Apr 18, 2024  
2021/2022 University Catalog 
    
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2021/2022 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Public Health

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OFFICE: Hardy Tower 119
TELEPHONE: 619-594-6317 / FAX: 619-594-6112
WEBSITE: http://publichealth.sdsu.edu

Faculty

Office of the Director

Interim Director: Eyal Oren, Associate Professor of Public Health, (B.A., Cornell University; M.S., University of Washington; Ph.D., University of Washington)

Associate Director for Student Affairs and Graduate Advisor: Penelope J.E. Quintana, Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of California, Davis; M.P.H., San Diego State University; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley)

Associate Director for Academic Affairs: Jerel P. Calzo, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; M.A., University of Michigan; M.P.H., Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; Ph.D., University of Michigan)

Associate Director for Research: Susan M. Kiene, Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of Nebraska; M.A., University of Connecticut; M.P.H., Harvard University School of Public Health; Ph.D., University of Connecticut)

Lecturers

Kristen Emory, Lecturer of Public Health, Undergraduate Advisor, Division Head (B.A., San Diego State University; M.A., San Diego State University; Ph.D., San Diego State University - University of California, San Diego) 

Leticia Cazares, Lecturer of Public Health, Applied Practice Advisor, Graduate Advising Assistant (B.A., San Francisco State University; M.P.H., San Diego State University) 
Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Stephanie Brodine, Professor of Public Health, Emeritus, Division Head (B.S., Biology, College of Wooster; M.D., Georgetown University)

Richard A. Shaffer, Professor of Public Health (B.A., Jacksonville University; M.P.H., University of South Carolina; Ph.D., University of South Carolina) 

Faramarz Valafar, Professor of Public Health (M.Sc., Michigan Technological University; Ph.D., Purdue University) 

Elena Yu, Professor of Public Health (M.A., University of Notre Dame; M.P.H., Columbia University; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame)  

John E. Alcaraz, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of California, San Diego; M.A., University of California, San Diego; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego)

Caroline A. Thompson, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of North Carolina; M.P.H., University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles) 

Tianying Wu, Associate Professor of Public Health (M.D., Capital University of Medical Sciences; M.S., Harvard School of Public Health; Ph.D., University of North Carolina)

Humberto Parada Jr., Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of California, Los Angeles; M.P.H., San Diego State University; Ph.D., University of North Carolina) 

Mingan Yang, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.S., Fudan University; Ph.D., University of New Mexico) 

Adjunct Faculty

Miguel A. Fraga, Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health (B.A., Preparatoria Federal Lazaro Cardenas; M.Sc., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California; H.Sc.D., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California; M.D., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California)

Health Management and Policy

Tracy L. Finlayson, Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of California, Davis; Ph.D., University of Michigan)

Carleen H. Stoskopf, Professor of Public Health (B.S., Valparaiso University; M.S., University of Minnesota; Sc.D., Johns Hopkins University)  

Jong-Deuk Baek, Associate Professor of Public Health, Division Head (B.A., KyungHee University; M.B.A., KyungHee University; Ph.D., KyungHee University; Ph.D., University of South Carolina)  

Lauren L. Brown, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of Southern California; M.P.H., Tulane University; Ph.D., University of Southern California) 

Brandy J. Lipton, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.A., Colby College; M.A., Northwestern University; Ph.D., Northwestern University) 

Melody K. Schiaffino, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of Missouri; M.P.H., University of South Florida; Ph.D., University of Florida) 

Lecturers

Nicola Macchione, Lecturer in Public Health, John J. Hanlon Executive Scholar (B.A.,Rutgers State University; M.S., New York University; M.P.H., Columbia University)

Health Promotion and Behavioral Science

Guadalupe X. Ayala, Professor of Public Health, Division Head (B.A., University of San Diego; M.A., California State University, San Marcos; M.P.H., San Diego State University; Ph.D., San Diego State University - University of California, San Diego)

Elva M. Arredondo, Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of Washington, Seattle; M.A., Duke University; Ph.D., Duke University)

