WELCOME ! 

COURSE NUMBER:

PHC6251

COURSE TITLE:

Disease Surveillance and Monitoring

COURSE OVERVIEW:

This course is a fully online course. This course is part of the Certificate in Public Health specializations in Environmental Health and Infection Control. Students may also take this course as a general technical elective in the Master of Public Health degree program.

COURSE COORDINATOR:

John Lanza, MD, PhD, MPH, FAAP

Julie Philippart, MS, MT (ASCP

CONTACT INFORMATION:

John Lanz: lanza1@bellsouth.net

Julie Philippart: jules5@mchsi.com

School of Allied Helath and Life Sciences, University of West Florida

PREREQUISITES OR COREQUISITES:

Please see the official UWF Catalog. 

Those interested in this course, the Public Health Certificate program, or the Master of Public Health degree program should contact Mr. Steve Celestial at (850) 474-2885 or scelestial@uwf.edu.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Please see the official UWF Catalog.

Disease surveillance and monitoring is the systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data for use in prioritizing, planning, implementing, and evaluating health programs, activities and practices in the United States and other developed and developing countries. This course will focus on the fundamental processes and procedures which are utilized to investigate and track infectious and communicable diseases as well as non-infectious chronic diseases.

Topics to be covered include: Monitoring the health of populations; Considerations in planning a surveillance system; Sources of health-related information; The changing health-care infrastructure in the United States; Opportunities for new and novel approaches to public health surveillance; Evaluating disease surveillance and monitoring systems Analyzing and interpreting surveillance data; Legal and ethical issues pertaining to disease surveillance; Surveillance in developed and developing countries; Using surveillance and monitoring information in health education, marketing, and advocacy and to develop public health policy ; Surveillance of infectious and communicable diseases; Surveillance of chronic diseases.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:

This course meets the following programmatic goals for the School of Allied Health and Life Sciences. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:


• Content and Critical Thinking:
• Discuss and briefly outline the history of public health surveillance in the United States.
• Compare and contrast procedures/methods utilized for the investigation of infectious and chronic diseases.
• Describe the surveillance systems utilized in the United States and contrast those utilized in the United States with those available in other developed and developing countries.
• List and briefly discuss new data sources for disease surveillance and monitoring.
• Defend conclusions regarding how public health policy development and assurance is dependent upon public health surveillance and assessment.
• Articulate the significance of the federal government program Healthy People on disease surveillance and monitoring in the United States.
• Describe the surveillance systems available to track chronic diseases.

Briefly describe the gaps that still remain with regard to surveillance and monitoring of chronic diseases.Fulfillment of these goals will be assessed as follows: (1) critical thinking within homework assignments and online participation, and (2) content within examinations.

TOPICS COVERED:

	Topic	Approximate coverage (all )
1.	Introduction; Monitoring the health of populations	4 hours
2.	Considerations in planning a surveillance system	4 hours
3.	Sources of health-related information	4 hours
4.	The changing health care infrastructure in the United States	4 hours
5.	Opportunities for new and novel approaches to public health surveillance	4 hours
6.	Evaluating disease surveillance and monitoring systems	4 hours
7.	Analyzing and interpreting surveillance data	4 hours
8.	Legal and ethical issues in disease surveillance	4 hours
9.	Surveillance in developed and developing countries	4 hours
10.	Using surveillance and monitoring information in health education, marketing, advocacy and in developing public health policy	4 hours
11.	Surveillance of infectious and communicable diseases	4 hours
12.	Surveillance of chronic diseases	4 hours
	Total instructional hours	48 hours total (all )

indicates online course modules that may be completed from home or using UWF computer labs.

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS:

RECOMMENDED TEXTS:

• Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance. Steven Teutsch and Elliott Churchill. Oxford Press. 2000. ISBN 0-19-513827-9
• Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. Laurie Garrett. Hyperion Press. 2000. ISBN 0-7868-6522-9.

SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY UTILIZED BY STUDENTS: (beyond baseline requirements of e-mail and word processing)

Students are encouraged to complete this course utilizing the equivalent of a cable-speed modem. Completing the course modules via a telephone dial-up connection will require significant download times for larger audio-visual content.

REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY:

None.

GRADING/EVALUATION:

Fulfillment of the programmatic goals described above will be assessed as follows:


• 120 points - Class participation and homework assignments
• 100 points - Mid-term exam
• 200 points - Research paper
• 420 points - Total points possible

Due to the distance learning nature of this course, all requirements must be completed within the time scheduled, unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor. Online facilities will be provided so students can monitor their own progress. Additional details are as follows:

Class Participation: Active participation in course discussions is strongly encouraged. Students should be prepared to participate in online discussions. Participation will be evaluated based upon quality and quantity of assigned work completed, level and frequency of discussion, and evidence of having read assigned materials.

Research Paper: All students will perform research on a surveillance-related topic chosen by the student and approved by the faculty. The topic must be presented via email to either faculty member for approval by the 6th week of the class. The paper will consist of 15 typewritten pages, double spaced, using the APA style. An appendix will contain references and figures, charts, etc. 

EXPECTATIONS FOR ACADEMIC CONDUCT/PLAGIARISM POLICY:

• Academic Conduct Policy [Web]
• Plagiarism Policy [ PDF]
• Student Handbook [ PDF]

  It is the philosophy of The University of West Florida that academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.

  In addition, any behavior that interferes with the conduct of a class is classified as disruptive behavior and will not be tolerated. Although not exhaustive, examples of disruptive behavior would include: inappropriate or threatening online postings or e-mails, etc.

ASSISTANCE:

Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other course-related accommodations should contact Disabled Student Services (DSS), dss@uwf.edu, (850) 474-2387. DSS will provide the student with a letter for the instructor that will specify any recommended accommodations.

Every effort will be made to accommodate the special needs of disabled students. Please inform the instructor privately during the first week of class to indicate your particular needs. All such accommodations are officially arranged through the Office for Disabled Student Services and a letter from this office must accompany your request.