Public Health BS
Major: Public Health
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science (BS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 181.0
Co-op Options: One Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.2201
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9111
About the Program
Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health and well-being of communities. Where some healthcare professionals focus on treating individuals after they become sick or injured, public health professionals are concerned with the health of entire populations, attempting to prevent problems from occurring or recurring through education, policy development, advocacy, service, and research.
Reflecting the interdisciplinary approach of the Dornsife School of Public Health, students in the major will take courses originating from the various public health core disciplines which include epidemiology, community health and prevention, environmental and occupational health, and health management and policy. The diversity in course offerings provides students with the general foundation of each discipline within public health. Student learning is enhanced by faculty expertise from a wide array of backgrounds including epidemiology, community health, global health, sociology, psychology, medicine, health policy, health economics, industrial hygiene, and anthropology, in addition to many more. As students progress through the major, they will gain more breadth and depth in the specific discipline of their choosing through the co-op experience, as well as the capstone courses in their senior year.
The Dornsife School of Public Health is dedicated to the integration of social justice and human rights in academic public health and being a model for interdisciplinary collaboration and civic engagement. Additionally, a commitment to global engagement is core to the School's mission. The Global Public Health Initiative was created to provide opportunities for all public health students to gain rich and meaningful experiences working on health issues that transcend national boundaries or that may be influenced by circumstances or experiences in other countries.
Upon completion of the degree, students will be better equipped to complete graduate education in public health or health sciences. Students will have acquired skills that could be translated into the workplace (city, state, or local government, nonprofit, etc.) or other post-baccalaureate educational settings such as an MPH, JD, or MD.
Additional Information
For more information about this program, please contact:
DSPH Academic Advising Team
Office of Education
dsphadvising@drexel.edu
Additional information can be found on the Dornsife School of Public Health website, including admissions criteria and how to apply.
Degree Requirements
| General Education Requirements | ||
| CIVC 101 | Introduction to Civic Engagement | 1.0 |
| COM 230 | Techniques of Speaking | 3.0 |
| COM 320 [WI] | Science Writing | 3.0 |
| COOP 101 | Career Management and Professional Development * | 1.0 |
| ENGL 101 | Composition and Rhetoric I: Inquiry and Exploratory Research | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 111 | English Composition I | |
| ENGL 102 | Composition and Rhetoric II: Advanced Research and Evidence-Based Writing | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 112 | English Composition II | |
| ENGL 103 | Composition and Rhetoric III: Themes and Genres | 3.0 |
| or ENGL 113 | English Composition III | |
| PBHL 101 | Public Health 101 | 3.0 |
| UNIV PH101 | The Drexel Experience | 1.0 |
| Students must select one of the following math sequences: | 12.0 | |
| Introduction to Analysis I and Introduction to Analysis II and Biostatistics I | ||
Or | ||
| Calculus I and Calculus II and Calculus III | ||
| Physical and Life Sciences Requirements ** | 16.0 | |
| Students must select one of the following biology sequences: | ||
| Cells, Genetics & Physiology and Cells, Genetics and Physiology Laboratory and Biological Diversity, Ecology & Evolution and Biological Diversity, Ecology and Evolution Laboratory | ||
| Or | ||
| Cells and Biomolecules and Cells and Biomolecules Lab and Genetics and Evolution and Genetics and Evolution Lab and Physiology and Ecology and Anatomy and Ecology Lab | ||
| Students must select one of the following chemistry sequences: | ||
| General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II | ||
| Or | ||
| General Chemistry I and General Chemistry II | ||
| Social Science Requirements | ||
| PSY 101 | General Psychology I | 3.0 |
| SOC 101 | Introduction to Sociology | 3.0 |
| Social Science Electives | 37.0 | |
| Urban Anthropology | ||
| Anthropology of Immigration | ||
| Principles of Microeconomics | ||
| Principles of Macroeconomics | ||
| Economics of Health Care Systems | ||
| Sociology of the Environment | ||
| Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Equatorial Guinea: Society & Environment | ||
| History of Work & Workers in America | ||
| Principles of Human Resource Administration | ||
| Health-Care Ethics I | ||
| Management Information Systems | ||
| Organizational Behavior | ||
| Women and Children: Health & Society | ||
| Injury Prevention and Control | ||
| Burden of Disease | ||
| Drugs, Society, and Public Health | ||
| Violence and Trauma in Public Health | ||
| Health Inequality | ||
| Biomedical Ethics | ||
| International Human Rights | ||
| Developmental Psychology | ||
| Abnormal Psychology | ||
| Industrial Psychology | ||
| Psychology - Inequity & Injustice | ||
| Social Problems | ||
| Race, Ethnicity and Social Inequality | ||
| Sociology of Health and Illness | ||
| Women's Health and Human Rights | ||
| Public Heath Core Course Requirements | ||
| PBHL 301 | Epidemiology in Public Health | 3.0 |
| PBHL 302 | Introduction to the History of Public Health | 3.0 |
| PBHL 303 | Overview of Issues in Global Health | 3.0 |
| PBHL 304 | Introduction to Health & Human Rights | 3.0 |
| PBHL 308 | The U.S. Public Health System | 3.0 |
| PBHL 314 | Environmental and Occupational Health | 3.0 |
| Interdisciplinary Public Health Requirements | ||
| Select one PBHL course from each PH Department below: | 12.0 | |
| Select 12.0 additional PH course credits (PBHL 102-494) | 12.0 | |
| Public Health Capstone Experience | ||
| PBHL 497 | Capstone Experience I | 2.0 |
| PBHL 498 [WI] | Capstone Experience II | 3.0 |
| PBHL 499 [WI] | Capstone Experience III | 3.0 |
| Free Electives | 39.0 | |
| Total Credits | 181.0 | |
- *
Co-op cycles may vary. Students are assigned a co-op cycle (fall/winter, spring/summer, summer-only) based on their co-op program (4-year, 5-year) and major.
COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101.
- **
Please note that students who take the BIO 131 & BIO 134, BIO 132 & BIO 135, and BIO 133 & BIO 136 sequence will be required to take fewer free electives.
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements
In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.
A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.
Sample Plan of Study
4 year, 1 co-op
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| BIO 107 | 3.0 | BIO 109 | 3.0 | ENGL 103 or 113 | 3.0 | VACATION | |
| BIO 108 | 1.0 | BIO 110 | 1.0 | SOC 101 | 3.0 | ||
| ENGL 101 or 111 | 3.0 | CIVC 101 | 1.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | ||
| MATH 101 or 121 | 4.0 | ENGL 102 or 112 | 3.0 | Interdisciplinary Public Health requirements | 3.0 | ||
| PBHL 101 | 3.0 | MATH 102 or 122 | 4.0 | ||||
| UNIV PH101 | 1.0 | PSY 101 | 3.0 | ||||
| 15 | 15 | 15 | 0 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| CHEM 111 | 4.0 | CHEM 112 | 4.0 | COM 230 | 3.0 | COOP 101* | 1.0 |
| PBHL 210 or MATH 123 | 4.0 | PBHL 301 | 3.0 | PBHL 304 | 3.0 | Free elective | 3.0 |
| PBHL 303 | 3.0 | PBHL 302 | 3.0 | PBHL 314 | 3.0 | Interdisciplinary Public Health requirements | 6.0 |
| Social Science electives | 6.0 | Interdisciplinary Public Health requirements | 6.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | Social Science electives | 7.0 |
| 17 | 16 | 15 | 17 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| COM 320 | 3.0 | Interdisciplinary Public Health requirement | 3.0 | COOP EXPERIENCE | COOP EXPERIENCE | ||
| PBHL 308 | 3.0 | Free Elective | 3.0 | ||||
| Interdisciplinary Public Health requirement | 3.0 | Social Science electives | 6.0 | ||||
| Social Science electives | 6.0 | ||||||
| 15 | 12 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Fourth Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| PBHL 497 | 2.0 | PBHL 498 | 3.0 | PBHL 499 | 3.0 | ||
| Free electives | 6.0 | Free electives | 6.0 | Free electives | 9.0 | ||
| Social Science electives | 6.0 | Social Science electives | 6.0 | Interdisciplinary Public Health requirement | 3.0 | ||
| 14 | 15 | 15 | |||||
| Total Credits 181 | |||||||
- *
Co-op cycles may vary. Students are assigned a co-op cycle (fall/winter, spring/summer, summer-only) based on their co-op program (4-year, 5-year) and major.
COOP 101 registration is determined by the co-op cycle assigned and may be scheduled in a different term. Select students may be eligible to take COOP 001 in place of COOP 101.
Program Level Outcomes
Public Health Foundational Domains
- The concepts and applications of basic statistics
- The foundations of biological and life sciences
- The history and philosophy of public health as well as its core values, concepts, and functions across the globe and in society
- The basic concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use, and analysis and why evidence-based approaches are an essential part of public health practice
- The concepts of population health, and the basic processes, approaches and interventions that identify and address the major health-related needs and concerns of populations
- The underlying science of human health and disease, including opportunities for promoting and protecting health across the life course
- The cultural, socioeconomic, behavioral, biological, environmental , and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities
- The fundamental concepts and features of project implementation, including planning, assessment, and evaluation
- The fundamental characteristics and organizational structures of the U.S. health system as well as the differences between systems in other countries
- Basic concepts of legal, ethical, economic, and regulatory dimensions of health care and public health policy and the roles, influences, and responsibilities of the different agencies and branches of government
- Basic concepts of public health-specific communication, including technical and professional writing and the use of mass media and electronic technology