| Unit name | Public Health Principles, Practice and Priorities |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BRMSM0078 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kidger |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Why is this unit important?
Public health practice involves working collaboratively and creatively to apply knowledge, skills and strategies to improve the health and well-being of the population. This unit will introduce you to the key principles underpinning public health and provide you with the skills, techniques and context to practice public health, across the three domains of health protection, health improvement, and healthcare public health. You will be encouraged to consider health inequalities, ethical principles of public health, and the wider determinants of health in a global as well as UK context. You will also explore the key inter-personal skills that are important for public health practice such advocacy, influencing and engaging others.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit fits within the overarching programme aims through its provision of a firm theoretical grounding in the principles and practice of public health. We will consider the prevalence and patterns of important diseases across populations, and the evidence base regarding effective interventions to address those diseases, which will require you to draw on skills gained in the Epidemiology and Statistics, and Research Methods units in Teaching Block 1. The skills and knowledge that you gain in this unit will help to prepare you for the dissertation
Overview of content
This unit will include information on the key issues and principles that affect and shape public health practice, including an understanding of the methods that public health professionals use to appraise and apply evidence. Drawing on current public health topics, teaching will cover theory, needs assessment, policy and strategy development, communication, and leadership in health systems, to illustrate application in practice. Research-led teaching will draw on particularly pertinent health improvement areas, such as cancer, mental health and obesity, to illustrate key concepts.
How will students, personally be different as a result of the unit
You will have an understanding of the key concepts and issues that affect practice and priorities across the three domains of public health, and the opportunities for public health staff to work within public health care systems to improve population health. This will include an understanding of the importance of data, communication and negotiation, and strategy, to facilitate change and population health improvement. The core knowledge and skills that you develop in this unit will prepare you for a public health career in settings such as health services, government, research and the not-for-profit sector both nationally and internationally.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit you will be able to:
The learning methods on this unit reflect our overarching aim of enabling you to apply relevant technical skills and knowledge to real-world public health challenges and familiarising you with the collaborative nature of public health practice. The unit therefore uses a mixture of lectures (in-person and online) and in-person group-based practical sessions/problem-based learning exercises based on case studies from the UK, European, and international health examples.
You will learn about core concepts through lectures, where you will be given opportunities to ask questions. These sessions will be supplemented with small group work, where working in groups, you will discuss your ideas and understanding with others and work together to solve problems. Self-directed asynchronous work will support and consolidate your learning and will include reading, accessing web-based supplementary materials, listening to pre-recorded mini-lectures, podcasts and other materials, conducting critical analysis and online discussion boards. The formative assignment will include small group inquiry conducted outside formal teaching hours.
These ways of learning will prepare you for the summative assessment, which involves synthesising the information you have learnt in the unit and applying it to solve problems.
Tasks which will help you to learn and prepare for summative tasks (formative):
During the unit, there will be groupwork activities where we will work together discussing and reflecting on different aspects of the principles and practice of public health. These activities will give you the opportunity to consolidate and apply your knowledge and
understanding from sessions.
There will also be a formative assessment where working in a small group you will be asked to consider and discuss short answer questions, which will be similar in style to the ones you will be asked for the summative assessment. You will present the group work to your peers to facilitate shared learning. Feedback will be provided to groups and to the whole cohort of students.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
A single written assignment assessing all ILOs will form the summative assignment.
When assessment does not go to plan:
If you do not pass the unit, you will normally be given the opportunity to take a reassessment as per the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes. Decisions on the award of reassessment will normally be taken after all taught units of the year have been completed. Reassessment will normally be in a similar format to the original assessment that has been failed.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BRMSM0078).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
