Public Health

Public Health

The public health field is dedicated to protecting and improving the health of individuals, families, communities, and populations where they live, learn, work, and play. Public health professionals aim to prevent sickness and injury by promoting social equity, healthcare access and quality, and environmental health. 

Public health careers include program planners, program evaluators, researchers, educators, epidemiologists, health and safety engineers, advocacy and policy advisors, health communication specialists, community developers and organizers, global health development officers, minority health and health disparities experts, and environmental health specialists. Work activities may include developing educational programs, creating health promotion policies, providing social services, conducting mixed-methods research, and leading community development and health systems reform.

See the Public Health page for program and contact information.

Programs

Career and Technical Education

One Year Certificate of Completion

Transfer

Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer

Courses

HHP 212A AHA Basic Life Support for Providers CPR (1 Credit)

Provides the following skills: Basic life support for patients of all ages (including ventilation with a barrier device and a bag-mask device), use of an automatic external defibrillator and relief of choking in responsive and non-responsive patients. Designed for providers who care for patients in a wide variety of settings, both in and out of hospital. In order to receive the AHA BLS Provider Certification card, one must pass a written exam and be able to physically perform all skills required for CPR.

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HHP 231 Human Sexuality (3 Credits)

Explores the biological, psychological, and social aspects of human sexuality. Specific topics include historical and cultural perspectives of human sexuality, sexual anatomy and physiology, sexual and reproductive health factors, gender identity, sexual orientations, and lifespan sexual development.

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HHP 242 Stress Management (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 065 or WR 121Z or minimum placement Wr/Comm Level 9.

Helps students develop a comprehensive approach to the management of stress. Examines the historical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, psychological and physiological foundations of the stress concept. This broad understanding of stress will be the basis for the study of the role that stress plays in health and disease. Students will experiment with a wide variety of stress management and relaxation techniques.

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HHP 252 First Aid & AHA Basic Life Support Provider CPR (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 065 or WR 121Z or minimum placement Wr/Comm Level 9.

First aid and CPR instruction. First aid includes: immediate and temporary care for a wide variety of injuries, illnesses, conditions. CPR includes: patients of all ages; ventilation with a face shield, pocket mask and a bag-mask device; use of an automated external defibrillator; relief of choking; both one- and two-person CPR; and compression-only CPR. Practical exam includes individual hands-on testing; successful completion of course results in a first aid card and an American Heart Association Basic Life Support for Provider Adult & Pediatric CPR card.

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HHP 252A Fitness/First Aid (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 065 and MTH 015.

Introduces both first aid and wellness topics, such as immediate and temporary care for injury and illness, control of bleeding, care for poisoning, splinting, bandaging and transportation, as well as fitness, nutrition and stress management. Students earn first aid and CPR cards in both adult and infant upon completion of course.

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HHP 258 Holistic Wellness (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 65 or higher.

Looks beyond health risk factors to broader wellness dimensions (i.e. mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, cultural & financial). Conventional & alternative paradigms of chronic disease causes plus modalities for healing will be explored through the role of our minds, environment, relationships, spirituality, & social support.

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HHP 266 Nutrition for Health (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: MTH 20 or higher.

Introduces the basics of nutrition for a physically active, healthy lifestyle. The course emphasizes nutrient function, energy production, weight management, body composition, psychosocial health, global impact of nutrition, prevention of nutrition related diseases, food guide pyramid, ergogenic aids fad diets, dieting and nutritional research. Course also includes a computerized nutritional assessment.

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HHP 295 Health and Fitness (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: or to be taken with WR 65 and MTH 20 or higher.

Introduces a comprehensive overview of wellness concepts including fitness, nutrition, stress, disease prevention, and various other lifestyle factors that improve the quality of life. Each student's health and fitness is individually evaluated through a series of tests measuring cardiovascular endurance, strength, body composition, flexibility, blood pressure, nutrition, stress levels and blood lipid and blood glucose.

