirements of the assignment are met. Note that issues such as spelling, grammar and syntax are important and points will be deducted for poor spelling, grammar and syntax on all written work. Points will be deducted for late assignments. POINT BREAKDOWN: ITEM Attendance Participation Assignments Country Current Event/Social Media POINTS 50 75 100 Policy memo 75 Online Quiz 1 25 Online Quiz 2 25 Midterm Exam Final Exam TOTAL POINTS 100 150 600 COURSE SYLLABUS Required readings are to be completed for the class date listed. Assignments are to be turned in on Sakai the day of the class that is listed. Week/Date Class 1 Thursday January 24 Class 2 Thursday January 31 Class 3 Thursday February 7 Class 4 Thursday February 14 Topic Reading Assignment Principles and Goals of Global Health; Determinants, Measurements, and Trends in Health Skolnick: Chapters 1 and 2 Country Current Event Tweet 1 Health, Education, Poverty, and the Economy; Globalization Skolnick: Chapters 3 Country Current Event Tweet 2 Culture and Health Skolnick: Chapter 6 Quiz 1 Opens Introductions, syllabus & course review, expectations and twitter tour Country Current Event Tweet 3 Class 5 Thursday February 21 Ethical and Human Rights Concerns in Global Health; Health Systems Skolnick: Chapters 4 and 5 Half the Sky: chapters 1-7 should be done by now Quiz 1 Closes before Class starts Country Current Event Tweet 4 Class 6 Thursday February 28 Nutrition and Global Health; The Environment and Health Skolnick: Chapter 7 and 8 Half the Sky should be done by now Class 7 Country Current Event Tweet 5 Thursday March 7 Class 8 Thursday March 14 Midterm Exam Class Cancelled Country Current Event Tweet 6 Class 9 Thursday March 21 Women’s Health Skolnick Chapter 9 Country Current Event Tweet 7 Class 10 Thursday March 28 Children’s Health Skolnick: Chapter 10 Country Current Event Tweet 8 Communicable and NonCommunicable Diseases Skolnick: Chapter 11-12 Country Current Event Tweet 8 Policy memo Class 11 Thursday April 4 Online Quiz 2 Opens Class 12 Thursday April 11 Unintentional Injuries; Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Skolnick: Chapters 13-14 Mountains Beyond Mountains should be finished by now Country Current Event Tweet 9 Online Quiz 2 Closes Before Class Class 13 Thursday April 18 Class 14 Thursday April 25 Science, Technology, and Global Health and Working Together to Improve Global Health Skolnick: Chapter 15-16 Final Exam Review Final exam on Thursday May 2, 2013 from 6:10-9:00 pm Country Current Event Tweet 10 Academic Misconduct: A Bloustein School Perspective Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, failure to cite sources, fabrication and falsification, stealing ideas, and deliberate slanting of research designs to achieve a preconceived result. We talk about misconduct and ethical behavior in classes and expectations are set forth in student handbooks and catalogues. For example, it is presented on pages 545-547 in the New Brunswick Undergraduate Catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005 and on pages 16-18 of the Edward J. Bloustein catalogue for the years 2003 through 2005. We are not repeating that material here. Note, however, that penalties for misconduct can range from failing an assignment/exam or dismissal from the university. The Bloustein School is appending this memorandum to your course syllabus because we recently have detected obvious cases of plagiarism. We have found far fewer cases of other forms of academic misconduct, but we find several every year. It is imperative that you understand that unethical academic conduct is intolerable, and it is completely preventable. Academic misconduct almost always happens for two reasons. One is ignorance of academic rules and practices. For example, in virtually every recent plagiarism case in the School, material has been taken from an Internet site and placed in text without appropriate note or attribution. You must learn the proper rules for attribution. If you are not sure, ask your instructor! If you do not know the rules that govern the use of data sets, attribution, analysis and reporting of these sets, the faculty will help you. There is no such thing as a stupid question regarding this subject. Pressure is the second common reason for academic misconduct. Students, faculty, and every one of us are subject to deadline, financial, self-worth, peer, and other pressures. If you are potentially allowing pressure to drive you to misconduct, please step back and resist that urge. You can cope with pressure in a positive way by reaching out to friends, counselors, and faculty members. Within the Bloustein School community, you will find understanding people and positive direction. The Bloustein School plays an important role in the planning and public policy agenda. Our work and our students must be above reproach.