Course Syllabus

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Welcome to HI 5380.

The first face-to-face class meeting is Thursday 09/03. 

  • If you will be attending in person: The class will meet on Thursdays from 10am-1pm Central time in room UCT 1412 at 7000 Fannin, Houston, Texas.
  • If you will be attending the class live via the web: the class will be broadcast via GoToTraining.
  • If you cannot attend in person or live via GoToTraining: the lectures will be recorded and made available via Canvas

This course provides foundational knowledge relevant to Public Health Informatics (PHI), and exposes students to emerging research and application areas in this field. Topic covered include: public health registries and databases, surveillance systems, data exchange and standards, interoperability issues, the role of informatics in health promotion, use of web 2.0 informatics tools to understand behavior change, public  health communication and dissemination, public health policy, and project management. Guest speakers will expose students to the applied settings and how in real world public health informatics is being practiced and will provide a chance for the students to engage and discuss with subject matter experts and applied professionals. A text book reading assignment will complement class discussions and will provide with the background knowledge and historic context to understand and apply the concepts and the experiences from the class.

The course modules will be made available on a weekly basis every Wednesday at 9pm.

Refer to syllabus for information on office hours, textbooks, and class policies. For questions or concerns, please contact the instructor.

Instructor Information

Sahiti Myneni, Ph.D., MSE
Assistant Professor
Office location: UCT 165G
E-mail: Sahiti.Myneni@uth.tmc.edu
Office phone: 713-486-0115
Faculty webpage

Topics that will be covered in this course during Fall 2015 include the following

Note: This list is for guidance only. The week for a particular topic could change during the semester for several reasons.

Topic Schedule

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Dates Topic Readings
08/31-09/06

Module 0: Getting started

Module 1: Introduction to public health informatics : history and significance

 Ch 1, 2, 3

 
09/07-09/13

Module 2: Public Health informatics: infrastructure and architecture

Ch 3, 5, 6
09/14-09/20 Module 3: Public health data sources, tools, and information standards Ch 7 ,8
09/21-09/27

Module 4: Privacy, confidentiality, security, and ethics

Ch 9, 11
09/28-10/04

Module 5: Informatics in health promotion: Introduction

Assigned readings
10/05-10/11

Module 6: Informatics in health promotion: applications

Assigned readings
10/12-10/18 Module 7: Evaluation for public health informatics Ch 13
10/19-10/25 Module 8: Midterm review session (midterm exam due October 25, 9 pm)
10/26-11/01

Module 9: Social Networks in Public Health

Assigned Readings
11/02-11/08

Module 10: Geographic information systems

Ch 21
11/09-11/15 Module 11: Policy and project management Ch 12
11/16-11/22 Module 12: Information systems for vital statistics, risk factors, and immunization Ch 17-19
11/23-11/29 Thanksgiving Week: No class, happy holidays
11/30-12/6 Module 13: Public health clinical systems

Assigned papers

Ch 23, 24
12/7-12/13 Module 14: National and global perspectives: the future of public health informatics Ch 29, 31, 32
12/14-12/18

Final exam week (final exam due  December 17, 9 pm)

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due