Heather L. Corliss, Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison; M.P.H., University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles)

John P. Elder, Ph.D., M.P.H., Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Public Health, Emeritus (B.A., University of Nebraska; M.A., West Virginia University; M.P.H., Boston University; Ph.D., West Virginia University)

Jerel P. Calzo, Associate Professor for Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; M.A., University of Michigan; M.P.H., Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; Ph.D., University of Michigan)

Noe C. Crespo, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.S., California State University, Los Angeles; M.A., California State University, Los Angeles; M.P.H., University of Southern California; Ph.D., San Diego State University - University of California, San Diego)

Elizabeth Reed, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.S., Lafayette College; M.P.H., Boston University School of Public Health; Sc.D., Harvard University School of Public Health)

Emily A. Schmied, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.S., San Diego State University; M.P.H., San Diego State University; Ph.D., San Diego State University - University of California, San Diego)

Erik D. Storhom, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.A., San Francisco State University; M.A., California State University, Long Beach; Ph.D. New York University)

Environmental Health

Eunha Hoh, Professor of Public Health, Division Head (B.S., Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; M.S., Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; M.S., Indiana University; Ph.D., Indiana University) 

Richard M. Gersberg, Professor of Public Health, Emeritus, (B.S., City University of New York; M.S., University of Houston; Ph.D., University of California-Davis)

Zohir Chowdhury, Associate Professor of Public Health (B.S., Montana Tech of the University of Montana; M.S., California Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology)

Karilyn E. Sant, Assistant Professor of Public Health (B.S., University of Michigan; M.P.H., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Michigan) 

Preventive Medicine Residency

Linda L. Hill, Professor at UCSD School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Director (M.P.H., M.D.) 

Jill Waalen, Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health, Associate Director of the Residency (B.A., Concordia College; M.S., University of Wisconsin; M.P.H., San Diego State University; M.D., University of Wisconsin)

Ryan Moran, Lecturer in Public Health, Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Public Health, UCSD (B.A., University of California, Davis; M.P.H., San Diego State University; M.D., University of Maryland) 

Deepa Sannidhi, Assistant Professor at UCSD Family Medicine and Public Health, UCSD (M.D.)

Lecturers

Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, Lecturer in Public Health (B.S., Ithaca College; M.P.H., San Diego State University; Ph.D., San Diego State University - University of California, San Diego)

Emeritus Faculty

Kenneth J. Bart, M.D., 1998-2004, Professor of Public Health

Stephen J. Bender, H.S.D., 1970-2004, Professor of Public Health

Albert Chang, M.D., 1991-2007, Professor of Public Health

John B. Conway, Ph.D., 1981-1992, Professor of Public Health

Ann De Peyster, Ph.D., 1983-2011, Professor of Public Health

John P. Elder, Ph.D., 1984-2013, Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Public Health

Louise K. Hofherr, Ph.D., 1987-2010, Associate Professor of Public Health

Melbourne F. Hovell, Ph.D., 1982-2015, Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Public Health

Alma L. Koch, Ph.D., 1983-2013, Professor of Public Health

Suzanne P. Lindsay, Ph.D., 2007-2015, Associate Professor of Public Health

Caroline A. Macera, Ph.D., 2001-2014, Professor of Public Health

Joni A. Mayer, Ph.D., 1986-2010, Professor of Public Health

James V. Noto, H.S.D., 1969-2001, Associate Professor of Public Health

Thomas E. Novotny, M.D., 2009-2015, Professor of Public Health

K. Michael Peddecord, Dr.P.H., 1981-2005, Professor of Public Health

Dennis D. Pointer, Ph.D., 1991-2002, Professor of Public Health

F. Douglas Scutchfield, M.D., 1980-1997, Professor of Public Health

Robert L. Seidman, Ph.D., 1981-2013, Associate Professor of Public Health

Karen L. Senn, Ed.D., M.P.H., 1977-2002, Professor of Public Health

Donald J. Slymen, Ph.D., 1988-2011, Professor of Public Health

Stephen J. Williams, Sc.D., 1980-2014, Associate Dean, College of Health and Human Services; Professor of Public Health

