| FALL - YEAR 1 | |
| BIOS 531 | Clinical Epidemiology |
| BIOS 543 | Statistical Methods |
| HADM 602 | Health Care Organization and Services (or approved elective) |
| BIOS 697 | Individual Research Project |
| SPRING - YEAR 1 | |
| BIOS 516 | Biostatistical Consulting |
| BIOS 544 | Statistical Methods |
| HADM 624 | Health Economics (or approved elective) |
| BIOS 697 | Individual Research Project |
| SUMMER - YEAR 1 | |
| BIOS 697 | Individual Research Project |
| FALL - YEAR 2 | |
| BIOS 571 | Clinical Trials |
| Elective | |
| MICR 510 | Scientific Integrity |
| SPRING - YEAR 2 | |
| BIOS 572 | Analysis of Biomedical Data |
| BIOS 610 | Special Topics: Research Processes & Methods for the Health Professions (or approved elective) |
| BIOS 697 | Individual Research Project |
BIOS 516 Biostatistical Consulting:
1 lecture hour. 1 credit.
The principles dealing with the basic art and concepts of consulting in biostatistics. The non statistical course discusses the role, responsibilities of biostatisticians, relationship between clients and consultants, method of writing reports, etc.
BIOS 531 Clinical Epidemiology:
3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Basic biostatistical and epidemiologic concepts necessary for evidence-based studies of medicine. Statistical topics include variable types, measure of location, measure of central tendencies, measures of dispersion, probability, hypotheses testing, regression analysis, correlation, and analysis of variance. Clinical epidemiologic topics include generating diagnostic hypotheses, diagnostic test selection, diagnostic test interpretation, early diagnosis, making a prognosis, therapeutic treatment selection and compliance.
BIOS 543-544 Statistical Methods:
3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: graduate status or one course in statistics with permission of instructor; also, completion of University Computing Services SAS Short Course. Basic concepts of statistical methods, statistical measures, variation, distributions, tests of significance, analysis of variance, correlation and regression; analysis and design of factorial experiments; analysis of covariance.
BIOS 571 Clinical Trials:
3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Concepts of data management; statistical design and analysis in single-center and multi-center clinical trials. Data management topics include the collection, edition, and validation of data. Statistical design topics include randomization, stratification, blinding, active-control groups, parallel and crossover designs, and power and sample size calculations. Statistical analysis topics include sequential and group sequential methods.
BIOS 572 Statistical Analysis of Biomedical Data:
3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Statistical methodology for data sets frequently encountered in biomedical experiments. Topics include analysis of rates and proportions, epidemiological indices, frequency data, contingency tables, logistic regression, life-tables and survival analysis.
BIOS 697 Individual Research Project:
Variable credits.
Students will design and implement an applied research project within one of several research tracks under the guidance of a research advisory committee. Students may choose from a variety of research tracks.
HADM 602 Health Care Organization and Services:
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Examines the structure and functions of the American health care industry, the concepts and processes of health and illness, the institutional and individual providers of health services and related concepts.
ECON/HADM 624 Health Economics:
Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits.
Develops an understanding of (1) economics as a managerial tool in making choices or decisions that will provide for an optimum allocation of limited health care resources, and (2) economics as a way of thinking about and approaching issues of public policy in financing and organizing health and medical services. Individual research on crucial or controversial issues in the health field.
BIOS 524 Biostatistical Computing. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. The Statistical Analysis System (SAS) is both a powerful computer language and a large collection of statistical procedures. Students learn how to create and manage computer data files. Techniques for thorough examination and validation of research data are presented as the initial step of a complete, computerized analysis. Descriptive statistics are computed and statistical procedures such as t-tests, contingency tables, correlation, regression, and analysis of variance then applied to the data. Special attention is paid to the applicability of each procedure. Students are encouraged to analyze their own or typical data from their discipline.
EPID 600 Introduction to Public Health. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Describes the public health system in the United States. Explores the disease prevention and philosophy and foundations of public health management, economics, law, ethics and education. Examines the use of epidemiology and statistics to determine personal, environmental, and occupational health problems.
EPID 603 Public Health Policy and Politics 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Provides an understanding of the public health policy development process, the influence of politics and special interest groups on this process, and current governmental policies for the provision of major public health services. The legislative process is a major focus of the course.
EPID 605 Epidemiology of Health Behaviors. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: BIOS 543 and EPID 571. Provides an overview of the epidemiology of specific health-related behaviors, the relationships between these behaviors and health outcomes, and available evidence for the effectiveness and appropriateness of various approaches to modification of these behaviors. This material will be covered in the contexts of theories of health-related behavior and of methodological issues concerning the assessment of these behaviors and their relationships to outcomes of interest. The applicability of this material to underserved populations will be emphasized. The course format, as far as possible, will be that of an interactive seminar.
