The micro-credential provides a means to develop skills and a knowledge base for addressing health inequities. Developed for the non-profit and for-profit communities and open to anyone who has completed an undergraduate degree (including all UB graduate students), this program consists of two courses and a portfolio-building experience.
The courses will help you to gain content expertise on the origins of health inequities and tools for intervening to eliminate health disparities. The additional portfolio-building experience lets you demonstrate your ability to design a strategy for reducing health disparities such as a program, policy initiative or other intervention. You can complete the micro-credential online in one or two semesters.
After completing the micro-credential, you will be able to:
Applicants who are not currently enrolled in a UB graduate program who have earned a 4-year degree from an accredited college are eligible to join the micro-credential.
UB graduate students who have earned a four-year degree from an accredited college or who have graduate-student status in a combined undergraduate/graduate degree program may earn the micro-credential badge.
To earn the micro-credential, you must complete the following requirements:
CHB 523 Introduction to Program Planning and Evaluation
3 Credits, Fall Semester
Prerequisite: None
Models and principles of program planning and evaluation are presented and contrasted. Data gathering techniques, design considerations and implementation strategies are covered. Other topics include systems theory applications, strategic planning methods, proposal development and report writing.
Instructor: Heavey
Format: Seated and Remote
3 Credits, Fall Semester
Health Disparities is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the social determinants of health and how their ills and benefits are unequally distributed across society. We will cover differences in health status associated with race, ethnicity, immigrant status, education, income, disability, geographic location, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity. We will examine the multiple pathways through which these inequities are produced and reinforced, including structural and interpersonal discrimination and stigma. The course will provide historical and theoretical perspectives on health disparities and provide a critical examination of empiric research on explanatory pathways. We will also discuss methods for conducting research and intervening in disadvantaged communities. Students will have an opportunity to engage in work on a health disparities topic of their choosing.
Intructor: Orom
Format: Remote
3 Credits, Spring Semester
Prerequisite: None
Indigenous populations experience lower life expectancy, lower quality of life, and a higher prevalence of several chronic and infectious diseases in comparison to other populations within their respective regions, counties, states and countries. Using an evidence-based approach, this course will provide an overview of the many health issues impacting Indigenous populations today and into the future. This course is designed to embrace the concepts of the social determinants of health, intergenerational trauma, health equity, and racism and health. Students will examine the real histories of Indigenous peoples, cultural norms and adaptations, traditional healing and the impacts of colonization at the advancement of westernization. This course is intended to raise awareness and support future public health leaders who become experts in promoting better health worldwide.
Instructor: Dean Seneca, MPH, MCURP
Format: Hybrid; in-person and remote offering
3 Credits, Spring Semester
The course will introduce students to historical trends in the population burden of sexual risk behaviors, the social ecology of these risks, and current controversies in practice and policy. We will also examine surveillance systems and nationally representative samples used to monitor trends in high-risk sexual behaviors and related consequences. Students will critically examine the logic and impact of current domestic standards for sexual health policy and practice through a comparative look at sexual health needs (e.g., contraceptive use, STI prevention and treatment, and HIV-related services) in a range of diverse clinical and social settings with different populations (adolescents, young adults, older adults). Using a variety of teaching methods, students will receive an overview of the dynamics of high-risk sexual activity among individuals, communities, and populations. Topics will include an assessment of current peer-reviewed research and professional guidelines for effective sexual risk reduction; federal and state policies related to sexuality, pregnancy, contraception and HIV/STI prevention; and current curricula at the national and state level for sexuality education.
Instructor: Przybyla
Format: Seated
3 Credits, Spring Semester
This course uses a systemic structural racism framework to explore the role of race, class, and gender in the American city-building process. The course seeks to understand market forces' role in etching race and class into the residential landscape and its implications for the racialization of residential space for different racial and ethnic groups. URP/END centers "the neighborhood" in its exploration of race, class, gender, and the city. It places the "neighborhood" within the broader context of the urban metropolis. For this course's purpose, the "urban metropolis" refers to the county where the central city is located.
Instructor: Taylor
Format: Remote
You will plan a novel strategy for reducing a health inequity and prepare a slide deck for presenting the strategy. This strategy can be a program, policy proposal, systems change process or other initiative. You do not need to present the strategy; however, ideally, you would present it in a community setting.
Admissions are ongoing, however you must submit your application by Aug. 24 to start the micro-credential in the Fall semester and by Jan. 15 to start in the Spring semester.
If you are not a current UB student:
Apply to the micro-credential by completing the Community Health and Health Behavior Non-Degree Student application.
When completing the application for the micro-credential, applicants do not need to complete the following: languages, employment history, activities and distinctions, and recommendations. Please submit a 300-word personal statement describing why you are interested in completing the micro-credential. Applicants can upload an unofficial transcript. You will be required to pay a $50 application fee.
If you are currently a UB graduate student:
Please email Jennifer Turkovich at jsbattis@buffalo.edu to begin the application process for the micro-credential. UB graduate students may enroll in the micro-credential at any stage in their career, including after they have completed the necessary coursework.
For all questions, please contact Community Health and Health Behavior Department Coordinator, Jennifer Turkovich, at jsbattis@buffalo.edu.