Continuing Education
Are you working in the field of public health and want to advance your career or gain skills in the field of data visualization and analytics? Have you joined a public health nonprofit organization and need to learn more about how to analyze and visualize your public health data? If the answer is yes, you need to check out the online courses below:
- Intro to GIS for Public Health Professionals
- Intro to GIS Applications for Community Health Organizations
- Health Care Database Design I
- Advanced GIS Applications for Public Health Professionals
- GIS for Homeland Security.
If you are interested in participating in any of the continuing education courses listed on this page, please contact AskHPA@uic.edu.
Intro to GIS for Public Health Professionals Heading link
The course is a non-credit continuing education online course which introduces students to the fundamentals of geographic information system (GIS) as a means to display, analyze, and understand spatial data. This course is specifically designed for professionals working in community health organizations, public health agencies, and city or state public health departments. It covers topics such as the application of GIS techniques for identifying the spatial distribution of health inequalities and social vulnerabilities.
This courses provides access to content experts who are working in the field of public health and who are available to answer your questions and provide feedback during our online sessions.
Course Objectives:
- Promote a critical understanding of the techniques associated with GIS in the many public health application areas
- Foster an operational understanding of the functions used to store, analyze, and display information on a spatial scale
- Develop an appreciation for the issues and limitations related to the use of GIS in the field of public health
Faculty: Kristin Osiecki, John Canar
Course length: 6 weeks
Intro to GIS Applications for Community Health Organizations Heading link
The course is a non-credit continuing education online course which introduces students to the fundamentals of geographic information system (GIS) as a means to display, analyze, and understand spatial data. This course is specifically designed for professionals working in community health organizations, public health agencies, and city or state public health departments
Through this course, students will “see” data in relation to geography, offering a compelling perspective in understanding issues that impact our communities. Students will learn real GIS skills, and will work on case studies such as “Mapping Chicago Community Areas to Examine Patterns of Poverty and Hardship.”
The course includes topics such as:
- Essential map making skills
- How to find and add pertinent data to your map
- Geocoding addresses
Course materials will emphasize data that is commonly used in community and public health.
Faculty: Kristin Osiecki
Course Length: 6 weeks
Health Care Database Design I Heading link
The class is a non-credit continuing education online course which introduces students to the principles of the use of database management systems in the field of public health. In the course the emphasis is on the fundamentals of sound database design from a public health perspective.
This class provides access to content experts who are working in the field of public health and are available to answer your questions and provide feedback during our online sessions.
Course Objectives:
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- Introduce the principles of relational and spatial database design.
- Familiarize the students with the fundamentals of database management systems (DBMS).
- Familiarize the students with the principles of database schema, subschemas, and physical data repositories.
- Understand the structure and basic characteristics of occupational health information systems.
- Familiarize the students with concept of entity relationship diagrams (ERD), including relationship types.
Faculty: Michael Cailas
Course length: 5 weeks
Advanced GIS Applications for Public Health Professionals Heading link
The course is a non-credit continuing education online course which introduces students to the fundamentals of geographic information system (GIS) as a means to display, analyze, and understand spatial data. The main emphasis of this course is to provide an operational understanding of the ArcGIS software as well as to help students better understand how GIS can be used to solve public health problems.
This course provides access to content experts who are working in the field of public health and who are available to answer your questions and provide feedback during our online sessions.
Course Objectives:
- Promote a critical understanding of the techniques associated with GIS in the many public health application areas
- Foster an operational understanding of the functions used to store, analyze, and display information on a spatial scale
- Develop an appreciation for the issues and limitations related to the use of GIS in the field of public health
Faculty: John Canar, Michael Cailas
Course length: 6 weeks