PH 316a Research Project in Applied Epidemiology and Health Research

Course Description:
Students, in this course, will be exposed to the reality of practical research. With the acquired knowledge of health research methodologies and epidemiological principles, and based on the current health issues in the communities, students are expected to apply and undertake a research project on the topic of their interest in a logical and meaningful fashion, with guiding consultations with relevant faculty, throughout the project.

• Prerequisite Courses: PH 312

A. PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES (PLOS):
The student will be able to:

1. Recognize, describe and discuss and research about the basic principles and practices of the specialty;
2. List, discuss and demonstrate the essential public health functions or the specialty and its interrelationships with the other specialties and health disciplines at community and national levels;
3. Describe, discuss and research adult, children and family health issues at community level;
4. Discuss and demonstrate an understanding and practice of the specialty public health competencies;
5. Demonstrate proper public health skills for its practice in the community as a national specialty practitioner;
6. Discuss and demonstrate community and cultural sensitivity in the health care environment;
7. Describe, discuss and research the health determinants and problems of adults, children and families;
8. Demonstrate proper cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid techniques and other healing and patient care abilities;
9. Demonstrate the ability and discuss how to conduct a community diagnosis and need assessment of the health determinants of the specialty in a community;
10. Identify and demonstrate good practice in the specialty; and
11. Have had management, planning experience and leadership role at a public health specialty at community and national levels.

B. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLOS) - GENERAL
The student will be able to:

1. Complete the proposed research project in all its stages, including a written report on the research findings
2. Make an oral presentation on the research to the faculty, student peers and other interested audience

I = Introduced
D = Demonstrated
M = Mastered

C. STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES (SLOS) – SPECIFIC
The student will be able to:

General SLO 1: Complete the proposed research project in all its stages, including a written report on the research findings.

General SLO 2: Develop comprehensive research proposal on the identified topic.

General SLO 3: Begin the proposed research project, including data collection and literature review.

D. COURSE CONTENT

1. Research proposal formulation
2. Identification of research topic
3. Development of research proposal
4. Selections of research methodologies
5. Data Collection
6. Literature Review

1. Overall instruction:
   1.1 The instructor/ mentor will guide the student through the subsequent steps of the research project, as per SLOs 1 and 2 above
   1.2 The research mentor/ supervisor(s) will guide and support the student in final research steps as per SLOs 3 and 4 above
2. Interactions between instructor/ mentor and student: normally on a weekly basis, for the following purposes:
   2.1 Completion of data collection
   2.2 Analysis and interpretation of data
   2.3 Consolidation of findings into a written report
   2.4 Overall progress monitoring of the research project
3. Meetings between student and his/her supervisor(s): to be discussed and agreed upon at the commencement of the research project, to discuss, plan and consolidate the following:
   3.1 Managerial and operational steps for the implementation of the research project
   3.2 Technical and logistic matters pertaining the research undertaking

F. REQUIRED TEXT AND COURSE MATERIALS
None

G. REFERENCE MATERIALS
The World Health Organization. (2001). Health research methodology (2nd Ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: WHO, WPRO (or most recent edition).
Creswell JW. (2008). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (3rd Ed.). London, England: Sage Publication Inc. (or most recent edition).
Brink H., Walt CVD. (2005). Fundamental of research methodologies for health-care professionals(2nd Ed.). Cape Town, South Africa: Juta Academic. (or most recent edition).

H. INSTRUCTIONAL COST
none

I. EVALUATION
None

J. CREDIT BY EXAMINATION
None