Winnie O. Willis, Sc.D., 1984-2004, Professor of Public Health

The Major

The public health major provides a broad educational opportunity and exposure of undergraduate students to the field of public health and its many disciplines. The major prepares students to develop, implement, and assess public health programs conducted in varied settings, with diverse populations and aimed at reducing threats to public health. The major prepares students for entry-level positions in a variety of settings, including government agencies, private/voluntary agencies, hospitals, clinics, and international programs. Students develop basic competencies in public health concepts, theories, and methods. Students are exposed to the disciplines of epidemiology, environmental health, occupational health, health services administration, and behavioral science. The program of study uses examples of public health problems from all of these disciplines.

Retention Policy

The College of Health and Human Services expects that all public health majors will make reasonable academic progress towards the degree. Public health premajors who have completed major preparatory courses, earned 60 units, but have less than a 2.9 GPA may be removed from the premajor and placed in undeclared.

Impacted Program and Standards for Admission

The public health major is an impacted program. To be admitted to the public health major, students must meet the following criteria:

  1. Receive a grade of B (3.0) or better in P H 101  and P H 292 . These courses cannot be taken for credit/no credit (Cr/NC);
  2. Complete each remaining course in preparation for the major with a minimum grade of C. These courses cannot be taken for credit/no credit (Cr/NC);
  3. Complete all courses in preparation for the major with a minimum GPA of 2.75;
  4. Have a cumulative GPA of 2.90 or better.

To complete the major, students must fulfill the degree requirements for the major described in the catalog in effect at the time they are accepted into the premajor at SDSU (assuming continuous enrollment).

Major Academic Plans (MAPs)

Visit http://www.sdsu.edu/mymap for the recommended courses needed to fulfill your major requirements. The MAPs website was created to help students navigate the course requirements for their majors and to identify which General Education course will also fulfill a major preparation course requirement.

The John J. Hanlon Chair in Health Services Research and Policy

Alvarado Hospital Medical Center has joined with SDSU’s faculty and staff to create The John J. Hanlon Chair in Health Services Research and Policy in the School of Public Health (SPH). The chair is named in honor of the late Dr. John J. Hanlon, former assistant surgeon general for the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Hanlon coordinated the planning and development of SDSU’s School of Public Health.

General Information

The School of Public Health offers advanced study leading to the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Public Health, Master of Science, and a program that allows students to earn the Master of Public Health concurrently with the Master of Social Work, the Master of Arts in Latin American Studies, or the Doctor of Medicine. The Ph.D. is offered in three concentration areas, epidemiology, global health, and health behavior, with various specialization opportunities (see doctoral program); the M.P.H. is offered with concentrations in the areas of environmental health, epidemiology, health promotion and behavioral science, and health management and policy; the M.S. degree is offered in the areas of environmental health sciences and epidemiology. In addition to these advanced degree programs, the school offers a preventive medicine residency program that prepares qualified physicians to sit for the American Board of Preventive Medicine certification examination. Residents may receive the M.P.H. degree along with completion of this residency program. 

The School of Public Health is nationally accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). The graduate program in health management and policy is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Management Education (CAHME), and the preventive medicine residency program is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The curriculum in the School of Public Health has been designed to prepare students as practitioners of public health as well as for careers in teaching and research and as leaders in both public and private sector agencies and organizations. To accomplish this mission effectively, the faculty of the School of Public Health is augmented by expert practitioners in specialized fields related to public health who contribute to both the academic and practical experiences of students pursuing public health degrees. These professionals, who hold research or adjunct professorships in the school, come from a variety of settings such as the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), HMOs, hospitals, industry, managed care agencies, military services, and other academic institutions.

