This course provides students with an overview of the policy-making process in the United States, with an emphasis on policies that impact public health. This course will utilize examples of current public health issues such as reproductive justice, substance use disorders, mental health treatment, and obesity prevention. In addition, we will carefully consider how the social determinants of health impact health equity and how to create policies to address these disparities.
About the Instructor: Dr. McMenamin is an assistant professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at UC San Diego where she serves as the Associate Director of the MPH program and as an Interim Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education. Her research focuses on state-level policies to treat tobacco use and other preventive services such as treating tobacco dependence through health insurance coverage both in the private and public insurance markets in both California and across the US. Dr. McMenamin also serves as a vice chair for the California Health Benefits Review Program, a University of California wide task force of faculty engaged in providing evidence on medical effectiveness, cost, and public health impacts of proposed health insurance legislation being considered in the California state legislature.