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Our Bachelor or Arts in Public Health: Human Disease and Epidemiology degree is designed to be flexible, and yet provide disciplinary breadth for pre-professional ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs and ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs interested in an entry-level career or graduate studies in public health. Students pursuing the Human Disease and Epidemiology track in Public Health will learn to apply basic concepts in biology to understand the factors that cause illness and to apply that understanding to promote health in human populations. This track explores differences in health across time and population subgroups as well as the reasons for those differences. Students completing this track will complete:

• A common set of core courses in public health,
• A track-specific set of courses that address basic cell biology, human diseases, and epidemiology,
• One or more elective courses that build upon the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ’s interest, and
• A capstone course in advanced epidemiology.

Please send questions and comments to:
Public Health Departmental Advisor

Student Learning Outcomes

The Public Health major at ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ is a field of study focused on preventing illness and promoting health in individuals, communities, and society as a whole. This program builds on the university’s strengths in four areas: human disease and epidemiology; health policy and administration; and public health promotion.

The Human Disease and Epidemiology concentration utilizes basic concepts in biology and focuses on the factors that cause illness and promote health in human populations. This concentration explores differences in health across time and population subgroups as well as the reasons for those differences.

Core Learning Objectives

Students graduating with a B.A. in Public Health will be able to:

1. identify and address the concepts of population health, and the basic processes, approaches, and interventions which focus on the major health-related needs and concerns of populations.
2. describe the basic concepts of legal, ethical, economic, and regulatory dimensions of health care and public health policy.
3. integrate the core elements of public health with a selected area of specialization to recognize how the field of public health applies to individuals, communities, and society overall.

Concentration-Specific Learning Objectives

In addition, ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs graduating with the Human Disease and Epidemiology concentration will be able to:

4. Describe the underlying science of human health and disease including opportunities for promoting and protecting health across the life course.
5. Demonstrate the use of research tools and analytic methods to critically analyze, monitor, and assess the health status of populations and current public health-related issues.

Sample Plan of Study

The suggested schedule integrates requirements for the major, the College of Arts and Science (CAS), and the Miami Plan, and provides a structure for completing them over a 4-year period. The required and recommended courses in the major are specifically noted because many of them must be taken in sequence, and some of them may be offered only once a year. To fulfill the Miami Plan and CAS requirements, you will take a certain number of credit hours from several categories of courses. Progress towards the fulfillment of the requirements for the major is provided online for each ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵ (and their advisor) through their Degree Audit Report (DAR).

All ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs in the College of Arts and Science must pass the CAS A requirement for a foreign language, which is to complete a course at the 202 level or higher. Although we have built in a two-year sequence beginning with 101 in our suggested schedule, you may be able to leverage your previous foreign language study in high school and bypass some of the introductory foreign language coursework. Alternatively, the schedule will accommodate the study of a new language.

Ask your advisor how certain elective courses may contribute to your particular professional goals. Some ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs will devote their elective course hours to obtain a second major or co-major, such as Microbiology, Spanish or Premedical Studies; other ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs may use these hours for additional preparation for professional school standardized tests.

The requirements for graduation represent the faculty’s consolidation of the standards specified by the Council of Education for Public Health (CEPH) and a thorough review of undergraduate public health programs offered by other universities. The program is intentionally broad in focus within the discipline in order to expand the opportunities of the graduate. Our curriculum requires a set of core courses needed by all public health majors, focus course selections, a capstone course that provides more in-depth coverage of disciplines within the field, and elective courses to complement the ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs’ career objectives and interests.

† General Chemistry: CHM 141, 142, 144, 145 should be taken during the first year by ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs considering/planning to adopt the Premedical Studies Co-major and/or considering/planning to double major in Public Health and Microbiology. Other ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈÊÓƵs may choose to take the chemistry series during their second year (the series is a pre-requisite of BIO 305).

‡ Typically offered only during the indicated semester.