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PHE 100 Introduction to Public Health (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 065 or WR 121Z or minimum placement Wr/Comm Level 9.

Provides an introduction to the core elements of public health science and practice, including health policy, health systems and health ethics. Open to all COCC students who want to know more about the dynamic, multi-disciplinary field of public health, what it is, how it is organized and how it works.

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PHE 110 Public Health Professions (1 Credit)

Recommended preparation: PHE 100 or PHE 282 or PHE 267.

This course will help prepare students for entering in the job market and/or setting up a professional practicum through the following: where to search for jobs, how to apply and how to interview; and how to prepare professional resumes, cover letters, and how to create portfolios to demonstrate experience and/or skills. Professional development opportunities such as conferences, certifications, trainings etc. will be discussed, as well current research and trends in employment in the fields related to public health.

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PHE 183 Peer Support Specialist Training (4 Credits)

Prerequisites: Instructor approval.

This course prepares students to be certified as Peer Support Specialist (PSS) in Oregon. A PSS is an individual with shared lived experience with substance use and/or mental health recovery. This person will provide supportive services to current or former consumers of mental health or addiction treatment. A PSS is also a consumer advocate who facilitates linkage to needed services and activities.

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PHE 210 Introduction to the Health Care System (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: PHE 100.

Provides tools to examine and critically assess the U.S. health care delivery system, its components, and the challenges created by its structure. Considers the U.S. health care system from the perspective of multiple players and partners, including consumers/patients, primary health care, hospitals, providers, insurers, and government. Compares and contrasts the U.S. health care system to health care systems in other developed and emerging countries.

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PHE 228 Health and Social Justice (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: PHE 100.

Introduction to the intersection of health and social justice, to better understand socially unjust health differences (inequities) present in communities across the United States and abroad. Particular attention will be paid to the social ecological framework for health promotion and the social determinants of health. The course takes a deeper dive into public health challenges by exploring current health issues in the United States and globally. Examination of relevant historical issues, theories of justice, human rights, and empirical evidence of health inequities, with an emphasis in critical analysis and applied knowledge. Community-engaged strategies and service learning activities will be used to explore social injustices and health inequities.

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PHE 248 Health Psychology (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 65 or higher.

Health is defined as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease" (World Health Organization, 1948). With that definition in mind, this course examines how biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors affect physical health and wellbeing. Specific topics include historical and cultural perspectives of health, the psychology and physiology of stress, health behavior modification with emphases on primary prevention and health promotion, socioeconomic and healthcare inequalities, and an exploration of biopsychosocial factors related to chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease, and HIV AIDS. This course is one of the four pre-Public Health core courses offered.

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PHE 267 Wellness Coaching Fundamentals (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 65 or higher.

Explore components of behavior change by providing an overview of the dimensions of wellness, coaching technique and models in health. Foundational concepts of positive psychology, including the history, theory and ethics, as well as mindfulness, appreciative inquiry and self-efficacy will be examined and applied.

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PHE 268 Sustainable Food and Nutrition (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: WR 065 or higher or minimum placement Wr/Comm Level 7.

Farmer and author Wendell Berry once wrote that eating is an "agricultural act". It is also an ethical, social, political, and environmental act. In order to more fully understand the impact of our food choices, this course explores American food production from start to finish, past to present, and field to fork. Along the way we answer questions like: How does a plant grow? What is the difference between conventional vs. organic agriculture? How and why did our current food system develop? How much does a cheeseburger really cost? What and why is food biotechnology? Where can I buy a local head of lettuce or leg of lamb? And, ultimately, what should I eat? .

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PHE 281 Practicum-Health Promotion/Public Health (1 Credit)

Prerequisites: instructor approval.

Recommended preparation: complete a minimum of three Health Promotion/Public Health courses.

Provides practicums co-mentored by department faculty in collaboration with community partners. Practicum sites may include, but are not limited to public health departments, community health centers, health promotion and education programs, local government organizations, environmental health organizations, and social justice organizations. Thirty hours of practicum experience is equivalent to one credit. P/NP grading.

