DENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH

Principles and methods in the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases in human populations.  Emphasis is placed on the integration of biological and statistical elements in the sequence of epidemiologic reasoning that derives inferences about the etiopathology of diseases from population data.  Topics covered will include: agent, host and environment; statistical measures used in epidemiology; methods for organizing epidemiologic data; disease surveillance and investigations of disease outbreaks.

The course will cover the basic concepts of public health from a historical perspective, including the impact of social movements. The organization and responsibilities of local, national and international authorities with emphasis on current issues will be examined.

The course is designed to introduce students to concepts of health and disease and to the biological and physical environmental factors influencing health.

The importance of health education in improving the public knowledge of and attitude to dental health problems with emphasis on social and cultural factors will be covered. The use of appropriate communication methods will also be addressed.

Description of and scientific basis for available preventive measures of oral diseases. The effectiveness of different modalities in preventive health and the feasibility of their administration is covered.

This course is a continuation of the basic principles of epidemiology GDE 513.  Emphasis will be placed on analytical methods.  Topics will include study design, cross-sectional, cohort, case control and intervention studies.

The courses are a continuation of PDS 519 and include supervised experience relevant dental public health in extramural institutions. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsors and written reports are required. Clinical care of patients is included in the courses.

In this course students will survey and review the literature of dental public health which pertains to contemporary dental and general public health issues.

The principles of public health dentistry are covered. The global as well as local distribution and determinants of the major oral diseases in man will be discussed in this course.

The course addresses the subject of health planning and evaluation from a perspective that recognizes societal, community and facility program planning.

The course is designed to enable students to understand the structures of and processes in health institutions, major characteristics of health care organizations and administrative practices in hospitals.

The course is a supervised advanced experience relevant to specific aspects of dental public health in extramural institutions. Regular individual meetings with faculty sponsors and written reports are required. Clinical care of patients is a required part of this course.

This course will survey the major fields of dentistry for current issues and advancement pertaining to the health of the public.

The course aims at developing an understanding of economics as a managerial tool in making choices that will provide for optimum allocation of resources, and for the analysis of public issues in financing and organizing health services.

The course is a comparative analysis of selected health systems from developed and developing countries with special attention paid to the health system of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

*Pass/Fail Course