GEOGRAPHY 4120
MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY
SPRING 2015
Instructor:Dr. Joseph OppongClass Time: TR 9:30 – 10:50 AM
Office:ENV 310QRoom:CURY 323
Phone:940-565-2181E-mail:
Office Hours:Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M or by appointment
Medical Geography is concerned with the locational aspects of health and health care. In what regions are specific diseases more prevalent, and why is this so? How do diseases spread in geographic space? Where are health care facilities located and why? Are health services maldistributed and will current and proposed policies to remedy this be effective? In dealing with health and health care, our focus is: WHO gets WHAT, WHERE and WHYwith a particular emphasis on globalization and health.
Course Objectives: This course has 3 main objectives:
1. To equip students to understand how location influences the health status of individuals, exposure to disease, access to health care services and general conditions of health and well-being with a particular emphasis on globalization of disease and health status.
2. To expose students to common problems and errors in the collection and analysis of epidemiological, demographic and health data, the resulting wrong conclusions, and equip them to avoid such errors in research.
3. To introduce students to the use of Geographic Information Systems and computer mapping in the geographical analysis of disease.
Course Text: Meade, M., and M. Emch. 2010. Medical Geography (New York: Guilford Press), 3rd Ed.
Course Evaluation: In addition to attending class, reading the weekly and other assigned readings, and completing 2 class exercises, students will write one midterm exam and one final examination and completea term paper. The breakdown of the final grade will be as follows:
Pts%
Term Paper20025.0
Midterm Examination10012.5
Final Examination10012.5
Class Exercises (2)20025.0
Presentation10012.5
Online Discussion(10@10 points each)10012.5
Total800100
Points accrued for each grade item will be adjusted to a score out of 100, and a weighted average of the resulting scores will determine your overall course grade. The weights are the percentages shown above.
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, May 8, 2015will comprise short answers and essay questions.
ONLINE DISCUSSION – 100 points
To ensure engagement and active student participation with the issues addressed in class, 10 discussion questions will be posted on blackboard and will cover materials discussed in class. You are required to contribute a 100 word response to the discussion question in the first few days it is posted. You are also required to post at least 2 comments (about 50 words each) on a colleague's post on the discussion. For each question, you get 10 points. You get a zero (0) for not contributing.
DROP POLICY
March 2, 2015is the last day to drop this course with a grade of W. After this date a grade of WF may be recorded by the instructor. April 24, 2015is the last day to drop a course with the consent of the instructor.
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS
The Department of Geography, in cooperation with the Office of Disability Accommodation, complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act in making reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Please present your written accommodation request before the 12th class day.
EXTRA CREDIT
The Department of Geography does not allow extra credit assignments (work not specified on a course syllabus).
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
UNT supports initiatives that foster students’ academic progress. Specifically, UNT has launched efforts that facilitate the mastery of program competencies, while ensuring academic integrity. To that end, this course requires that students submit appropriate written papers to Turnitin (an evaluative software service not affiliated with UNT) to receive feedback on originality of student’s work. The use of this tool is designed to be a formative process, allowing students to gain/improve experience in writing skills and proper referencing. An additional goal allows students to evaluate and synthesize concepts covered in the course that need to be reflected within the written paper.
To facilitate the submission process, the instructor has set up the required course written assignments in Turnitin which can be accessed through Blackboard. This allows students to submit written assignments and obtain originality reports. The course written assignment set up in Turnitin will allow the Instructor to monitor submissions for all required assignments and view results. Students should go to the course Blackboard webpage to submit assignments. The maximum Similarity Index Score Allowed is 30%.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
• Students are expected to come to class fully prepared to discuss all required readings and actively participate in all class sessions.
• Students are expected to complete all assignments by their assigned due date. Partial or no credit will be given for work completed after the due date, at the discretion of the instructor.
• Students will be held accountable for all material assigned/covered in the course.
ATTENDANCE EXPECTATIONS
I expect students to be regular and punctual in class attendance. Should a student need to miss class for any reason, I expect you to inform me – by phone, email or in person – prior to the class (only emergency situations will be exempt from this expectation). Students with 3 unexcused absences will be dropped from the class for lack of participation.
PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS
• Students are expected to show respect for the instructor, each other and all guest presenters.
• Students shall dress appropriately to represent the school in a professional manner. Business casual dress code is particularly expected at class sessions when guest speakers present and when students conduct team presentations (e.g. no caps, no flip flops, no shorts, no T-shirts).
• Students are expected to check UNTHSC Live Email and Blackboard regularly for course and School of Public Health timely correspondence.
• Cell Phones: Students are expected to silence their cell phones to avoid disruption of class. Inappropriate phone use could result in dismissal from class session.
• Laptop Computers: Laptops may be used for note taking. Inappropriate laptop use could result in dismissal from class session.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will receive a "0" for that particular assignment or exam. Additionally, the incident will be reported to the University for further penalty. According to the UNT catalog, the term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to: (a) use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations; (b) dependence upon the aid of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems, or carrying out other assignments; (c) the acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic material belonging to a faculty or staff member of the university; (d) dual submission of a paper or project, or resubmission of a paper or project to a different class without express permission from the instructor(s); or (e) any other act designed to give a student an unfair advantage. Altering a returned test and claiming a grader or scanning machine made an error is also considered cheating. The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to: (a) the knowing or negligent use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment; and (b) the knowing or negligent unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.