The School of Public Health has established close cooperation with the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. The UCSD medical school faculty has joined the public health faculty at SDSU in offering the Ph.D. in public health as well as the preventive medicine residency program. Under a special affiliation agreement between the two institutions, medical students at UCSD may take public health courses at SDSU while pursuing their medical studies and, if they choose, earn the M.D. and M.P.H. degrees concurrently. Likewise, SDSU students pursuing advanced study in the SPH may enroll for specialized courses in the medical school.

This broad network of individual practitioners and the institutions they serve provides a variety of health facilities in which students at the SPH may meet field studies and practicum requirements. Many of these opportunities are available not only in the San Diego region, but also in Mexico. The school’s proximity to the Mexican border has led to the development of strong professional ties between the faculty and students of the SPH and their counterparts in Baja California. Special arrangements with the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California enable students to take courses for credit at the Tijuana campus. This connection has produced a continuing series of jointly sponsored binational research and service projects designed to improve public health conditions and health services on both sides of the border.

Research

Faculty and student research in the broad interdisciplinary field of public health is conducted within the various specialized areas that are generally defined by the degree concentrations. The following descriptions illustrate the focus of research within each of these areas.

Environmental Health: Identification, evaluation and control of chemical, biological and physical agents in the environment. Current emphasis is on U.S.-Mexico border issues, water quality, and environmental justice, and on applying emerging technologies to environmental programs.

Epidemiology: Identification of biological, environmental, social, and behavioral risk factors of human disease; determination of the distribution and etiology of disease in human populations, particularly infectious and chronic diseases.

Health Promotion and Behavioral Science: Identification of risk and protective factors associated with physical and mental health and the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at changing multi-level determinants of health outcomes; emphasis is placed on vulnerable populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, and underserved populations.

Health Management and Policy: Management of health care facilities, services, and organizations; planning and evaluation of public and private sector programs; administration and operations in specialty services, hospitals, ambulatory care, insurance companies, HMOs, and other health-related organizations.

Affiliated Research Centers

In an effort to serve the community at large, the School of Public Health sponsors the Institute for Public Health (IPH). The IPH serves as the school’s bridge with the community and public health practice organizations, facilitating field practice opportunities, community-based research, and public health program implementation and evaluation. The IPH also serves as a venue for continuing public health and healthcare education.

In addition, a number of research centers and institutes have been established to integrate the specialized research of its faculty and students. These are the Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health (CBEACH), the Center for Research on Sexuality and Sexual Health (SASH), and the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health (IBACH). For more information on these centers, see our website: https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/, as well as the College of Health and Human Services , https://chhs.sdsu.edu/.

Admission to Master’s and Doctoral Study

Master of Public Health Degree
Master of Science Degree in Epidemiology
Master of Science Degree in Public Health, concentration Environmental Health Sciences
Master of Public Health Degree and Master of Arts Degree in Latin American Studies
Master of Social Work Degree and Master of Public Health Degree

Students applying for admission should electronically submit the university application available at http://www.calstate.edu/apply along with the application fee as described in Admission and Registration .

All applicants must submit admissions materials separately to SDSU Graduate Admissions and to the School of Public Health via SOPHAS as detailed in https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/admissions/.

Students who do not fully meet the requirements for admission with classified graduate standing may be considered for conditionally classified graduate standing upon recommendation of the admissions committee and the graduate adviser.

Master of Social Work Degree and Master of Public Health Degree

In addition to above application procedures, students applying for admission should follow application procedures detailed in the School of Social Work website https://socialwork.sdsu.edu/degrees-programs/graduate-programs/msw-mph-master-of-social-work-and-master-of-public-health/.

Ph.D. Degree in Public Health

School of Public Health

Students applying for admission to the joint doctoral program between SDSU and UCSD should electronically submit the SDSU university application available at http://www.calstate.edu/apply along with the application fee as described in Admission and Registration .

All applicants must submit admissions materials separately to SDSU Graduate Admissions and to the School of Public Health via SOPHAS as detailed in https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/admissions/ .https://publichealth.sdsu.edu/admissions/ 

In addition, student must follow application procedures as detailed in http://ph.ucsd.edu/jdp/admissions/index.html. This site provides information on application procedures and deadlines.

Programs

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