PhD Graduate Elective Courses

This course will build upon students' knowledge of multiple regression and factor analysis by introducing them to a more integrated analytical framework — structural equation modeling. This technique goes by many names, among them covariance structure analysis, latent variable analysis, and causal modeling, and subsumes many other multivariate methods (e.g., path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis). An understanding of structural equation modeling will be developed by relating it to students' previous knowledge of multiple linear regression, exploratory factor analysis, and multivariate methods more broadly.

This course has as its prerequisites EDMS651 (GLM II) and EDMS657 (Exploratory Latent and Composite Variable Methods). It assumes no prior experience with structural equation modeling and is intended as both a theoretical and practical treatment. The course will use the popular software package Mplus for examining structural models. Registered students will be given access to a server to run analyses for their in-class and out-of-class exercises.

This course is intended to introduce students to structural equation modeling. Students identify situations where structural equation modeling should be used, compare and contrast structural equation modeling with other data analysis techniques, and conduct structural equation data analyses. Finally, students write a journal article based on a structural equation analysis using a dataset of their choice. Prerequisites: SOWK 804, SOWK 805, SOWK 806, and SOWK 807; or permission of the instructor.

As community-engaged public health professionals and scholars, we regularly tackle complex research questions as we work in partnership with the communities we serve towards health equity in our society. Training in a wide range of innovative qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research approaches is critical to preparing us to do this important work. Learning how to serve as a conduit for community voice through the integrated use of quantitative and qualitative methods in public health research is an important skillset. This experiential course will include an introduction to several mixed method research methods. Students will design several mixed method studies over the course of the semester. We will explore a range of innovative methodological applications through our “research in action” guest scholar series. This course is designed to provide students core skills in rigorous, innovative mixed method research design as they prepare to conduct their own mixed method studies with and for communities tackling public health challenges.

An investigation of computer applications for management support. The technologies of decision support systems and expert systems and the organizational factors leading to the success or failure of such systems are introduced. Topics also include group decision support systems, integration and implementation issues, and related advanced technologies such as neural networks.

Pragmatic research trials (PRTs) embedded in healthcare delivery systems can bridge research into clinical care/practice and offer an excellent anchoring area that connects DNP and PhD-prepared nurses to address major health and nursing workforce challenges. In this class, students will learn background and value of PRTs and the knowledge and skillset to conduct successful pragmatic research, including design, methods and analytics techniques specific to pragmatic research. Throughout courses, PhD students and DNP students work as teams and develop research questions and project proposals, which each team identified.  As part of the course, students will be introduced to selected example projects and exposed to specific databases and analytics tools (e.g., R-program). Labs will be included in most of the sessions to facilitate group work.

In this course, students will be immersed in Real-World Data (RWD) and the Real-World Evidence (RWE) framework, exploring the entire lifecycle of data within the healthcare context.  Students will learn knowledge and techniques for extracting, curating, and securely storing RWD from diverse sources.  Students will acquire a deep understanding of various analytics models and develop skills to analyze RWD.  This course includes hands-on data and analytics lab sessions, allowing students to apply their learning through practical exercises with provided data files.

In this course, students will explore the critical role of healthcare visualization in enabling data-driven decision-making across various healthcare domains. They will develop expertise in selecting and interpreting visualization techniques suited to healthcare contexts, including charts, graphs, dashboards, and interactive displays. Students will be introduced to leading visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, and R, with a focused emphasis on learning Tableau to prepare data, create visualization dashboards, and effectively communicate insights to diverse stakeholders. Through case studies students will gain an in-depth understanding of how data visualization can enhance patient outcomes, advance research, and support decision-making in nursing practice. Lab sessions will provide collaborative opportunities for students to work with real-world data files and case scenarios supplied by the course instructors, fostering practical application and teamwork.

Provides an overview of environmental areas for study, emerging environmental issues, major health hazards, and identification of responsibilities for advanced practice nurses and other health professionals. Reviews the history of environmental health legislation and regulatory agencies. Uses a framework for analyzing major environmental health issues to explore how the environment can influence health. Recognition of the need for interdisciplinary teamwork in assessment, diagnosis, and community-wide or population-based health promotion/disease prevention interventions is highlighted.

This foundational course builds an array of abilities (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) necessary to develop competence in healthcare information and communications technologies (ICT). This course focuses on the application of ICTs that support nursing practice including social context, availability of technology, human factors, and type of information along with social-technical, legal, regulatory, and ethical concerns. Emerging technologies and contemporary issues are highlighted. This course includes 10 practice hours for students to apply knowledge and demonstrate competency related to ICT.

