Experiencing Public Health in Action:
Field Studies in Resource Limited Settings
The Jamaica Course
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, San Diego State University (SDSU) Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, and the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, Jamaica, in collaboration with the Jamaican Ministry of Health (MOH) and the UAB Sparkman Center for Global Health present an intensive course in infectious disease surveillance and control in Kingston, Jamaica. This field study is an intensive, 9-day course which emphasizes applied public health with supervised field projects by teams of UAB, San Diego State, Rice, Jamaican MOH and UWI faculty.
The primary focus of the work is vector ecology and biology, infectious disease surveillance and control, and water and sanitation in a developing country. The program is open to all graduate students who enroll at UAB, San Diego State, or Rice University, as well as students and professionals from other institutions that accept transfer credit from one of these institutions. Advanced undergraduate students must obtain permission from the Course Director.
ABOUT THE COURSE
The Jamaica course emphasizes the integration and application of classroom, laboratory and field experiences to foster problem-solving skills for infectious disease ecology, surveillance and control. Thus, this course is comprised of several components, including:
FIELD-BASED projects and teamwork focusing on one of three groups: Arthropod-borne Diseases, HIV/AIDS & STD Control, and Water & Sanitation. Students will conduct fieldwork each afternoon and some evenings. This includes mosquito trappings and larval surveys, water and sewage treatment plant evaluations, assessments of rodent control, analysis of surveillance data - the ultimate goal is to learn the use of field techniques to generate and analyze data. Teams will organize/develop research designs, culminating in group project presentations.
SITE VISITS to STD and HIV clinics and service centers, laboratories, rodent control sites, rural zones, water and sewage treatment facilities, and the Jamaican Ministry of Health, provide students with an in-depth look at some of the major public health issues in the context of applications of multi-factorial approaches to disease surveillance and control in resource-limited settings.
LECTURES in medical entomology, infectious disease epidemiology and disease surveillance and control, presented online prior to the course, will compliment on-site briefings by Jamaican scientists and public health experts. Readings will be assigned and students will be required to keep a field log.
CULTURAL IMMERSION and team building are vital components of the overall experience. All students live on the UWI campus. Jamaican students and public health practitioners are full and active participants in this program, and their participation brings valuable experience to the study of Jamaican public health issues. Built-in free time, social events, and cultural enrichment activities, including a free day in lovely Ochos, provide students time together, away from the intense academic focus of the program, as well as opportunities to explore Jamaica
More information available on the Sparkman Center's website at
http://www.soph.uab.edu/sparkman/default.aspx?id=33
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