IPHFORK2-09H International Public Health Course description

Public health work is society's organized effort to maintain, improve and promote the population's health, both locally and globally. Interventions are directed towards factors that contribute to better health and factors that might represent a health risk. Public health work is concerned with reducing health inequalities through work on equity, accessibility and quality of services.

An increase in disease rates, long-term conditions and lifestyle illnesses are expected in the future. This is a consequence of demographic changes and a result of people's health behaviour. Competence in inter-professional and inter-sectoral collaboration in both public and private sectors is crucial to meeting challenges.

Regulations: Lov om universiteter og høyskoler and Forskrift om studier og eksamen ved OsloMet.

ECTS-Distribution

Theory and method

• Part I: 0,5
• Part II: 1,0
• Sum ECTS: 1,5

Ethics

• Part I: 0,5
• Part III: 0,5
• Part IV: 1,0
• Sum ECTS: 2,0

Governance

• Part I: 3,0
• Part II: 3,0
• Sum ECTS: 6,0

Communication

• Part I: 0,5
• Part III: 1,0
• Part IV: 1,0
• Sum ECTS: 2,5

Health Promotion & Preventative Work

• Part I: 0,5
• Part II: 1,0
• Part III: 3,5
• Part IV: 1,0
• Sum ECTS: 6,0

Sum

• Part I: 5,0
• Part II: 5,0
• Part III: 5,0
• Part IV: 3,0
• Sum ECTS: 18

No prerequisites

Part I - The Scope of Global Public Health

5 ECTS.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this part, the student will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student is able to

• describe the challenges in welfare systems, relevant national legislation, and international agreements
• describe the past, and present developments and achievements of public health and discuss possible future challenges within the field
• describe social inequalities in health and their consequences nationally and globally
• describe epidemiology and different cost analyses, and discuss inter-professional, inter-sectoral and evidence-based interventions with target groups
• discuss the principles of universal design from a human rights and democratic perspective

Skills

The student is able to

• address challenges in public health and demonstrate how to intervene professionally in collaboration with others
• demonstrate communication skills to improve health literacy
• search for relevant research, analyse these and apply to the findings in their assignment

General competences

The student is able to

• apply the tools of innovation and entrepreneurship in public health issues and communicate the results to an audience
• reflect upon ethical issues and discuss intercultural perspectives in public health

Part II - Environmental Conditions and Population Health

5 ECTS.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this part, the student will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student is able to

• discuss the interactions between the environment and sustainable development, and their effect on health
• describe health care emergency interventions following different types of disasters, and discuss challenges encountered
• discuss inter-professional and inter-sectoral interventions focusing on communicable and non-communicable diseases, including mental conditions
• describe how inter-professional and inter-sectoral practice might contribute to improve and promote mental health
• describe the distribution of different types of injuries nationally and globally and how to prevent them
• discuss how to promote occupational health and to prevent occupational health hazards
• discuss theoretical models for behavioral change and their application

Skills

The student is able to

• reflect upon priorities in public health and the consequences for population health
• demonstrate communication skills to strengthen social capital through social marketing and reflect on intervention strategies and their efficacy
• reflect upon a comprehensive view of humanity and human rights

General competences

The student is able to

• reflect upon diversity and how different ethnic, religious and cultural background may influence communication between people
• demonstrate how to disseminate public health knowledge collaboratively with target groups and stakeholders
• apply research methods in solving public health problems

Part III - Family Health

5 ECTS.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this part, the student will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student is able to

• discuss theoretical models for behavioral change and their application
• reflect on the complexity of health determinants throughout the life cycle
• discuss the role of activities and social participation in health promotion (occupational science)
• describe national and global vaccination programs, and discuss their impact and challenges involved including ethical issues

Skills

The student is able to

• reflect upon communication and collaboration within an inter-professional team
• develop interactive and critical health education information to improve family health
• identify and describe different information channels to promote health education and knowledge sharing

General competences

The student is able to

• reflect upon ethical issues, conflicts in personal values, and inter-professional and inter-sectoral approaches in family health
• reflect upon the role of public-private partnership as an asset in public health
• describe social entrepreneurship and societal transformation as a tool for implementation of a public health activity

Part IV - Inter-professional Health Care in International Public Health

3 ECTS.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this part the student will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

The student is able to

• describe the core elements of their own profession in health and social services in their own country, and discuss the contribution to inter-professional and inter-sectoral collaboration
• describe strategies and decision-making in health and social services, and discuss different approaches in health promotion

Skills

The student is able to

• reflect upon clinical reasoning in evidence based practice, from client-centered theoretical perspectives
• reflect upon ethical dilemmas in their own profession
• apply health care processes and procedures to promote interventions for individuals and groups

General competences

The student is able to

• communicate intercultural awareness and reflect on ethical dilemmas

The learning and teaching approach consists of group work supported by lectures, workshops, self-studies and field trips. Groups, consisting of approximately 5 students, focus on assignments facilitated by tutors. Every group member contributes to the creation and presentation of all assignments. Part I includes two assignments while part II, part III and part IV include one assignment each. See the teaching plan for further details.

