Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH)

Program Description

This 62 credit-hour major will provide you with a strong foundation in public health through evidence-informed course content; community-based internships; and a curriculum based on established competencies, best practices, and accreditation standards.

What A Difference A Public Health Degree Can Make

Where others dream of change, public health graduates go out and make it. Whether it’s investigating emerging diseases, reducing health disparities or advocating for clean air and water, public health is on the front line of addressing some of today's biggest problems. The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) program integrates academic rigor with real-world solutions to promote healthy communities. This program will consist of core public health courses in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Environmental Health, Health Policy, Public Health Practice, Social and Behavioral Health and interdisciplinary core courses in Anthropology, Communications, Health Sciences and Sociology. Faculty and students collaborate with local health and community agencies to help prevent chronic disease, inform public policy and reduce health disparities. As students earn their degree, they will work to address health concerns that affect their community. Students will have the opportunity to design and test public health initiatives using an experiential approach through engaged scholarship opportunities.

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree is more than a means to produce public health practitioners. It can complement or enrich a traditional biology-based, pre-health degree plan for students intending professional education in medicine, nursing, allied health or other health professions.

A Degree That Fits Your World

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health is ideal for anyone who is interested in learning about health, likes to solve problems and has a passion for making a difference. To help you succeed, you’ll get:

Support from faculty with diverse public health expertise
Practical fieldwork experience to prepare you for your career
Opportunities for professional development and networking

The Demand

Public Health is an emerging field with growing opportunities for fulfilling careers. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health are in high demand to fill lucrative roles at private, non-profit, governmental and international organizations. In addition to the call for new professionals to fill existing roles, the COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the need for an ongoing investment in the Public Health field. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects as much as 20% growth in the field by 2030.

Admission Requirements

To be eligible for the public health major, students must successfully complete their General Education required courses with a grade of “C” or higher (on their first or second attempt), have a GPA of 2.0 or higher, and be in good academic standing.
There are no prerequisites to declare a major or minor in Public Health.

Deadlines

Students are advised to declare the Public Health major no later than the end of their last semester of sophomore year to ensure completion of the major by their anticipated graduation date.

Curriculum

Integrated Public Health Core (30 hours)

PUBH 3120 Environmental and Climate Health
PUBH 4121 Environmental Health: Practice & Application
PUBH 3130 Social Determinants and Health Disparities
PUBH 4131 Public Health & Social Justice
PUBH 3150 Health Data Analytics and Informatics
PUBH 4151 Analytic & Research Methods in Public Health II
PUBH 3180 Public Health Principles & Practice I
PUBH 4181 Public Health Principles & Practice II
PUBH 3710 Public Health Systems & Policy I
PUBH 4711 Public Health Systems & Policy II

Interdisciplinary Core (15 hours) - Select five

ANTH 4511 Medical Anthropology
ANTH 4571 Race and Health Disparities
COMM 4015 Health Literacy
HLSC 4200 Cultural Competence in Health
SOCI 4442 Sociology of Poverty
COMM 4375 Intercultural Communication
ANTH 3500 Anth of Global Health
COMM 4016 Public Health Campaigns
ANTH 4521 Culture, Soc, & Mental Health

Field Experience & Capstone (5 hours)

PUBH 4010 Fieldwork (2 hours)
PUBH 4985 Capstone Experience (3 hours)

Senior Capstone Experience

The senior Capstone Experience is a student’s culminating experience or capstone designed to synthesize and integrate the content of a student’s program of study. The senior project is intended to coalesce the theoretical and applied areas of study into an academically relevant example of scholarship. Students will complete research on a topic of their choice with approval of their senior project instructor during their final semester.

Guided Electives (12 hours) – Select four

PUBH 3102 Epidemics: From the Plague to Ebola
PUBH 3170 Global Public Health Crises and Milestones
PUBH 4868 Global Refugee Crises as a Public Health Concern
ANTH 3500 Anth of Global Health
ANTH 3511 Culture/Kin/Family
ANTH 4111 Evolution & Human Health
ANTH 4417 Food, Culture, Power
ANTH 4531 Alcohol, Drugs & Culture
BIOL/ESCI 4241 Biogeog/GIS Analyses/Ecology
CDFS 3401 Parent Child Relations
CDFS 3410 Facilitating Social Emotional Development for Young Children
CJUS 4460 Race/Ethnicity/Justice in America
HLSC 4100 Health & Aging
HLSC 4500 Project Management in Health Sciences
NUTR 4602 Community Nutr
PHIL 3514 Biomedical Ethics
SOCI 4851 Medical Sociology
SWRK 4061 Substance Abuse Treatment
SWRK 3010 Social Response to Human Need

Competencies

Public Health Communication: Students should be able to communicate public health information, in both oral and written forms and through a variety of media, to diverse audiences
Information Literacy: Students should be able to locate, use, evaluate and synthesize public health information
Foundational Domains
- The concepts and applications of basic statistics
- The foundations of biological and life sciences
- The history and philosophy of public health as well as its core values, concepts, and functions across the globe and in society
- The basic concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use, and analysis and why evidence-based approaches are an essential part of public health practice
- The concepts of population health, and the basic processes, approaches and interventions that identify and address the major health-related needs and concerns of populations
- The underlying science of human health and disease, including opportunities for promoting and protecting health across the life course
- The socioeconomic, behavioral, biological, environmental, and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities
- The fundamental concepts and features of project implementation, including planning, assessment, and evaluation
- The fundamental characteristics and organizational structures of the U.S. health system as well as the differences between systems in other countries
- Basic concepts of legal, ethical, economic, and regulatory dimensions of health care and public health policy and the roles, influences, and responsibilities of the different agencies and branches of government
- Basic concepts of public health-specific communication, including technical and professional writing and the use of mass media and electronic technology

Recommended Course Sequence

Freshman Year

Fall 1

GenEd: ENGL 1010 English Composition
GenEd Mathematics: MATH 1530/1910
GenEd: Humanities/Fine Arts
GenEd: Social/Behavioral Science
General Elective

Spring 1

GenEd: ENGL 1020 English Comp/Analysis
GenEd: 2181 Population Health & Society [or another Social/Behavioral Science GenEd]
GenEd: Humanities/Fine Arts
GenEd: History
GenEd: Natural Sciences