This core course is designed to provide an analysis of health care delivery and policy trends and their effects on organization of clinical and health systems. The course investigates the policy, regulatory, financial, technological and social dynamics that lead to quality improvement and patient safety impacting health care organizations, health care professionals, and patient populations. Leadership strategies are explored that influence decisions at both the practice-level and systems-level. Emphasis is placed on the role of nurses in developing and implementing initiatives to improve quality and cost-effectiveness of care and demonstrate sensitivity to diverse organizational cultures and populations.

Newly updated nursing leadership and finance management course (new curriculum stated in spring 2025).

Newly updated nursing informatics database course (new curriculum stated in fall 2024).

New nursing informatics artificial intelligence course (new curriculum stated in fall 2024).

This course will provide an overview of major issues affecting global population health and the role of nursing in global health. Students will examine the impact of various factors (socio-economic-political-other) on health and health systems in different geographic and cultural contexts—with attention to the implications of these relationships for nursing. The major aim for this course is fundamental preparation for students interested in pursuing global health nursing.

This course focuses on the teaching-learning process and provides a foundation in learning theory and essential knowledge necessary for teaching learners in a variety of settings. Content is organized in sections. The course begins with an introduction to the teaching/learning process, the context in which it occurs, and the factors that influence it. Content then addresses the role of the teacher and learner, learning theory, and assessing and addressing learner needs. Learning outcomes and ongoing teacher development content are also included. Learning will take place via content modules, discussion, active participation, and written assignments demonstrating application of these key course concepts.

This course prepares the student to select and implement instructional strategies and media that are appropriate to the learning style of the learner, the content to be taught, the behavioral objectives of the learning material and the processes of learning. The course includes both didactic and experiential experiences and provides a strong linkage to techniques for evaluating the impact of various instructional strategies on learning. Attention is given to basic measurement principles of reliability and validity, test construction, assessing skill acquisition and competence, and interpreting results from measures.

This elective course is designed to offer nursing graduate students opportunities to consider various aspects of the nursing faculty role within the contexts of academic institutions and nursing programs in which faculty function. Role preparation, faculty job market, various avenues for entry, and the teaching, research/scholarship, and service aspects of the role are addressed. Various external influences such as accreditation, faculty shortage, and national initiatives will be explored.

This course examines social, cultural, and political-economic determinants of health from sociological and social epidemiological perspectives. The concept of social justice is used as a conceptual framework to investigate population health inequities that exist in social class, race, ethnic and gender groups in the United States. The course addresses the central question: How does the structure of society influence the health and illness experience of its population? The course examines what a society is, how it works, and what the pathways are through which social forces differentially impact class, race, and gender groups. The course will focus on specific meso-social contexts, such as the workplace, the community and the physical environment, which are particularly important in transmitting macro-societal forces to the individual. The process of globalization and the role of social movements in shaping public health will also be discussed. The course concludes by examining innovations in health policy and practice that are currently emerging in an effort to address the adverse health impact of inequitable social environments.

Health disparities among Americans are a major public health concern. Wide-ranging sociopolitical forces have segregated people of color.  This course will introduce students to the topic of racial/ethnic health disparities in the 5 major racial/ethnic groups in the United States via a family science perspective: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Native Americans, and White Americans.  To that end, we will review, critique and discuss several theoretical perspectives that are heavily used by scholars in multiple disciplines that study families and family development.  Students will also gain experience in applying these various perspectives to various health disparities commonly studied in public health research.  Finally, this course will address the chronic exposure to stress and environmental toxins often experienced by ethnic minority individuals and families in the U.S. is likely to further exacerbate the negative health effects of environmental toxins, broadly defined.  In this class, we explore will also:  1) the link between “place” and health, and 2) the interaction between chronic exposure to stress and environmental toxins, broadly conceptualized.

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding of institutional racism and the way concepts such as power and privilege impact institutions, social service agencies, social workers, and clients. During the course of the semester, students will broaden their understanding of racism and racial equity and deepen culturally responsive clinical and management skills. This is a special topics course intended for students willing to engage in a process of self-exploration regarding personal and professional attitudes, biases, and clinical frameworks. Class discussions and assignments will be focused on the individual and structural consequences of racism in the United States.

