Public Health, Minor

Goals

After successful completion of this program, students will be able to recognize the spectrum of global health challenges and exercise intellectual and practical skills in response. They will have the fundamental knowledge and skills needed to develop an appreciation of health and disease prevention at the population level. Students will be able use this special knowledge to transform the experience of their major education into innovative approaches for solving problems in health care and assessment.

Careers

Students who complete the minor in Public Health will be able to apply skills from their major area of study to problems in public health in the fields of health communications, health informatics, health administration, community health programs, and health education, to name a few. By completing this program, students will also have begun the development of the core competencies for interprofessional practice in the health professions, thus strengthening their candidacy for professional schools. and will also be strong candidates for accredited MPH programs.

Program Description

In this minor, students will be introduced to public health concepts and practice. They will learn about the roles of public health, disease control, health promotion, and health care delivery systems and will learn how to use basic tools of epidemiology in evidence-based public health practice. They will apply public health principles in both developed and developing countries to understand the links between health and economic and social development. Finally, students will learn how to apply public health concepts to their major area of study by working with a community partner on a project in a relevant area of public health.

Minor Requirements

The Public Health minor is interdisciplinary, and includes six courses. Two service-learning courses, Introduction to Public Health and Projects in Public Health, are required, in addition to courses in Epidemiology and Global Health. Two other classes are selected from a list of public health-related electives. In order to enroll in BIO 410 Projects in Public Health, students must have completed BIO 106 Introduction to Public Health and BIO 107 Introduction to Epidemiology. Completion of BIO 201 Global Health and senior status are recommended before enrolling in BIO 410 Projects in Public Health.

Required Courses
BIO 106Introduction to Public Health3
BIO 107Introduction to Epidemiology3
BIO 201Global Health3
Select one of the following:3
BIO 410
Projects in Public Health
NUR 485
Internship 1
SWK 426
Field Seminar II 2
Elective Courses
Select one course from each of the following groups:6
Group A
BIO 105
Introduction to Environmental Health
BIO 212
Microbiology
CHE 105
Chemistry and Society I: Public Affairs
CHE 106
Chemistry and Society II: Chemistry for
GRN 100
Intro to Gerontology
PSY 215
Psychology of Aging
PSY 342
Social Psychology
NUR 463
Nursing in Community Health 1
Group B
SOC 101
Intro Sociology
SOC 307
Soc of Family
SOC 308
Women in Society
SOC 312
Social Stratification
SOC 322
Sociology of Aging
SOC 326
Sociology of Health
SWK 210
Diversity & Soc Justice
SWK 300
Social Policy Analysis 2
SWK 351
Health/Mental Health Care
1

Nursing majors only

2

Social Work majors only