Public Health (M)

This degree offers a mission-focused perspective on public health and prepares you to serve as a globally minded citizen working to protect and promote the public’s health. It is an engaging, multidisciplinary educational program filled with practical application opportunities to prepare you to be a strong, competitive candidate in the public health sector. In this degree program, you will have the opportunity to personalize your path depending on your interest. Regardless of which concentration you choose, all undergraduate students will complete a minimum of 120 credits, including 45 credit hours of general education core curricula, 25 credit hours of required public health coursework, and 3 credit hours of a culminating/capstone project. Students may choose to enroll in one of the following two concentrations:

Community health concentration:

This concentration integrates many disciplines and allows you to tailor your study with selectives from programs such as environmental studies, communication, nutrition, social work, sociology, psychology, political science, public policy, health and human performance, and more to create an educational experience unique to you. You will be prepared to enter the public health field in numerous professional and community settings such as non-profit organizations, hospitals and health systems, governmental agencies, schools, and private businesses. A bachelor’s in public health also provides the foundation for future graduate degrees, such as a masters’ in public health, social work, occupational therapy, public policy, or healthcare administration.

Pre-clinical concentration:

This concentration provides the undergraduate public health student with a strong foundation in the basic sciences and prepares them to continue their education by pursuing a graduate degree in a health profession, such as pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, or other medical program.

All students complete the public health core courses, which provide foundational knowledge to improve the public’s health at the policy and community level.

Program Learning Outcomes

Through this degree program, all graduating students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the concepts and core values of public and population health
  • Employ Christian service by protecting and promoting the public’s health
  • Apply teamwork, leadership, and professionalism principles to address health-related needs and concerns of populations
  • Locate, use, evaluate, and synthesize public health information
  • Communicate public health information, in both oral and written forms and through a variety of media, to diverse audiences

The community health concentration will also prepare you to:

  • Discuss the diversity and unique public health-related needs of specific populations in the context of achieving health equity
  • Build trust and rapport with communities served
  • Outline strategies to build individual and community capacity

The pre-clinical concentration will also prepare you to:

  • Demonstrate a robust understanding of various science and math concepts and how they relate to public health knowledge and skills
  • Compare and contrast individual health approaches and population-based public health approaches to care
  • Prepare to advocate for public health issues within the healthcare context

Curriculum

Core Requirements45
Major Requirements28
Concentration Requirements24-32
Electives15-23
Community Health Concentration
Community Health Concentration Selectives (32 credits) and Electives (15 credits)
Pre-clinical Concentration
Pre-clinical Concentration Required Courses (24 credits) and Electives (23 credits)
Total Hours120

Major Requirements

Required Core Courses
Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology 1
Human Anatomy and Physiology I 2
Statistics I
Bioethical Dilemmas in Contemporary Society
Required Major Courses
PH 1050Introduction to Public Health3
PH 2050A Public Health Perspective on Community, Culture, and Advocacy3
PH 2100Public Health Research, Evaluation and Ethics3
PH 3000Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System3
PH 3050Public Health Communication3
PH 3100Public Health Interventions and Program Planning3
NURS 3131Community Wellness Theory3
PH 3200Navigating Public Health Careers3
IPE 4900Understanding IPE through the Experiences of Working Professionals1
PH 4500Baccalaureate Project in Public Health3
Required Concentration Courses24-32
Community Health Concentration Selectives (32 credits) 3
Pre-clinical Concentration Required Courses (24 credits)
Functional Human Biology I
Functional Human Biology II
General Chemistry I
General Chemistry II
Organic Chemistry I
General Physics I
Electives15-23
Total Hours75
1

Required for the Community Health Concentration

2

Required for the Pre-clinical Concentration

3

Courses will be selected in consultation with your advisor. Selectives may include, but are not limited to, courses from BIO, COMM, CSC, CSLL, ENV, EXPH, HCM, HHP, MGMT, NURS, PHIL, POLS, PSY, RSC, SOC, SW

 
 
Plan of Study Grid
Semester 1Hours
CCE 1010 Christian Citizen 3
ENG 1040 Introduction to Writing 3
PH 1050 Introduction to Public Health 3
BIO 1300 Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology 4
HHP 1100 Stewardship of the Body 1
 Hours14
Semester 2
REL 1100 Christian Faith 3
CCE 1030 Western Thought & Worldview 3
REL 1000 The Bible 3
MATH 2050 Statistics I 3
HHP ACTIVITY 1
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
 Hours16
Semester 3
REL 3100 Religion in America Today 3
CCE 1020 Western Culture & Worldview 3
PH 2050 A Public Health Perspective on Community, Culture, and Advocacy 3
COMM 1100
Public Speaking
or Interpersonal Communication
3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
 Hours15
Semester 4
CCE 1040 Science & Humanity 3
PHIL 3500 Bioethical Dilemmas in Contemporary Society 3
HUMAN CREATIVITY & EXPRESSION 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
PH 3000 Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System 3
 Hours15
Semester 5
PH 2100
Public Health Research, Evaluation and Ethics
or Experimental Psychology
3
NURS 3131 Community Wellness Theory 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
 Hours15
Semester 6
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
PH 3100 Public Health Interventions and Program Planning 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
PH 3050 Public Health Communication 3
 Hours15
Semester 7
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
PH 3200 Navigating Public Health Careers 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
 Hours15
Semester 8
PH 4500 Baccalaureate Project in Public Health 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
PUBLIC HEALTH SELECTIVE 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
 Hours15
 Total Hours120

Course options and schedule are subject to change.

Plan of Study Grid
Semester 1Hours
BIO 1501 Functional Human Biology I 4
CHEM 1414 General Chemistry I 4
HHP 1100 Stewardship of the Body 1
REL 1000 The Bible 3
CCE 1020 Western Culture & Worldview 3
 Hours15
Semester 2
BIO 1502 Functional Human Biology II 4
CHEM 1424 General Chemistry II 4
ENG 1040 Introduction to Writing 3
COMM 1100
Public Speaking
or Interpersonal Communication
3
 Hours14
Semester 3
CHEM 2414 Organic Chemistry I 4
PH 1050 Introduction to Public Health 3
BIO 1801 Human Anatomy and Physiology I 4
CCE 1010 Christian Citizen 3
MATH 2050 Statistics I 3
 Hours17
Semester 4
PHYS 1514 General Physics I 4
PH 3000 Introduction to the U.S. Health Care System 3
CCE 1040 Science & Humanity 3
REL 1100 Christian Faith 3
CHEM 2424 Organic Chemistry II 4
 Hours17
Semester 5
PSY 1010 General Psychology 3
NURS 3131 Community Wellness Theory 3
PH 2100
Public Health Research, Evaluation and Ethics
or Experimental Psychology
3
PHIL 3500 Bioethical Dilemmas in Contemporary Society 3
PH 2050 A Public Health Perspective on Community, Culture, and Advocacy 3
 Hours15
Semester 6
HUMAN CREATIVITY & EXPRESSION 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
PH 3050 Public Health Communication 3
PH 3100 Public Health Interventions and Program Planning 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
 Hours15
Semester 7
IPE 4900 Understanding IPE through the Experiences of Working Professionals 1
PH 3200 Navigating Public Health Careers 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
CCE 1030 Western Thought & Worldview 3
 Hours13
Semester 8
PH 4500 Baccalaureate Project in Public Health 3
REL 3100 Religion in America Today 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 3
ELECTIVE/MINOR 4
HHP ACTIVITY 1
 Hours14
 Total Hours120

Course options and schedule are subject to change.