What is Public Health?
Public health is the science and practice of protecting and improving the health of people and communities. Rather than focusing only on treating illness in individual patients, public health looks at the many factors that influence health and asks how we can prevent problems, reduce risks, respond to threats, and create conditions in which people and communities can thrive.
Public health professionals work to address health across the lifespan and across many different settings—from homes, schools, and workplaces to communities, healthcare systems, and entire populations.
Public health includes much more than preventing disease
It involves:
- Preventing disease and illness
- Preventing injuries and violence
- Promoting healthy behaviors and well-being
- Protecting communities from environmental and occupational hazards
- Preparing for and responding to emergencies and disasters
- Preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases
- Promoting safe communities, workplaces, food, and water
- Identifying and addressing factors that contribute to health disparities
- Using research and data to understand health problems and develop solutions
- Working with communities to create healthier environments and systems
The goal is not simply to help people live longer, but to help people live healthier, safer, and more productive lives—and to create communities where health is possible for everyone.
Public Health Is All Around Us
What Can You Do with a Public Health Degree?
Turn Knowledge into Action
A public health degree prepares you to understand health challenges, identify what contributes to them, and work with individuals, organizations, and communities to develop solutions.
Public health professionals don't all do the same thing—and they don't all work in the same place. They apply their knowledge in different ways to protect health, prevent harm, promote well-being, and create healthier communities.
Public Health Professionals Ask Questions Like:
How can we prevent this problem? Identify risks and develop strategies that prevent disease, injury, and other health problems before they occur.
Why is this happening? Use data, research, and community knowledge to understand patterns and the factors that influence health by analyzing the big picture.
Who is being affected—and why? Examine differences in health outcomes and identify social, environmental, behavioral, and other factors that may contribute to those differences.
What can we do about it? Design evidence-based programs, policies, and interventions that address health needs.
Is our solution working? Evaluate programs and use evidence to improve what we do.
How can we prepare for what comes next? Help communities prepare for emergencies, disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, and other threats to health and safety.
What Public Health Professionals Do
Examples: epidemiology • research • data analysis • surveillance
Examples: health education • health communication • health literacy • community outreach
Examples: health promotion • disease prevention • injury prevention • workplace wellness
Examples: community health • coalition building • program planning • community engagement
Examples: emergency preparedness • emergency management • disaster response • public health response
Examples: program management • health administration • policy • program evaluation
Where Could Your Public Health Degree Take You?
Your public health education can prepare you for work in a wide variety of settings. You might work directly with a community, analyze health data, develop health programs, respond to emergencies, conduct research, educate the public, improve healthcare systems, or continue your education in a health profession.
You Could Work In:
Community & Public Health
- Local health departments
- Community organizations
- Nonprofit organizations
- Schools and universities
- Community health programs
Healthcare
- Hospitals and health systems
- Health education
- Patient/community outreach
- Healthcare administration
- Population health
Government & Emergency Management
- Public health agencies
- Emergency preparedness
- Disaster response
- Environmental health
- Occupational health
Research & Data
- Epidemiology
- Research organizations
- Health data
- Public health surveillance
- Program evaluation
Workplace & Organizations
- Employee wellness
- Occupational health
- Safety programs
- Health promotion
- Corporate/community partnerships
Further Education
- Medicine
- Physician assistant studies
- Dentistry
- Physical therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Other graduate and professional programs
Your Degree Is a Starting Point
Public health is a broad field because health is influenced by many things. Your education can prepare you to enter the workforce, pursue graduate or professional education, or combine public health with another area of interest.
Where you go with a public health degree depends on how you want to serve.
Bachelor’s Degrees We Offer
Course Sequencing
OSH 310 Environmental Health
PUBH 320 Human Diseases
PUBH 390 Program Planning & Implementation
PUBH 401 Community Health Methods
PUBH 472 Health Communications
PUBH 420 Health Behavior Change
Health Promotion Core II Option
MATH 221 Biostatistics
PUBH 354 Health Disparities
PUBH 370 Epidemiology
PUBH 440 Emergency Management
PUBH 392 Research Methods and Evaluation
PUBH 498R Internship