Public Health Scholarly Concentration

This scholarly concentration provides foundational knowledge in public health including:

• An understanding of the U.S. health system
• Trends impacting public health
• Causes of death and disability
• Historical contributions of public health to life expectancy and quality of life
• Key terms and concepts
• Health system organization
• Local and global factors that determine health at a population level
• Evidence-based interventions and evaluations

Locations

All concentration coursework can be completed online. The scholarly project work occurs in Indianapolis or a mutually agreed upon site.

Curriculum and Timeline

Students completing the Public Health concentration fulfill the same core curriculum as students in other concentrations. The didactic components provide a strong academic and experiential foundation in public health that will be vital for completion of the core curriculum project and product.

*Available mid-December to mid-February

Students work with faculty to complete a project in a relevant topic based on student interests. Students are welcome to come up with their own project idea. Potential project topics include:

• Clinical preventative services
• Health administration
• Disease control and prevention
• Jail assessment of routine HIV/HCV testing
• Flu shot access to homeless populations
• Health equity
• Health policy
• How organizational strategies impact critical performance measures, including health quality outcomes and financial performance
• Health information exchange
• An evaluation of a program to prevent falls in the elderly, done on a county basis, in conjunction with the health system and/or the public health system.
• The development of a program using the smoking status information gathered at physician visits to implement smoking cessation efforts.
• The implementation and evaluation of a hypertension screening program implemented at sites in the community, such as barber shops or beauty shops.