Tentative Course Outline
Week BeginningTOPICReading Assignment
Jan 19Introduction: Geography and Chapter 1
Medical Geography
Jan 26Theories of disease causation
Human Ecology of DiseaseChapter 2
Political Ecology of Disease
Vulnerability Thesis
Place vulnerability (read Oppong and Harold, 2009)
Feb 2Methodology of Medical Geography
Disease MappingChapter 3
Landscape Epidemiology Chapter 4
Feb 9Data Problems,Bias and Outcomes in Medical Geography Research
Race and Ethnicity in US Medical Data
- Hahn, R. A., J. Mulinare, S. M. Teutsch. 1992. Inconsistencies in Coding of Race and Ethnicity between Birth and Death in US Infants. JAMA 267(2):259-263.
- Hahn, R. A. 1992. The State of federal Health Statistics on Racial and Ethnic Groups. JAMA 267(2):268-271.
- Osborne, N. G. and M. D. Feit. 1992. The Use of Race in Medical Research. JAMA 267(2):275-279.
- Rushing, W. A. 1995. The AIDS Epidemic: Social Dimensions of an Infectious Disease. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, Chp. 3.
- Packard, R.M and P. Epstein. 1992. Epidemiologists, Social Scientists and the Structure of Medical Research on AIDS in Africa. Social Science and Medicine. 33(7):771-794.
- Oppong, J. R. and E. Kalipeni. 2004. Perceptions and Misperceptions of AIDS in Africa. In Kalipeni, Craddock, Oppong and Ghosh (eds) HIV & AIDS in Africa – Beyond Epidemiology. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Feb 16Epidemiologic, Nutrition, Demographic and Mobility Transitions Chapter 5
TERM PAPER TOPIC WITH ABSTRACT AND BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY (ABOUT 10 REFERENCES) DUE FEB 19, 2015
Feb 23Climate, Weather, Pollution and Health StatusChapter 6
Global Climate Change and Public Health
Mar 2Environmental Pollution and HealthChapter 7
MIDTERM EXAM – March 5, 2015
Mar 9Political ecology of non-communicable diseasesChapter 8
Poverty, Health, and Disease
Gender matters: women’s health
SECTION 1 OF TERM PAPER LITERATURE REVIEW (About 5 pages due MARCH 12, 2015)
Mar 16 – Mar 22SPRING BREAK
Mar 23Neighborhoods and healthChapter 9
Mar 30Disease Diffusions in Geographic SpaceChapter 10
Contagious Diseases
SECTION 2 (APPROX. 8 PAGES EXCLUDING MAPS DUE APRIL 2, 2015)
Apr 5Health Care Delivery Systems WorldwideChapter 11
The Canadian Health System
The American Health System
Medical Pluralism - Traditional Medical Practitioners and
Holistic Medicine; Drugs, Fake Drugs, and Health Care
Apr 13Global Distribution of Health Care Resources Chapter 12
Access, Utilization and Planning Health Services
Finding Optimal Locations for Health services
Apr 20Presentations
SECTION 3 (APPROXIMATELY 3 PAGES DUE APRIL 24, 2015)
Apr 27Presentations
May 4, 2015 TERM PAPER DUE
May 14 FINAL EXAMINATION 8:00 – 10:00 AM
Eagle Feather website for sample undergrad papers in medical geography
TERM PAPER
Select any one disease or cause of death and examine it critically for Texas. Annual mortality data for each cause of death based on Texas Vital Statistics from 1980-2003 is available at county level. Using ArcGIS or some other GIS software, produce appropriate maps of the selected cause of death to include in your paper. Using research information on causal factors and basic statistical analysis, your paper should:
- describe spatial and temporal variations in the selected disease or cause of death;
- explain the geography of that disease or cause of death; and
- make policy recommendations.
Your paper must cite evidence from several journal articles, etc. (LENGTH: About 15 pages (20 for GEOG 5130), not including maps). Topic with abstract and brief bibliography (about 10 references) is due by February 19, 2015. The paper will be written in 3 sections:
Section 1 (Approximately 5 pages due March 12, 2015)
- Introduction
- Literature review detailing causes of the disease and mode of spread.
- Variables explaining the geographic distribution of the disease.
- Research hypotheses for study, with justification.
- Methodology to be used and data sources.
Section 2 (Approximately 8 pages excluding maps due APRIL 2, 2015)
- Description and Explanation of the Geography of the Disease (in Texas)
- Spatial variation of the disease (Disease Maps and interpretation)
- Statistical analysis and interpretation (may include Tables, Charts etc.)
- Change through time (Description and Explanation).
Section 3 (Approximately 3 pages due April 24, 2015)
- Conclusions and Implications
- Recommendations for Prevention and Control of the disease.
- Limitations of the Research and recommendations for future research.