Public health, a field geared toward serving others and improving people’s health and well-being, addresses some of society’s most perplexing questions.
Public health students explore such questions as: How do societies eradicate infectious diseases, from tuberculosis to polio to AIDS? Why are some economic and social groups more likely to get certain diseases? How did the United States reduce the incidence of smoking and what can other societies learn from that success?
Public health seeks to improve people’s health and serve the community through the development and application of knowledge that prevents disease, protects the public from harm, and promotes health throughout local communities, the state, the nation and the world. The field confronts complex health issues, such as improving access to health care, controlling infectious disease, and reducing environmental hazards, violence, substance abuse and injury.
Through Oxy’s public health minor, you’ll develop and apply knowledge from multiple disciplines for the promotion and protection of human health, giving due consideration to basic principles of human rights and a wide range of cultural perspectives. The minor, like the field itself, is interdisciplinary, including the natural sciences and the social sciences. You will learn about the scientific aspects of disease as well as the political and policy issues involved in improving people’s health and well-being. The minor is jointly administered by the departments of biology, kinesiology and Urban & Environmental Policy (UEP), with course offerings from multiple departments.
The minor can set you up for success in master’s programs in public health as well as careers in health and safety engineering, environmental science, healthcare administration, biostatistics, epidemiology, health education and social work.