Postgraduate Course: Public Health Policy (on campus) (PUHR11120)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This ten-credit course provides students with an introductory overview of public health policy. Students are introduced to health policy, its role, importance and diversity. A health policy framework is used to allow students to examine the context in which policy is made; the technical content of the policy itself; the actors involved in shaping policy, such as the state, the private sector and interest groups; and theories to explain why a policy does or does not move from conception, to implementation, and evaluation. By the end of the course, students will have an awareness of the complexities of policy making, and some strategies to use in their own policy environment. |
| Course description |
This is a five-week course worth 10 credits. Students are expected to spend 14-20 hours per week on this course. Students will be given a brief overview of the course and will then be provided with relevant materials and resources. Specific individual and collaborative tasks, including face to face and online discussion activities, will be set. Each week there will be one face to face session, which will include an interactive lecture and groupwork, the latter of which will include working towards preparation of a joint group assignment, to be submitted at the end of week three.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 75 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 4,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Online Activities 35,
Formative Assessment Hours 5,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
48 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework |
| Feedback |
Written feedback will be given on final course assignment |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically examine the role of the state in advancing public health and the breadth and scope of policy levers available within and outside of the health system.
- Apply generic tools to a) understand and analyse the policy making process; b) assess the suitability of a public health problem for a policy solution.
- Identify and conceptualise barriers and facilitators to the use of research in policy making and propose strategies to support evidence-based policy.
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Reading List
| A full reading list will be provided on Learn. A key text will be 'Making Health Policy', by Kent Buse, Nicolas Mays and Gill Wait. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
During the course students will have to demonstrate the ability to work both independently and collaboratively with others. Their knowledge and understanding of the topic will improve but they will also learn generic approaches/skills such as classifying information, critically analysing materials and evaluation skills. Group work during tutorials will further enhance this experience. Finally, they will be expected to be able to bring together and draw from information provided through the course during their essay writing. Competencies such as structuring of work and accurate referencing should improve. |
| Keywords | Health policy,policy analysis,health policy framework |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Christine Evans
Tel: (01316) 503227
Email: cevans33@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lucy Courage
Tel: (0131 6)51 7111
Email: lcourage@ed.ac.uk |
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