PHT 380 - Chronic Disease Epidemiology, 3 credit hours

Prerequisite(s): PHT 170 and PHT 175; or approval of the instructor
This course covers the chronic diseases of national and global importance and their risk factors. Specifically, this course will cover the chronic diseases with a great burden on the healthcare system in the US, mainly cancers, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and mental health disorders. This course will cover the epidemiology and main determinants of each of these chronic diseases, analyze the appropriate public health interventions to address these diseases and the main study designs to investigate these diseases. Students will develop a project focusing on the main determinants of a chronic disease, analyze any disparities that contribute to these chronic diseases and examine the existing interventions to address the burden of these diseases. Students will develop better understanding of the biological and epidemiological aspects of chronic diseases and learn about public health policies to respond to these chronic diseases.