The focus of this course is on the pattern of services in the United States and on the structure and function of their component parts. It examines the impact on the system of a wide range of external factors including social, political, economic, professional, legal, and technological forces.

A graduate level course which provides fundamental concepts of the behavioral sciences as they illuminate public health. Since public health practice is the application of physical, biological and behavioral knowledge to living societies, a firm understanding of human social organization and behavior is essential. Individual and community responses to prevention, identification of symptoms, diagnoses, treatments, chronic ailments and rehabilitation are discussed. In each of these areas, the course explores the interaction between community, family, patient, and health care provider.

An analysis of the public policy process, the development of public health policy in the United States, and a discussion of specific public health policy issues with international comparisons. This course begins with an analytical framework for analyzing the American political system and process. It is followed by a general introduction to health policy in the United States with examples of specific policies and programs. Students will be asked to examine specific public health policy in-depth.

This course gives each student a hands-on opportunity to become familiar with a broad range of health economics issues and analyses. The objective is to help its graduates successfully compete for advancement in careers requiring knowledge of health policy analysis.