All parts of the course have a focus on interactivity in promoting knowledge exchange and on inter-professional collaborative dialogue, enhancing self-awareness in the professional role. The students will gain practice in decision-making and problem-solving, related to client-centered and evidence-based practice.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

Group assignments, part I:

• submit a written interactive lecture in English, including an oral presentation of the lecture in English, max 20 minutes
• submit a written innovation/business plan in English, max 350 words, including an oral presentation of the plan in English, approx. 2 minutes

Group assignment, part II:

• submit a written project plan in English, max 1500 words, including an oral presentation of the plan in English, max 15 minutes

Group assignment, part III:

• submit and present a 3-minutes digital story (approx. 300 words) in English

Group assignment, part IV:

• submit a written assignment, approx 1000 words, including a presentation performed as a role-play

All group assignments must be published on the course web site in Canvas. The assignments must be signed electronically by all members of the group.

All courses included in the specialisation must be completed with pass grades and all coursework requirements must be approved before the candidate may submit the master’s thesis.

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student can

• analyze and critically assess the scientific work of others

Skills

The student can

• demonstrate working knowledge of the ethical and technical principles that govern scientific research and publication, including international citation and reference standards
• demonstrate that they can conduct a supervised research project in accordance with research ethics guidelines and regulations, and guidelines from relevant governmental bodies (i.e. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority, relevant Norwegian Research Ethics Committees and so on)
• choose and apply relevant methods of data collection for research or scientific inquiry
• write a thesis according to criteria determined by the university
• critically assess the results of his own work
• critically assess various sources of information

Competence

The student can

• participate in the development of the behavioral sciences
• justify their professional behavior with reference to ethical guidelines, general ethical considerations and their own assessment of the situation
• analyze and critically assess various sources of information with relevance for the thesis

The thesis outline and thesis are individual work. Submission of thesis outline is required before a supervisor is appointed. Thesis outline must be submitted the semester before thesis submission at the latest.  Students are advised to find a lab group to participate in.

Thesis supervision is compulsory. Each candidate gets a maximum of 30 hours of supervision during the thesis work. If a non-faculty supervisor is appointed, resources are divided by 2/3 of the time for the main supervisor and 1/3 for the second supervisor. 

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

a.   Research ethics seminar 1 and 2 must be fully attended 

b.   Approved thesis outline

c.   A signed contract with the appointed supervisor

Thesis. Submission of master’s thesis according to program specifications, consisting of 1 scientific article. Technical standards according to the current APA manual. Submitting dates each year: June 15th  and November 15th.

Thesis format

The 30 ECTS Master’s thesis for BSCA consists of one article written in accordance with the author guidelines specified in the current APA Publication Manual. The length should be appropriate for the work that is reported, but should commonly not exceed 40 pages, including the title page, references, talbes, and figures, but excluding appendices.

Ethics and data protection

An account of ethical considerations is required if the thesis includes empirical data on humans or nonhuman animals. A risk -and vulnerability analysis (ROS-vurdering) should normally be conducted, and a case number should be included in the title page of the thesis article. If data on humans are included in the thesis, an account of data protection issues is typically required. The description of ethical and data protection considerations can be included in the main body of the thesis. If the decision is made that such an account is not appropriate in the main body of the thesis, a reflection note on this topic should be attached to the thesis. A reflection note is a short description of ethical and data protection considerations, maximum 6000 characters, including spaces. For theses that do not include empirical data, research ethics relevant to the thesis should be discussed, either in the main body of the text or a reflection note. 

Some Master projects may require consideration or approval from external bodies, such as Norwegian Centre for Research Data (NSD), the Regional Committee for Medicine and Health Sciences Research Ethics (REK), National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (NESH), and/or internal or external data protection officials. It is ultimately the responsibility of the main supervisor to ensure that the relevant bodies are consulted. If external bodies are consulted, a case number should be included in the title page of the thesis article. If a decision is made that there is no need to consult external bodies regarding ethics or data protection, a description of the deliberations preceding this decision is required, either in the main body of the thesis or in the reflection note. If the thesis is an empirical work, the main supervisor must state in writing that the research is conducted in accordance with current laws and regulations before the thesis can be submitted.