Public Health

The mission of the Public Health program is to impart in students a broad understanding of the factors that shape the health of populations and equip them with evaluative tools for improving the health of the community. The Public Health minor is designed to build the student's understanding of public health principles.

A minor in Public Health will allow you to pursue careers in Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), hospitals, and Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs). Students may also pursue graduate work in Epidemiology, Environmental Health, Toxicology, Community Health, Health Education, Biostatistics, and Healthcare Administration. To earn a minor in Public Health, you must successfully complete an 18-credit course of study.

Majors, Minors and Certificates

Courses

PUBH101: Intro Pub Health & Health Service

Credits 3
Introduction to Public Health and Health Services provides an introduction into the tools needed to understand the basic science of public health, the biomedical basis of public health, including infectious disease transmission and containment. It explores the societal and behavioral determinants of health, impact of the environment on health, role of medical care system in meeting the needs of the population, and population level interventions aimed at improving and promoting health. Challenges faced by public health in the United States will be examined. Fall of each year

PUBH201: Public Health Biology

Credits 3

Explores the biological foundation of chronic and infectious diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory diseases. An overview of infectious disease epidemiology; types of pathogens; the immune system and response to pathogens; treatment, prevention, control of infectious diseases; and the role humans’ play in the evolution of infectious diseases will be examined. Prerequisite: BI101 and BI102

PUBH202: Introduction to Global Health

Credits 3
his course will explore major global health issues emphasizing a multidisciplinary approach to understanding global health challenges as they occur both within and outside the borders. The course will examine global health from social, behavioral, economic, political, cultural, and environmental perspectives. The course covers the language of global health along with topics such as socioeconomic determinants of health, chronic diseases and aging, environmental context of health, infectious diseases, major global initiatives for disease prevention and health promotion, global nutrition, mental health, culture and health, health systems and inequity, globalization and health, and global health progress and priorities. Emphasis will be placed on primary prevention, as well as the management of patients with health conditions. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Social Sciences (SS), Information Literacy (IL), and Inquiry and Analysis (IA).

PUBH310: Fndn of Environ Health Sciences

Credits 3

Provides a broad overview of some of the most important and current challenges to human health from environmental and occupational risk factors while teaching the basic knowledge and multi-disciplinary skills used to assess, control, and prevent them. Environmental health addresses all the physical chemical and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviors. It encompasses the assessment and control of those environmental factors that can potentially affect health. It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments" (WHO 2014). This course is appropriate for students who are interested in understanding and preventing diseases occurring as a result environmental degradation leading to unsafe water, food, air, as well as the built and workplace environments. The course discusses human and wildlife diseases that result from human use of the environment, their causes, risk assessment and prevention. This course is writing intensive. Prerequisites: Either PUBH201, BI102, or ES104

PUBH313: Psych/Be/Social Issue Public Health

Credits 3
This course is intended to provide students with a foundation in psychological, behavioral, and social science theory in the context of public health research and practice. The content of this course will provide exposure to a broad range of theories and frameworks commonly employed in the field of public health for understanding health behaviors. These theories will be discussed using examples of their applications to numerous public health problems including, but not limited to, tobacco use, diet, exercise, obesity, HIV/AIDS, violence, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, environmental hazards, and global health. This course is writing intensive.