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PHE 282 Foundations of Community Health Worker (6 Credits)

Recommended preparation: PHE 100. Recommended to be taken with: PHE 210.

Provides the foundations of community health work which includes topics such as navigating the health care system, creating behavioral change plans, supporting case management, and working with agencies to advocate for system changes. Aligns with the Oregon Health Authority required coursework for a community health worker.

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PHE 283 Introduction to Integrative Medicine (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: PHE 210.

Introduces concepts of complementary and integrative health as an approach to medical care that includes a culturally sensitive blending of Western biomedicine with traditional forms of healing, with a broader vision of improved health and patient autonomy. Provides an overview of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) healing modalities, such as mind-body interventions, Traditional Chinese Medicine, naturopathy, chiropractic medicine, massage, reflexology, and herbals or botanical. Illustrates how integrative medicine embraces science and is defined as a philosophy that neither rejects conventional medicine nor alternative methods grounded in evidence to support effectiveness.

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PHE 284 Community Health Promotion Planning (3 Credits)

Recommended preparation: PHE 100.

This course explores concepts in health promotion including community assessment, using data to drive decision making, resource identification, intervention strategies and evaluation of strategies. Application of community health promotion and disease prevention will be conducted through service-learning projects with public health partners.

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SUS 101 Introduction to Sustainability (4 Credits)

Explores the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Defines and applies basic principles of sustainability to address today’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Develops an understanding of how individual behaviors affect community and global health. Approaches sustainability from a multidisciplinary perspective by integrating faculty from across the curriculum, including public health, biology, natural resources, sociology, and economics. Includes 4 hours of service learning at an off-campus location.

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SUS 102 Introduction to Environmental Science and Sustainability (4 Credits)

Examines the science behind current environmental issues and sustainable solutions to problems. Focuses on ecological systems and case studies from Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Labs may include field trips.

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SUS 103 Physical Science of Climate Change (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: MTH 060 or higher or minimum placement Math Level 10.

Examines the science behind current environmental issues and sustainable solutions to problems. Focuses on the causes of human-caused climate change and potential mitigation from a science perspective. Lab included.

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SUS 180 Co-op Work Experience Sustainability (1-4 Credits)

Prerequisites: Instructor approval.

Provides experience in which students apply previous classroom learning in an occupational setting. Credits depend on the number of hours worked. Repeatable for credit. P/NP grading.

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SUS 199 Selected Topics: Sustainability (1-4 Credits)

Provides a learning experience in Sustainability not currently available; this course is in development to be proposed as a permanent course.

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SUS 210 Creating a More Sustainable Society (4 Credits)

Recommended preparation: SUS 101 or SUS 102 or SUS 103.

Empowers students to act, both individually and collectively, to strive to create a more sustainable world. Specific topics include climate change, air and water pollution, natural resource use, and food and agriculture issues. Approaches sustainability using a multi-disciplinary and systems-thinking approach, with a priority placed on the implementation of actionable solutions.

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SUS 220 Sustainable Food and Agriculture (4 Credits)

Explores the environmental, social, and economic impacts of our food choices and growing practices. Introduces sustainability and regenerative agriculture concepts in the classroom, then engages with them firsthand at select Central Oregon farms, ranches, and supporting organizations.

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SUS 280 Co-op Work Experience Sustainability (1-4 Credits)

Prerequisites: Instructor approval.

Provides experience in which students apply previous classroom learning in an occupational setting. Credits depend on the number of hours worked. Repeatable for credit. P/NP grading.

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SUS 298 Independent Study: Sustainability (1-6 Credits)

Prerequisites: Instructor approval.

Recommended preparation: prior coursework in the discipline.

Individualized, advanced study to focus on outcomes not addressed in existing courses or of special interest to a student. P/NP grading.

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SUS 299 Selected Topics: Sustainability (1-4 Credits)

Provides a learning experience in Sustainability not currently available; this course is in development to be proposed as a permanent course.

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