Undergraduate Public Health Programs
Maintaining and improving public health is one of the great mandates of our time, both in the US and abroad. Aging populations, global pandemics, increasing environmental degradation, and a rise in childhood obesity are just some of the many challenges to which the field directly responds.
The Public Health Program prepares students to:
- Pursue professional endeavors informed by a social justice approach and dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of local neighborhoods or national populations: explore recent post-graduate results for the Public Health BA and BS degrees or accelerated Three-Year Scholars program for incoming students.
- Participate in original research and scholarly writing with faculty in areas including epidemiology, global health, health equity, health policy, maternal and child health, nutrition, mental health, and health promotion.
- Engage with the DC community-and your community abroad-through internships and service-learning activities.
Students can choose the Public Health BS, BA, or minor, in addition to our accelerated Three-Year Scholars Program:
At the heart of the BA, BS, and minor are sets of core courses that ensure that students gain both foundational knowledge and practical skills in the field of public health. Through their electives, students then learn about health issues from the perspective of several disciplines. The electives are set up into four clusters:
- Global Health
- Health Science
- Social and Community Health
- Policy, Program Planning, and Evaluation
Are you a current student? If so, be sure to check out the Department of Health Studies Resources Canvas page on your Canvas portal. You’ll find information about major requirements, internships, the honors program, and much more! If you need access, please email healthstudies@american.edu.
Upon completion of the Public Health program, students will be able to:
- Explain the philosophy and essential services of Public Health.
- Explain the history and philosophy of public health as well as its core values, concepts, and functions across the globe and in society
- 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
- Apply and utilize an epidemiological approach through engagement in collaborative public health research.
- Identify, explain, and utilize the basic concepts, methods, and tools of public health data collection, use, and analysis
- Apply evidence-based approaches to public health practice
- Evaluate and compare healthcare systems and public health initiatives in the United States and abroad.
- Describe the 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
- Explain the fundamental characteristics and organizational structures of the U.S. health system as well the differences in systems in other countries
- Convey an understanding of the determinants of health and health disparities.
- Describe the underlying science of human health and disease including opportunities for promoting and protecting health across the life course
- Identify and explain the socio-economic, behavioral, biological, environmental, and other factors that impact human health and contribute to health disparities
- Appraise cultural differences among populations and interact sensitively, effectively, and professionally with persons from diverse backgrounds
- Plan, implement, and evaluate public health programs.
- Utilize the fundamental concepts and features of project implementation, including planning, assessment, and evaluation
- Utilize the basic concepts of public health-specific communication, including technical and professional writing and the use of mass media and electronic technology
Complete your MS Degree in 1 Year!
Health Studies students now have the opportunity to complete a combined Bachelor’s/Master’s program in 5 years (4 years for Public Health Scholars).
Students are eligible to apply if they meet the following requirements:
- Cumulative 3.0 GPA or higher
- Have earned 75 – 90 academic credits
- Students are not required to take Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
If accepted into the combined program, graduate regulations permit 500 and 600 level approved courses to be shared between the BA/BS in Public Health or Health Promotion and the MS programs.
- Health Promotion Management is a 30-credit MS program and permits 12 approved credits to be shared between degrees.
- Nutrition Education is a 30-credit MS online program and permits 9 approved credits to be shared between degrees.
Students must apply for the Bachelor’s/Master’s option when they have earned between 75 – 90 credits; therefore, early planning is essential!
For more information, email healthstudies@american.edu.
The DC area remains a US leader for employment growth and compensation for health workers and educators with expected 12% job-growth nationwide between 2020 and 2030 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Selected recent employers for AU undergraduates with a degree in Public Health:
- AIDS United
- American College of Physicians
- Boston University Medical School
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Cornell University
- Harvard University
- Health Resources & Services Administration
- Human Rights Campaign
- International Rescue Committee
- National Institutes of Health
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
- National Association of County and City Health Officials
- Peace Corps
- Public Health Management Corporation
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
- US Department of Health
- US Department of Justice
- US Department of State
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Check out the This is Public Health website, or see more about AU Public Health alumni career outcomes.
News & Notes
Public Health students Davonna Jones, Nai’la-Mareen Morris, Shadan Rahmani, and Lindsay Smith won the 2023 AU Global Health Case Competition — see AU Students Develop Solutions to Gun Violence in Brazil.
Alumna Maeve Alterio is first author on A Geospatial Analysis of Abortion Access in the US after the Reversal of Roe v. Wade. Maeve is a medical student at Washington State University.
Watch Highlights Reel (with AU at 0:30, 2:19, 2:49) of National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine 2022 Public Health Case Challenge, where students Adira Brenner, Margaret Curley, Caroline Kerkorian, Rotem Miloh, Rebeka Rafi, and Anjali Singh were awarded the Interprofessional Prize.
See more Health Department News.
