Principles & Practice of Public Health

Subject POPH90021 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 9 (Graduate/Postgraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

March, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

Classroom

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: One 1-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment: Approximately six hours of private study per week
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements: None

Contact

Associate Professor Bernie Marshall, Deakin University
Victorian Consortium of Public Health

OR

Academic Programs Office
Melbourne School of Population Health
Tel: +61 3 8344 9339
Fax: +61 3 8344 0824
Email: sph-gradinfo@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

This unit provides students with an integrated overview of the ways in which different theories and disciplinary perspectives have informed public health principles and practices both in the past and present. The unit provides the foundations for a contextual understanding of the specific methods of public health research, policy development and program planning and implementation. Principles and Practice of Public Health is a “glue” unit for the study of public health, drawing linkages between areas that may at first sight appear quite disparate.

Objectives: At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
  • Discuss the historical underpinnings of contemporary public health theory and how these events have shaped current theory and practice of public health;
  • Understand how political movements and events have shaped public health including human rights, imperialism, wars, famines and the development of global health organisations;
  • Describe the diversity of public health, its sources of knowledge, policies and regulations;
  • Identify the key influences of different disciplinary perspectives on public health theory and practice.
Assessment:

Two 1,000-word minor assignments (20% each) one 3,000-word major assignment (60%)

Prescribed Texts: Lin, V. Smith J and Fawkes S (2007) Public Health Practice in Australia: The organized effort. Allen & Unwin.
Beaglehole, R. & Bonita, R. (2004). Public Health at the Crossroads. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baum, F. (2002) The New Public Health 2nd Ed. Melbourne, Oxford University Press.
Recommended Texts: None
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills: -
Links to further information: http://www.sph.unimelb.edu.au
Notes: This subject is a Master of Public Health Consortium subject.

Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Health Economics/Economic Evaluation
Health Program Evaluation
International Health
Primary Care
Sexual Health
Social Health
Women's Health

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