EPY - Epidemiology, Public Health, and You Overview

Epidemiology, Public Health, and You 

Introduction

 Remember when you had to get your immunization shots for school? If you received them at a local health department then you have witnessed a public health career. Many career opportunities exist in the public health field. Activities in this module will help you explore various public health careers. In addition, you will learn about why ethical guidelines are necessary in epidemiological research; emerging and past public health concerns; and health strategies to promote healthy lifestyles.

Essential Questions

  • Why are ethical guidelines important in epidemiological research?
  • What concerns or interests arise when considering new screening programs?
  • What are some careers in Public Health?
  • How does Healthy People 2020 fit into the overall mission of public health?
  • What strategies are used to promote healthy lifestyles?

Key Terms

  1. Syphilis - a highly contagious disease spread primarily by sexual activity
  2. Tuskegee Study - a study of the United Public Health Service that was intended to learn more about syphilis that involved treatment being withheld from African-American males
  3. Institutional review board - a committee that has been formally designated to approve, monitor, and review biomedical and behavioral research involving humans
  4. Microbe - A microorganism, esp. a bacterium causing disease or fermentation
  5. Antibiotic - A medicine (such as penicillin or its derivatives) that inhibits the growth of or destroys microorganisms
  6. Antibiotic resistance - a type of drug resistance where a microorganism is able to survive exposure to an antibiotic
  7. Healthy People initiative - a program of nationwide health-promotion and disease-prevention goals set by the United States Department of Health and Human Services
  8. Public health - the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals
  9. Health promotion - the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health
  10. Social determinant - are the economic and social conditions and their distribution among the population that influence individual and group differences in health status

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