Florida Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence

Newest online certificate in public health!

The newest online Graduate Certificate in Public Health, offered by the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions is a certificate with an emphasis in Food Safety. One of the featured courses in this certificate is Introduction to Foodborne Disease (PHC 6520). This courses was designed by faculty from the College’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, including the Director Dr. Glenn Morris and Dr. Song Liang. The course features many experts in the field of food safety and is based on the textbook Foodborne Infections and Intoxications, co-authored by Dr. Morris.

Dr. Song Liang, PhD

The certificate grew out of a grant between the The Florida Department of Health and the University of Florida. The $250,000 grant was awarded to establish an integrated food safety center of excellence. The Food Safety Center of Excellence will be one of five national centers working to help public health agencies sharpen their response in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak. The centers were legislated by Congress with the signing of the Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011.

UF's College of Public Health and Health Professions is offering this new graduate certificate specializing in food safety epidemiology in support of the Center of Excellence training and education goals. The program will include 15 credit hours of coursework, which can be applied to the Master of Public Health degree. Researchers from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will work with staff from the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute to create the curriculum.

"This is a chance for us to do what we do best," said Douglas Archer, associate dean for research at IFAS. "We have decades of experience in foodborne pathogen research and a long history of reaching out to the public through the cooperative extension system."

"Choosing Florida as a site for one of the five national centers establishes UF as one of the top food safety research institutions in the country," said Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at UF.

For more information about the curriculum for this certificate go to the certificate description under the COURSES tab on the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions website or go directly to http://onlinecertificate.mph.ufl.edu/curriculum/food-safety/. For more information on applying to this certificate, please refer to the ADMISSIONS tab on the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions website.

Graduate Certificate in Public Health with an Emphasis in Food Safety

The information below was copied from the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions website, December 13, 2013, please visit the source page http://onlinecertificate.mph.ufl.edu/curriculum/food-safety/ for the most current information.

This 15-credit Public Health Certificate contains courses that will build a foundation in public health with a focus on food safety. It is specifically designed for the working professional or student who wants to increase their knowledge of food safety in a public health context, but cannot come to a university campus for courses. The certificate combines course work in foodborne diseases with epidemiology, statistics, and environmental health.

Course offering schedule

Course Number		Title and Description	Semester offered	Credits
PHC 6001		Principles of Epidemiology	Fall and Spring	3
PHC 6520		Introduction to Foodborne Diseases – prerequisite PHC 6001	Fall	3
PHC 6313		Environmental Health Concepts in Public Health	Spring and Summer*	3
PHC 6050		Statistical Methods for Health Sciences 1	Spring	3
Pick 1 of these courses	PHC 6002	Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases – prerequisite PHC 6001 and PHC 6050	Summer	3
	PHC 6519	Zoonotic Diseases of Humans and Animals	Spring and Summer	3
	PHC 6937	Health, Risk, and Crisis Communication in Public Health	Summer	3
	PHC 6937	Fundamentals of Public Health Nutrition	Fall	3
Total Credits				15

Course descriptions and Syllabi

PHC 6001 – Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health (3)
Overview of epidemiology methods used in research studies that address disease patterns in community and clinic-based populations. Includes distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specific populations and application to control of health problems. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6937 – Introduction to Foodborne Diseases (3)
This is an intermediate level course, which will introduce students to the major pathogens associated with foodborne diseases, their epidemiology, and approaches to outbreak investigation and control of foodborne illness. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6313—Environmental Health Concepts in Public Health (3) - this course moves to spring semester starting spring 2013
Survey of major topics of environmental health. Sources, routes, media, and health outcomes associated with biological, chemical, and physical agents in environment. Effects of agents on disease, water quality, air quality, food safety, and land resources. Current legal framework, policies, and practices associated with environmental health and intended to improve public health. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6050 – Statistical Methods for Health Science I (3)
Appropriate use of data summarization and presentation of basic statistical methods, including ANOVA, nonparametric methods, inference on discrete data, inference on survival data, and regression methods for continuous, binary, and survival data. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

Pick 1 of the following courses:

PHC 6002 – Epidemiology of Infectious Disease (3)
Epidemiology, prevention, and control of infectious diseases impacting local, national, and global community health; epidemiology methods used in disease surveillance and measures used in slowing or preventing spread of disease. – Prerequisite: PHC 6001 and PHC 6050. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6519– Zoonotic Diseases in Humans and Animals (3)
Introduction to major zoonotic diseases, including human and animal presentations, epidemiology, means of prevention and control, available diagnostics, available treatments, and associated human and animal regulations for each disease. Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6937 – Health, Risk, and Crisis Communication in Public Health (3)
Communication is a key component of the job description of all public health professionals. While a single course can not convey all of the subtleties of good oral and written communication, the overall goal of this course is to describe “best practices” under ordinary, risk, and crisis situations. Through the use of lectures, exercises, discussion boards, readings, and assignments, students will be encouraged to reflect on the role of communication in their careers and how they can work to maximize their personal effectiveness.Sample syllabi are available via the Course Descriptions and Syllabi page.

PHC 6937 – Fundamentals of Public Health Nutrition (3)

This course will provide an introduction to Public Health Nutrition and the role of the Public Health Nutrition professional. Emphasis will be on definition, identification and prevention of nutrition related disease, as well as improving health of a population by improving nutrition. Malnutrition will be discussed on a societal, economic, and environmental level. It will include the basics of nutritional biochemistry as it relates to malnutrition of a community and targeted intervention. Finally, it will review existing programs and policies, including strengths, weaknesses and areas for modification or new interventions. Textbook: Community Nutrition in Action: An Entrepreneurial Approach, 6th Edition, Boyle, MA, Holben, DH, ISBN‐10: 1‐11198968‐0, ISBN‐13:978‐1‐
11198968‐2. Comes as an ebook and has web‐based support. Click here for the Fall 2013 syllabus

*The summer PHC 6313 course is offered in a shortened semester.

——————————————————————————————-

Please visit the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions website site for additional up to date details on this program http://onlinecertificate.mph.ufl.edu/curriculum/food-safety/

Portions reprinted from UF Explore research magazine and http://phhp.ufl.edu/2013/02/11/florida-forms-new-food-safety-center-of-excellence/

Emerging Pathogens Institute