Principles of Population Health Science MED5521

  • Academic Session: 2023-24
  • School: School of Health and Wellbeing
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: No

Short Description

This core course will cover the following topics:

 

1. Population change - demographic transition model & population ageing

2. Determinants of Health

3. Inequalities in health

4. Principles of prevention

5. Health service improvement

6. Health protection

7. Causal inference in population health

8. Life-course approaches to population health

9. Natural experiments for population health

10. Healthier cities: how a city in terms of population structure and land use diversity can influence health

Timetable

10 x 2 hour lectures

Requirements of Entry

None

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

One 3,000 word essay

Reflective learning exercise/blog based on their contributions to weekly discussion boards

Course Aims

This course aims to:

 

Introduce students to the science of Population Health

 

Provide students with a comprehensive grounding in the key elements of the determinants of population health

 

Introduce students to modern concepts in population health and life-course approaches to population health

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

 

1. Critically evaluate the key concepts in population health and their interrelationships

2. Demonstrate a critical awareness of competing models of determinants of health and health inequalities

3. Understand and critique the role of modern cities in shaping/influencing population health

4. Critically appraise life-course approaches to population health and population change

5. Critique the role of natural experiments and causal inference in informing population level solutions to tackle inequalities in health

6. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the importance and role of health prevention, protection and improvement in population health

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.