Public health students know they will make a difference in people’s lives.

The goal of public health is to create and sustain healthier communities by improving the health of people and quality of their environment. Public health professionals study environmental contamination of air, water, soil and food; seek preventive measures for cancer; and design programs that improve delivery of health care services.

Core Competencies

• Summarize the historic milestones in public health which have influenced current roles and responsibilities of current public health agencies, organizations and systems.
• Compare and contrast types of major domestic and international public health issues, including sources/causes of infectious/chronic diseases, transmission, risk factors, morbidity and mortality.
• Discuss various approaches/strategies for identification, response and intervention to address and attempt to resolve common public health issues.
• Identify genetic, social, political, cultural, behavioral, socioeconomic, demographic and ethical factors and relationships to domestic and international public health issues and determinants of health.
• Apply the fundamental principles of the five core disciplines of public health (biostatistics; environmental health; epidemiology; health administration/policy; health behavior/promotion) to domestic and international population health issues.