LEAD 13
Epidemiology, Public Health, and Leadership in the Health Professions
Last Offered Winter 2009

Cross-listed ANSO 13
This course is not offered in the current catalog

Epidemiology, the study of disease and disability in human populations, has been called the basic science of public health and preventive medicine. Epidemiology has made substantial contributions to the advancement of public health and improved illness care through a deeper understanding of the natural history of disease, the multiple causes of disease, including the role of behavioral factors, evaluation of the effectiveness of drugs and medical proceedures, and the control of epidemics of both infectious and (later) non-infectious disease. Making use of unknown epidemic exercies, selected original papers from the medical and public health literature, and a basic text, this course will begin by examining and reviewing the history, logic, and approaches of epidemiology. We will then turn to a series of seminar discussions of leadership in the health professions based upon historical documents, research papers, videotape, and profiles in the current media. With the help of guest lecturers/discussion leaders, we will explore aspects of leadership in at least three of the following areas: -evaluation of illness care services -international health, specifically malaria control, drug resistant Tbc, or HIV/AIDS, with special consideration of how best to find the balance between treatment and prevention in high prevalence countries -ethics in international experiments in human populations -behavioral issues in prevention and treatment, perhaps with focus on obesity -sports injuries, their incidence, prevention and treatment