Recommended books for MPH Courses

[vka123]

Hi All
I am looking forward to your help in recommending text books for the following courses for MPH program
1 Overview of US health care system
2 Public Health Administration and Management
3 Epidemiology
4 Basic Statistics and research
It would be really great if those of you who have either finished these courses or are currently enrolled in them to comment on your choices and suggest easily understandable and concise textbooks on the subjects given above.With thanks to you in advance.

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[snoofle]

in addition to reading textbooks if thats what you really want to do, you could also try reading books that communicate key public health themes and books that can give you insight into the public health field in general. I'm starting at Emory this fall and we were given a list of public health summer reading books to help us incoming students to understand what public health is and how its worked in the past.

 

[KGkhan23]

Hey snoofle, do you mind posting that summer reading list? I'm looking for some books as well.

 

[snoofle]

Book List:
And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic Author: Randy Shilts

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History Author: Molly Caldwell Crosby

Beating Back the Devil: On the Frontlines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Author: Maryn McKenna

The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug Author: Thomas Hager

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explains the Hidden Side of Everything Authors: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-- and How It Changed Science, Societies and the Modern World Author: Steven Johnson





Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Author: Jared Diamond

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, the Man Who Could Cure the World Author: Tracy Kidder

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America Author: Barbara Ehrenreich

Polio: An American Story Author: David M. Oshinsky

Silent Spring Author: Rachel Carson

 

[KGkhan23]

Cool, thanks man. I've read Freakonomics; Guns, Germs, and Steel; and Nickel and Dimed. Loved the first two, but don't care much for Barbara Ehrenreich. A few of these sound really interesting; have you read them yet?

 

[snoofle]

I'm reading And the band played on as my preferred summer reading choice b/c I want to specialize in ID specifically AIDs..and its a great read! i really recommend it, i may try to tackle one more before school starts..but none sound are really catching my interest

 

[Cster0905]

Since you asked for text books and not general reads, here are some of the books we used while I was at UNC's SPH. Of course, we had a tremendous amount of ancillary material to supplement the texts, but they were all very good.

I believe, however, you could find a better Biostat book. The one listed is a bit dry; however, my Biostat teacher was ridiculously hard and made life in that class terrible so it may be more a reflection of the course and not the text.

1. Understanding the US Health Services System, 3e (Barton, PL)
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215541959&sr=1-1

2. No specific books off the top of my head (there were a bunch).

3. Essentials in Epidemiology in Public Health (Aschengrau, A; Seage, GR)
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...Aschengrau+and+Seage&um=1&hl=en&safe=off&sa=N

4. Biostatistics: A Foundation for Analysis in the Health Sciences, 8e (Daniel, WW)
http://www.amazon.com/Biostatistics...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215541858&sr=8-1

Let me think of other books we used. I can get back to you.

 

[CMVMPH]

Best Epi book ever!!! "A Dictionary of Epidemiology" by John M. Last - I graded many a test to these definitions. It would save my butt on a daily basis as the department (which held classes for the SPH AND the Medical School) when I graded these exams. It's good as a reference.

I know it's not a textbook but I must pass it on anyway.... lol . "The Woman with the Worm in Her Head" By Patricia Nagami - Good Lord, I am a Chronic Disease/Cancer Epidemiologist until the day I die, but this AWESOME book of a collection of tales by Dr. Nagami's trials as an infectious disease doc in Cali is just simply exquisite. I'm currently lending it to the Health Department where I work, because everyone there is just infatuated with it haha. I'm currently reading her other book "Bitten" but it's a tad dry. Go with "The Woman..." you won't be able to put it down!

Aschengrau is a good book...was my first Epi book! It will even be very helpful once you move up the ranks away from "Beginner" Status... Try to avoid Rothman if possible, even though it's very informative. It is not for the "Green" epi student in my opinion.

Try to avoid anything on Logistic Regression unless you have a horrible bout of Insomnia...in that case, read "Logistic Regression" by Hosmer and Lemeshow! My only textbook in Advanced Epi...it's a doozy, but it is one of the most amazing resources out there.

Also, regardless of your politics, try to sample a little bit of both sides on the Universal Health Care issue....no doubt, it's going to be on the minds of every Public health worker, regardless of discipline, this fall and in the years to come.

Happy Reading!

 

[cbrown800]

for health policy, i recommend "Understanding Health Policy" by thomas bodenheimer and kevin grumbach.

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding...d_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215643168&sr=8-2

second "and the band played on" for an interesting read.
http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/cgi-bin/same_author.pl?author=Kevin+Grumbach

 

[swemory2007]

I personally think the best epi text is Epidemiologic Methods by Tom Koepsell and Noel Weiss (but I am biased because they were my professors). In all seriousness, it is extremely clear with really great examples of epi principles. A fun epi read is The Demon in the Freezer, about smallpox and anthrax and their place in US history and potential for bioterrorism.

 

[Choklatcow]

You MUST read Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains -- it is one of the best books I've ever read! It moves quickly, it's not too long, and is a very inspiring story.

I've read it twice and I'm about to begin Pathologies of Power by Farmer himself (more of an international health/medical anthro focus than super epi).

Good luck 🙂

 

[Runnergirl08]

I agree...I just received Mountains Beyond Mountains as a graduation present and I inhaled it right away. A very inspirational public health read!

 

[swemory2007]

Agreed. Paul Farmer actually was our graduation speaker and my school passed out free copies of the book to get people excited about him coming. Great book, I flew through it in about a week lying out at the pool, waiting to graduate, haha.