CBH/PUBHLTH-401-eburduli-2025-10-30-04-06-19
Below is a syllabus template that includes WSU's required syllabus elements. Please complete all items highlighted in yellow.
Public Health in Practice
Prefix and Number 401
Semester and Year [tbd]
Number of Credit Hours 1
Prerequisites None
Course Details
Day and Time: [tbd]
Meeting Location: [tbd]
Instructor Contact Information
Instructor Name: Ekaterina Burduli, PhD
Instructor Contact Information: HERB 454; eburduli@wsu.edu
Instructor Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
TA Name: [tbd]
TA Contact Information: [office location, phone, email]: [tbd]
TA Office Hours: [click here for best practices] [tbd]
Course Description
This course features weekly guest speakers representing diverse roles in public health practice across Spokane and Washington State. Through presentations and facilitated discussion, students will explore real-world applications of public health principles, workforce pathways, ethical dilemmas, and community partnerships. Students will reflect on and integrate lessons from practitioners in government, healthcare, non-profits, and academia.
Course Materials
Books: Readings provided by instructor
Other Materials: None
Fees: None
|
Course Learning Outcomes (students will be able to:) |
Activities Supporting the Learning Outcomes | Assessment of the Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
|
Describe public health career pathways and practice settings. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Weekly reflections, discussions |
|
Identify challenges and innovations in practice. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Weekly reflections, discussions |
|
Analyze equity and ethical considerations in practice. |
Weeks 1-16 |
Weekly reflections, discussions |
|
Reflect on professional lessons from practitioners. |
Weeks 14-16 |
Final reflection synthesis |
|
Week |
Topic |
Guest/Activity |
Assignment |
|
1 |
Course Introduction & Overview of Public Health Practice |
Faculty-led introduction |
Reflection #1 – What does “public health in practice” mean to you? |
|
2 |
Local Public Health Infrastructure |
Spokane Regional Health District official |
— |
|
3 |
Community-Based Organizations in Action |
Non-profit leader (housing, food security, or harm reduction) |
Reflection #2 |
|
4 |
Public Health in Healthcare Settings |
Hospital/health system public health officer |
— |
|
5 |
Behavioral Health & Substance Use Services |
Community behavioral health provider |
Reflection #3 |
|
6 |
Maternal & Child Health Programs |
MCH program manager (local or state) |
— |
|
7 |
State-Level Public Health Policy & Advocacy |
WA State Department of Health representative |
Reflection #4 |
|
8 |
Environmental & Occupational Health |
Environmental health practitioner (air, water, workplace) |
— |
|
9 |
Rural & Frontier Health Challenges |
Rural health network director |
|
|
10 |
Epidemiology & Disease Surveillance |
State or local epidemiologist |
— |
|
11 |
Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response |
Emergency management/public health preparedness officer |
Reflection #5 |
|
12 |
Ethics & Equity in Public Health Practice |
Bioethicist or equity officer |
— |
|
13 |
Academia & Research Partnerships in Public Health |
WSU or university researcher |
Reflection #6 |
|
14 |
Workforce Pathways & Careers in Public Health |
Panel: Recent graduates / practitioners |
— |
|
15 |
Student Roundtable: Key Takeaways from the Seminar Series |
Faculty-led discussion |
|
|
16 |
Final Week |
Faculty-led; course synthesis |
Final Synthesis Reflection Due |
Expectations for Student Effort
For every hour of in-class instruction, or equivalent online instruction, students should expect at least 2-3 hours of outside class course preparation in the form of reading, course assignments, and review of previous materials.
Grading [add more lines if necessary]
| Type of Assignment (tests, papers, etc) | Points | Percent of Overall Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections (5 x 10 points each) | 50 | 50% |
| Final Synthesis | 20 | 20% |
| Attendance and Participation | 30 | 30% |
| Grade | Percent | Grade | Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 90-100% | ||
| B | 80-89% | ||
| C | 70-79% | ||
| D | 60-69% | ||
| F | 0-59% | ||
Standard rounding procedures will be applied to the percentages in order to calculate grades
Attendance and Make-Up Policy
Class periods will be highly interactive. Students will be expected to be prepared with a positive, respectful attitude and willingness to cooperate and communicate with all members of the class. They will be expected to come prepared having read and completed any assignments. I encourage you to make a transformation in the way you use this information to make you a better practitioner. Don’t stay stagnant in your practice; don’t be afraid to try new things. Learning is best facilitated through challenges and practice. Therefore, participation in discussions and group work will make up a portion of the final evaluation score. Students are expected to be present and on time to all class sessions. If students will not be able to attend class, they must contact me prior to that session, or the absence will be entered as unexcused. A deduction of points for each unexcused absence will be taken from the total points at the end of the semester.
***Deadlines for reflections are typically set at 11:59 p.m. on Friday evenings, However, I know life happens and sometimes you need a bit of extra time, so I will leave the submission links open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday nights. Anything that is submitted after the official deadline but before the link closes will be a late submission and will be accepted but have 20% deducted from the grade. You don’t have to request permission or provide an excuse to use this late submission option while the Canvas link is still open. If you need more time after the Canvas link has closed on Sunday night, please reach out and let me know so we can figure something out. Remember, you have the option to skip/miss 1 reflection out of the 6, since only 5 will be counted.***
Academic Integrity Statement
You are responsible for reading WSU's Academic Integrity Policy, which is based on Washington State law. If you cheat in your work in this class you will:
-[All members of the university community share responsibility for maintaining and promoting the principles of integrity in all activities, including academic integrity and honest scholarship. Students are responsible for understanding the full Academic Integrity statement found online at vpue.wsu.edu/policies/statements/#academic-integrity. Students who violate WSU’s Academic Integrity Policy (identified in Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 504-26-010(3) and -404) will receive an F as a final grade in this course, will not have the option to withdraw from the course pending an appeal, and will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. If you have any questions about what is and is not allowed in the course, you should ask course instructors.
Presenting the information, ideas, or phrasing of another person as your own work without proper acknowledgment of the source. Our policy makes no distinction between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. In my experience, most students commit "academic integrity violations" for one of two reasons - either they genuinely do not understand how to correctly cite and quote other people's writing, or they have run out of time on an assignment. Both are wholly avoidable, and I would love to help you avoid them! If you in the first category and are not entirely sure about where research stops and plagiarism starts, there are good resources at UCLALinks to an external site., OnlineColleges.net,Links to an external site. and at WSU's Community Standards CenterLinks to an external site. I am also happy to answer questions about this if you need clarification. If you are in the second category and have fallen behind or got swamped with work, please just reach out and ask for an extension, which I am essentially always happy to grant. The deadlines for assignments are because I need to break assessments up so that they can occur close to when the content was taught and so that my grading load is distributed somewhat evenly throughout the semester. Having a student take an extra week or two here and there is not a big deal at all.
Consequences of plagiarism or other academic integrity violations may include penalties such as losing all points on the assignment or being reported to the Community Conduct Center. Dealing with these violations is no fun for me and no fun for the student, so let's just steer clear and spend our time together teaching and learning instead.]
-Be reported to the Center for Community Standards
-Have the right to appeal my decision
-Not be able to drop the course of withdraw from the course until the appeals process is finished
If you have any questions about what you can and cannot do in this course, ask me.
If you want to ask for a change in my decision about academic integrity, use the form at the Center for Community Standards website. You must submit this request within 21 calendar days of the decision.