Major in Public Health (BA/BS)
The BA/BS in Public Health prepares students for entry-level jobs as public health professionals. Public health professionals promote and protect the health of people and populations in the communities where they live, learn, work, and play. They assess and monitor the health of populations and investigate the causes of diseases and how they spread. They improve the health of people and populations by identifying, encouraging, and facilitating healthy behaviors. Public health professionals also develop and advocate for policies that promote health. There is an emphasis on prevention—how to keep people from getting sick or injured in the first place.
Successful completion of the program prepares graduates for jobs in public health. Students will learn the basics of environmental health, epidemiology, biostatistics, public health policy and administration, and community health education and promotion. The career settings in which graduates are most often employed include government health agencies, health care facilities (e.g., hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing or long-term care facilities,), health insurance agencies (e.g., HMO/managed care), nonprofit health organizations, and business/industry worksites.
A minor is recommended for this program. Minors often selected include workplace wellness, Spanish, interpersonal relations, counseling, communication studies, and management.
In addition to the coursework required in this major, students must also complete a semester-long internship at a public health agency or other public health-related organization. In order to gain admission to the internship program, students must have earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 in HSC 200, 210, 301, 302, 310, 344, 382, 383, 388, 487 and 494. As a senior capstone, the internship course (HSC 479) should be the last course taken and students should not plan to take other courses, although one elective is permitted during the internship, provided the intern preceptor agrees.
Graduates of the Public Health Program are eligible to sit for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. The CHES designation signifies an individual who has met required academic preparation and qualification, has successfully passed a competency-based examination, and satisfies the continuing education requirement to maintain the national credential.
Major courses comprise 75-77 credits.
75-77 credits
Required Courses, 66-68 credits
| ANAT 201 | Fundamentals of Human Anatomy | 3 |
| HSC 160 | Fundamentals of Human Health | 3 |
| HSC 180 | Principles of Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 200 | Introduction to the Public Health Profession | 3 |
| HSC 210 | Health Behavior Theories | 3 |
| HSC 220 | Population, Race, and Culture in Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 301 | Program Planning in Public Health 1 | 3 |
| HSC 302 | Program Planning in Public Health 2 | 3 |
| HSC 310 | Healthcare Systems | 3 |
| HSC 330 | Legislative Policy, Advocacy, & Intervention Strategies in Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 344 | Disease Prevention and Management in Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 382 | Fundamentals of Biostatistics | 3 |
| HSC 383 | Introduction to Epidemiology | 3 |
| HSC 388 | Organization and Administration in Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 479 | Internship | 6 |
| HSC 482 | Environmental Health | 3 |
| HSC 487 | Applied Research, Writing, and Evaluation in Public Health | 3 |
| HSC 494 | Health Communication | 3 |
| HSC 495 | Professional Preparation in Public Health | 3 |
| | |
| NUTR 275 | Personal Nutrition | 3 |
| or | |
| NUTR 340 | Principles of Human Nutrition | 3 |
| | |
| PHYS 205 | Fundamentals of Human Physiology | 3 |
| or | |
| PHYS 215 | Human Physiology | 5 |
Directed Electives, 9 credits from
| HSC 261 | Health, Sexuality, and Family Life | 3 |
| HSC 283 | Patterns of Health and Disease: A Population Perspective | 3 |
| HSC 285 | Global Health | 3 |
| HSC 350 | Elementary School Health Program | 3 |
| HSC 365 | Health and Aging | 3 |
| HSC 367 | Drug Dependency and Abuse | 3 |
| HSC 368 | Consumer Health Issues | 3 |
| HSC 371 | Death and Dying | 3 |
| HSC 372 | Women and Health | 3 |
| HSC 381 | Stress Management | 3 |
| HSC 401 | Public Health Surveillance | 3 |
| HSC 402 | Regression Modeling for Public Health Applications | 3 |
| HSC 403 | Public Health Informatics | 3 |
| BIO 113 | Microbiology for the Health Sciences | 5 |
| COMM 320 | Persuasion | 3 |
| COMM 335 | Communicating Health and Wellness | 3 |
| EDPS 270 | Human Development Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| EDPS 351 | Adolescent Psychology | 3 |
| EDPS 355 | Adult Psychology | 3 |
| EMHS 350 | Hazardous Materials Health and Safety | 3 |
| EMHS 351 | Introduction to Emergency Management and Homeland Security | 3 |
| EXSC 302 | Physical Activity Throughout the Lifespan | 3 |
| GERO 440 | Women and Aging | 3 |
| HOSP 395 | Food and Culture | 3 |
| MGT 300 | Managing Behavior in Organizations | 3 |
| MKG 375 | Social Media and Digital Engagement | 3 |
| NUTR 200 | Mindful Eating | 3 |
| NUTR 360 | Nutrition and Cardiometabolic Disease | 3 |
| NUTR 448 | Nutrition and Weight Management | 3 |
| NUR 228 | Introduction to Nursing | 3 |
| NUR 230 | Health Appraisal Across the Lifespan | 4 |
| PHIL 235 | Bioethics | 3 |
| PSYS 301 | Health Psychology | 3 |
| PSYS 324 | Psychology of Women and Gender | 3 |
| SOC 320 | Social Inequality | 3 |
| SOC 328 | Globalization and the Social World | 3 |
| SOC 341 | Sociology of Health and Illness | 3 |
| SOC 434 | Sociology of Human Sexuality | 3 |
| WWIN 201 | Improving Worker Wellbeing: A Multidisciplinary Approach | 3 |
| WGS 220 | International Women's Issues | 3 |
Total Credit Hours: 75-77