This one credit, inter-professional course provides students with an inside perspective on addressing health disparities and inequities in Baltimore from both academic and community perspectives. Faculty Fellows of the UMB Center for Community Based Engagement and Learning (CBEL) and their affiliated community partners present course content. Through the lens of case studies and personal narratives or stories, faculty from UMB professional schools (medicine, social work, nursing, law, physical therapy, pharmacy, and dentistry) describe their community-based work and their collaboration with community partners, emphasizing barriers on, and solutions towards, achieving health equity and population health in Baltimore. Learning about Baltimore history, local contextual factors, and neighborhood resources highlight opportunities where the realities of health disparities can be seen. Using the WHO Social Determinants of Health framework, social concepts such as place and race are explored. Foundational principles of social justice are also emphasized. “Population health” and “culture of health” and its relevance to Baltimore-based solutions are described in order for students to identify opportunities to address Interprofessional health disparities in their own careers.

Program monitoring and evaluation are essential tools to understanding and judging the impact that global health interventions and policies have in communities. This course introduces students to essential tools and models of both program monitoring and evaluation. Students will understand and analyze the key elements of program monitoring and evaluation: assessing population health needs using qualitative and quantitative information, identifying key program elements and their implementation, monitoring the program’s cost and efficiency, and evaluating the success of implementation, including program outcomes. Particular attention is given to involving key community stakeholders throughout the monitoring and evaluation process. The course emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to global health program monitoring and evaluation and the skills needed to conduct program evaluations.

This course introduces students to social and health entrepreneurship through case studies, key readings, and primary information resources. Students become familiar with social determinants of health, systems of public health, the science of team-based innovation, basic business fundamentals, and the essentials of social and health improvement through the lens of entrepreneurship. Students learn to develop the skills that are demonstrated by successful social entrepreneurs; team-building, leadership, negotiation, and working in complex social and cultural environments. Additionally, students explore the sources of funding for social enterprises including philanthropy, government funding, and income generating, self-sustaining enterprises. Students also begin to plan their course of study in their selected concentration and consider an initial proposal for a master’s project.

In this introductory course, participants learn how to identify and address psychological, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual aspects of care in advanced illness, including grief and bereavement. Commonly used screening and assessment tools are reviewed. Roles of various professions in addressing psychosocial and spiritual needs are considered. Development of patient and family centered care plans are addressed, along with communication strategies and interventions, including referrals as needed. The importance of equity in palliative care is introduced.

This interdisciplinary course is open to students from the Schools of Law, Medicine, Social Work, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and the graduate schools at UMB and UMBC. The course is designed to: (1) provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the legal, ethical and policy issues surrounding a number of health care delivery problems; (2) expose participants to the basic skills necessary to analyze problems from a legal, ethical and policy perspective; and (3) offer participants from different disciplines an opportunity to interact and share information and perspectives about their professions with one another. A variety of teaching techniques, including case studies, simulations, and panel discussions will be used to explore such topics as medical malpractice, rights of patients to refuse treatment, informed consent and substituted consent in medical decision making, confidentiality v. duty to disclose medical information, regulation of experimental drugs, and health care reform. During the course, students will have an opportunity to work in multidisciplinary teams to analyze a particular health care problem and to develop a position paper on a health care policy issue. This course is cross-listed with LAW 648B.

This course is open to students from the Schools of Law, Medicine, Social Work, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and the graduate schools at UMB and UMBC. The course is designed to: (1) provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the legal, ethical and policy issues surrounding a number of health care delivery problems; (2) expose participants to the basic skills necessary to analyze problems from a legal, ethical and policy perspective; and (3) offer participants from different disciplines an opportunity to interact and share information and perspectives about their professions with one another. A variety of teaching techniques, including case studies, simulations, and video clips are used to explore such topics as medical malpractice, rights of patients to refuse treatment, informed consent and substituted consent in medical decision making, regulation of experimental drugs, and health care reform. The course is taught by faculty from a variety of disciplines. During the course, students have an opportunity to work in multidisciplinary teams to analyze a particular health care problem and to develop a position paper on a health care policy issue.

Provides an overview of environmental areas for study, emerging environmental issues, major health hazards, and identification of responsibilities for advanced practice nurses and other health professionals. Reviews the history of environmental health legislation and regulatory agencies. Uses a framework for analyzing major environmental health issues to explore how the environment can influence health. Recognition of the need for interdisciplinary teamwork in assessment, diagnosis, and community-wide or population-based health promotion/disease prevention interventions is highlighted.