EPID 606 Epidemiologic Methods. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Examines the whys and hows of determining major population health risks. Focuses on the design of a research project to determine the risks to health of an identified population using sampling and survey techniques, data collection and data analysis.
EPID 607 Nutritional Epidemiology. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. This course focuses on methods of measuring exposures to dietary factors for epidemiological investigations of diet-disease relationships and risk assessment. An introductory course in basic epidemiology is a prerequisite. Students learn to select the most appropriate method(s) of collecting and analyzing food intake and to evaluate the adequacy of dietary assessment methods used in published epidemiological studies.
EPID 615 Public Health Issues and Intervention in Communities of Color. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Examines a number of crucial psychological, social, cultural, demographic, economic, biological, humanistic, and other factors which influence disease susceptibility, the distribution of disease and disabilities, the quality and accessibility of the health care, and other health related conditions between minorities and underserved populations in the United States.
EPID 617/HADM 626 International Health. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Provides an overview of and/or introduction to international health. Focus is on the relationship between external factors and the health of populations.
HADM 609 Health Systems Analysis and Evaluation. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: upper-division course in statistics. Introduction to principles and methods employed in evaluation research and program evaluation as these relate to health services. Focus will be on conceptualization, design, and operational procedures used in program evaluation.
HADM 760 Quantitative Analysis of Health Care Data. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: MGMT 524 and HADM 609 or permission of instructor. Research course emphasizing computer application and statistical analyses of health care data generated from secondary sources, including data envelopment analysis.
HADM 762 Health Services Research Methods II. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: HADM 609, 761, and MGMT 632 or equivalent. Application of Multivariate statistical analysis and evaluation research methods to health services research. Emphasis is placed on the use of advanced statistical methods (e.g., LISREL, Event History Analysis) and designs to analyze panel data in the health field.
HADM 763 Health Program Evaluation. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: HADM 760, 761, or permission of instructor. Analysis of current evaluation research on personal health services and programs in a variety of social and health contexts. Emphasis is placed on the measurement of health care outcomes and the design of experimental and quasi-experimental studies in the health field.
ACCT 507 Fundamentals of Accounting. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Theoretical and technical facets of financial and managerial accounting for business.
MGMT 620 Financial Concepts of Management. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MGMT 607 or equivalent. A study of the essential concepts of financial management including working capital management, capital budgeting, capital structure planning, and dividend policy. Not open to students who have completed MGMT 311 or the equivalent.
MGMT 645 Operations Research. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MGMT 524 or equivalent. Business problems in production, inventory, finance, marketing, and transportation translated into mathematical models: strengths and weaknesses of such translations. Solution procedures and their limitations.
MGMT 648 Managerial Decision Making. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MGMT 524 or equivalent. Formal analytical techniques used by organizations in reaching decisions. The concepts of both classical and Bayesian decision methods will be examined. The emphasis is on the application of a decision-theoretic approach to solving problems in contemporary organizations.
MGMT 669 Forecasting Methods for Business. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MGMT 524 or equivalent that includes simple regression. A presentation of forecasting methods and applications for managerial decision making in business and other organizations. Coverage includes selection of appropriate methods and issues involved in developing and implementing forecasting models. Techniques covered include smoothing, seasonal adjustment, time series (Box-Jenkins) and judgmental methods.
ECON 600 Concepts in Economics. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Essential economic concepts including the price system, price determination in imperfectly competitive markets, employment theory, and monetary theory. Not open to students who have completed ECON 210 and 211 or the equivalent.
MGMT 674 Service Quality Management. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: student in good standing in VCU Master's program. This course enables marketing students to develop a better understanding of service offerings from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Learning will focus on both private and public-sector service organizations. Students will learn how to analyze the design of service offerings, including operations, environment, and people, and make recommendations for improving the offerings. The importance of internal and external customer feedback and continually measuring customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction will be highlighted as an integral part of managing service quality.
MGMT 677 Quality. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: MGMT 524 or equivalent. Provides a foundation in current concepts of quality management and the tools/techniques used in a quality improvement process. Philosophies of quality management and statistical tools/techniques for continuous improvement are presented. Applications for manufacturing and service industries included.
MGMT 700 Principles of Scientific Inquiry in Business. 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. A seminar on the philosophical and epistemological foundations of scientific inquiry as they relate to research in business and its allied disciplines. The focus will be on the underlying logic, elements, reach and limits of alternative frameworks such as positivism, empiricism, and Bayesean analysis and the conditions under which each is the preferred method of inquiry.
MGMT 701 Research Methods in Business. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Study of the scientific method as currently applied in business and organizational research, with emphasis on philosophy, design, execution, and presentation of empirically based knowledge.