The Foundations of Community Health and Policy course runs for 14 weeks in the Fall term, and is mandatory for all GDCPH students. This course will provide students with an understanding of community and public health, including the determinants of health and their relationship with community health outcomes. Students will gain an understanding of the major actors and organizations that create health policies in Canada, how policies are made, and the steps to create policy recommendations.

Learning outcomes:

1. Discuss the determinants of health and their relationship with community health outcomes
2. Identify major actors, organizations and policies in Public Health and related systems
3. Describe how policies are made
4. Apply steps to create policy recommendations

The Epidemiology and Research Methods in Community Health course runs for 14 weeks in the Winter term. This course is mandatory for all GDCPH students. This course will provide students with an introduction to basic epidemiology concepts, measures of determinants of health and health equity, and fundamental research methods used in public and community health.

Learning outcomes:

1. Understand key concepts in epidemiology, including observational and experimental study designs
2. Introduce additional health research methods, including qualitative studies, mixed methods designs, and systematic reviews
3. Develop skills in the critical appraisal of health research studies
4. Distinguish ethical practices in research methods such as OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession) principles for working with First Nations groups

Knowledge translation for community health runs for 14 weeks in the summer term. This course is mandatory for GDCPH students. This course will introduce students to the practice of knowledge translation (KT). Through this course, students will learn to find, appraise, synthesize, and communicate the best available evidence for use in community and public health efficiently and effectively.

Learning outcomes:

1. Recognize why community engagement is important in public health and community health
2. Identify databases, sources of information, peer-reviewed literature that provide health status indicators for communities
3. Describe effective communication principles for community health intervention
4. Describe the 7 steps of Evidence Informed Decision Making in Public Health
5. Critically Appraise literature using critical appraisal tools

The planning and evaluation for public and community health course runs for 14 weeks in the fall term. It is a mandatory course for all GDCPH students. Through this course, students will learn appropriate methods for planning public health initiatives and evaluating program success. Students will understand the importance of including stakeholders in the program planning and evaluation process and learn to apply community-based and participatory action research principles.

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe the various steps in commonly used planning and evaluation models
2. Develop stakeholder engagement plan that can be use in the planning process
3. Differentiate between types of evaluation
4. Apply principles of community-based research and participatory action research