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Public Health Sciences

School of Medicine

A minor in public health sciences (PHS) provides rigorous training in the health sciences to prepare students to analyze the complex issues surrounding population health. The interdisciplinary nature of public health means a PHS minor pairs well with a variety of majors campus-wide, and students will benefit from this flexibility in their elective course choices.  Students interested in affecting positive change around the world and understanding health systems will learn how to approach these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The public health sciences minor offers undergraduates a foundation of knowledge for those who plan to enter the field of public health immediately following graduation and for those planning to earn an advanced degree in public health, such as a master of public health or a related health profession field including medicine, nursing and dentistry. Core scientific skills in public health, epidemiology, global health, and health science electives prepare students to be effective in health-related professions. Students entering health fields will benefit from the perspective from courses examining health disparities, social determinants of health, health policy, and health economics, giving them a systems thinking approach to affecting positive change. A public health sciences minor compliments both hard and social science majors and is by nature interdisciplinary. A PHS minor will prepare students to think critically about how to address health problems that impact communities as a whole, which is applicable to a wide variety of work settings from nonprofit and local government to academia.

Minor Requirements

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