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Overview

Course Prescription

To introduce frameworks and tools for measuring and understanding and improving the health of populations, both locally and globally. These frameworks and tools are derived from epidemiology, demography, public health, environmental health and global health sciences.

Course Overview

Population health is just what it suggests – the health of populations – and the goal of studying population health is to improve the health of populations. Students on this course will be introduced to frameworks and tools for measuring the frequency, understanding the causes and controlling the impact of dis-ease (i.e. poor health) in populations, both locally and globally. We use frameworks and tools to describe the distributions of dis-ease (how frequently it occurs in different populations) and the determinants (the causes) of different distributions of dis-ease in populations. This knowledge helps to inform ways of controlling the impact of dis-ease through health promotion and disease prevention programmes in whole populations, through planning better health services for specific populations and through improving health care practice for groups within populations.
Traditionally health sciences and practice have been most concerned with each individual patient as an ‘island’, and with the biomedical disciplines such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pathology, that “look inside” that individual to identify causes of dis-ease and possible treatments (the microscope approach). Although medicine’s approach to the health of individuals extends beyond a simply biomedical model, the study of population health brings another important dimension to both health science and health practice by “looking outside” the individual to groups (and populations) and to the effects of the physical and social environment on health of individuals and groups (the telescope approach).
This course introduces future health professionals (both clinical and non-clinical) to:

  1. Epidemiology, which is the science of measuring the distribution and determinants of dis-ease frequency in populations and the effectiveness of interventions to control dis-ease;
  2. The social and environmental determinants of dis-ease and their distributions in populations;
  3. Population health interventions to improve population health through health promotion and through the prevention and management of dis-ease; and
  4. The distribution, determinants and control of important local and global population health

Course Contacts

Course Director: Roshini Peiris-John

Course Coordinator: Dennis Hsu

E-mail contacts: poplhlth111@auckland.ac.nz

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.

For this course, you can expect 36 hours of lectures, a 10 hour tutorial, 3 hours per week of reading and thinking about the content and 5-6 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.

Advice on Course Limits

This is a limited entry course: there is a limit on the number of enrolments due to staff or space capacity. In cases where the courses is taught under two separate codes (e.g. concurrently taught courses, general education courses) the course limit specified is the total across both versions of the course. For more information, please see the Programme and Course Limitations section of the University Academic and General Statutes and Regulations.

Locations and Semesters Offered

LocationSemester
City

Teaching and Learning

Campus Experience

Attendance is required at scheduled activities including workshops to receive credit for components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including workshops and office hours will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including workshops.
Attendance on campus is required for the test and exam.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.

Learning Resources

Taught courses use a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas to provide students with learning materials including reading lists and lecture recordings (where available). Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Additional Information on Learning Resources

This course DOES NOT have a prescribed textbook; however we advise students to read Essential Epidemiology (4th Edition) by Webb, Bain and Page, as the suggested supplementary text for Blocks 1 and 2. The required readings stated on the lecture outlines can be found through Reading Lists.

Copyright

The content and delivery of content in this course are protected by copyright. Material belonging to others may have been used in this course and copied by and solely for the educational purposes of the University under license.


You may copy the course content for the purposes of private study or research, but you may not upload onto any third-party site, make a further copy or sell, alter or further reproduce or distribute any part of the course content to another person.

Learning Continuity

In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.

Similarly, research students must meet the University’s expectations of good research practice. This requires:

  • Honesty - in all aspects of research work
  • Accountability - in the conduct of research
  • Professional courtesy and fairness – in working with others
  • Good stewardship – on behalf of others
  • Transparency – of research process and presentation of results
  • Clarity - communication to be understandable, explainable and accessible

For more information on the University’s expectations of academic integrity, please see the Academic Conduct section of the University policy hub.

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about taught courses is made available to enrolled students in Canvas.

Students may be asked to submit assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.


Assessment and Learning Outcomes

Course Learning Outcomes

CLO #OutcomeProgramme Capability Link
1
2
3
4
5

Assessments

Assessment TypeAssessment PercentageAssessment Classification

Assessment to CLO Mapping

Assessment Type12345

Student Feedback, Support and Charter

Student Feedback

Feedback on taught courses is gathered from students at the end of each semester through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions. Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students. In addition, class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Additional Information on Student Feedback

About 8.5% of the 2024 cohort completed the anonymous SET evaluations. We are delighted those students reported that they were satisfied with the quality of this course.
We have also received some helpful suggestions about improvements that we could make. While students enjoyed working in teams on their group project, they also suggested that it would be good if the marks allocated to the group work was reduced.  We have now done this by increasing the weightage of the online MCQs and reducing the allocation for group work. 

Class representatives

Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.

Tuākana

Tuākana is a multi-faceted programme for Māori and Pacific students providing topic specific tutorials, one-on-one sessions, test and exam preparation and more. Explore your options at Tuakana Learning Communities.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website.

Wellbeing

We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - please see the Support Services page for information on support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed work is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due. If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page. This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter.

Student Academic Complaints and Disputes

Students with concerns about teaching including how a course is delivered, the resources provided, or supervision arrangements, have the right to express their concerns and seek resolution. The university encourages informal resolution where possible, as this is quicker and less stressful. For information on the informal and formal complaints processes, please refer to the Student Academic Complaints Statute in the Student Policies and Guidelines section of the Policy Hub.