The 60-hour multidisciplinary, collaborative Certificate in Population Health and Well-being program, overseen and administered by the Institute for Population Health at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar will enable learners to gain knowledge and skills in the broad domains of population health and well-being. Some topics include healthcare delivery, basics of epidemiology and biostatistics, disease causation and prevention, communicable and non-communicable diseases, lifestyle and complementary medicine, and contemporary health topics such as pandemics, planetary health, health inequity, and digital health. Additionally, the course will enable healthcare practitioners to learn about evidence based practice, the future of healthcare and sustainability, understand what equitable culturally competent patient care means and become “change agents” to promote physical and mental health, and social well-being. The ultimate goal of the certificate course is to improve the overall quality of life for individuals and population health outcomes.
The course is presented in 5 modules by means of didactic lectures, seminars, and panel discussions with ample time for questions and answers (40 hours, in-person unit). Attendance and participation in this live, in-person unit is required. Additionally, the course participants have an opportunity to engage in self-study and online learning (20 hours, self-study unit 2). This online self-study unit is complementary to the in-person unit. Completion of this online self-study unit is also required.
Identified Practice Gaps/Educational Needs
In general, health school curricula are inadequate in population health and health promotion related curricula. Consequently, many health professionals lack knowledge and skills in population health and wellbeing. This course provides the knowledge and unique skill set to the participants interested in contributing to health improvement. It enables course participants to recognize the full array of factors which affect the health of communities and learn how better health outcomes can be achieved. Furthermore, the course guides and prepares the attendees to promote health awareness, and participate in public health and healthcare educational, research, community engagement and wellness activities.
Attendees will be able to apply evidence based scientific knowledge to promote population health and well-being, support health-related collaborations and partnerships, bridge the health literacy gap in communities, advance leadership and management skills, and advance health and wellness personal and professional goals. The goal is to improve population health outcomes.
Target Audience
This course is intended for allied health professionals, researchers, educators, public health professionals, physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, healthcare administrators, and others.
If you do not belong to the target audience and would like to enroll in the course, please email iph@qatar-med.cornell.edu.
The course is open to all healthcare professionals and the content is not necessarily aimed at any specific healthcare professional group for example nutritionists, doctors etc.
Limited scholarships are available for residents of Qatar.
Overall Learning Objectives
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Discuss population health and strategies to improve health world-wide.
- Review basic concepts of health research, epidemiology, statistics and evidence approach to public health and medicine.
- Explain the health-disease paradigm, and the social, environmental, and behavioral determinants of health, disease, and injury.
- Discuss healthcare delivery, and its opportunities, and challenges.
- Examine contemporary and emerging topics.
Module Learning Objectives
Module 1: Health and disease paradigm, population health and preventive medicine
- Discuss commonly used terms in population health and healthcare.
- Discuss population health, its concepts, and challenges.
- Examine determinants of health and disease: biological, social, environmental, occupational, and behavioral.
- Outline steps to improve population health worldwide.
Module 2: Health quantitative sciences and evidence
- Recognize basic epidemiological, biostatistical and research concepts.
- Discuss evidence-based approach to healthcare and medical practice.
- Interpret published research findings.
Module 3: Health care systems and delivery
- Discuss healthcare delivery, and its opportunities and challenges.
- Summarize various traditional systems of medicine practiced around the world.
- Review healthcare for people in disadvantaged situations.
- Discuss cultural competence in healthcare systems.
Module 4: Burden of disease (Communicable and Non-communicable disease)
- Outline the basic concepts of communicable diseases
- Summarize the epidemiology, causation, and control of commonly occurring communicable diseases including pandemics
- Discuss the epidemiology, causes and the disease paradigm of chronic (non-communicable) illnesses.
Module 5: Optimizing health and wellbeing: what more can we do?
- Discuss the future of healthcare and population health.
- Describe emerging concepts to improve health.
Institute for Population Health