Public Health Minor

    The minor in public health is offered jointly by BU College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College and BU School of Public Health.  Administration of the minor is conducted through Sargent College’s Health Science Program Office, 635 Commonwealth Ave., Room 405. Students must complete a minimum of 20 credits for the public health minor; achieved by taking three required courses (Introduction to Public Health,  Biostatistics and Epidemiology) which count for 10-12 credits, at least 8 credits in public health electives and an additional general elective (2-4 credits) from the approved list (see below).

    Students must earn a grade of B- or better in Introduction to Public Health (PH510) and a C or better in the remaining courses. There are no specific prerequisites, other than those required for some of the elective courses. It is recommended that students take PH510 prior to taking the public health electives. Students may take the biostatistics course or the epidemiology course at any time.

    All of the following courses are available for credit towards the proposed program either on the Charles River Campus or on the Medical Campus at the School of Public Health (A free shuttle bus service between the campuses is available to students).

    The following three courses are required (10-12 credits):  

    • SPH PH510Introduction to Public Health (4 credits)

    • One of the following statistics courses:
      CAS MA115 Statistics I (4 credits)
      CAS MA213 Statistics I (4 credits)
      CAS PS211 Introduction to Experimental Design (4 credits)
      SPH BS701 Introduction to Biostatistics (3 credits)
      SPH BS703 Statistics (4 credits)
    • One of the following epidemiology courses:
      SAR HS300 Epidemiology (4 credits)
    SPH EP711 Introduction to Epidemiology (3 credits)
    SPH EP712 Epidemiologic Methods (4 credits)

    A minimum of 8 credits from the following list of public health electives:

    • SPH PH511 Pathogens, Poverty, and Populations: An Introduction to International Health (4 credits)
    • SPH PH709 The Biology of Public Health (4 credits)
    • SPH PH710 Introduction to Public Health Informatics (4 credits)
    • SPH EH765 Survey of Environmental Health (4 credits)
    • SPH EH708 Introduction to Environmental Health (2 credits) 
    • SPH PM702 Introduction to Health Policy & Management (3 credits) NOTE: SAR students take SAR HP353 Organization in Delivery of Health Care in the U.S.
    • SPH IH701 Principles in International Health (4 credits)
    • SPH LW751 Public Health Law (4 credits) or
    • SPH LW707 Essentials of Public Health Law (2 credits)
    • SPH MC725 Women, Children, & Adolescents: Public Health Approaches (4 credits)
    • SPH SB721 Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health (3 credits) 
    Available through the Geneva Program:

    • SPH PH506e International Health at the World Health Organization (4 credits; Geneva)
    • SPH PH507e Controversies in International Health (4 credits; Geneva) 

    One additional general elective (2-4 credits)
    From public health elective list or from the list below:

    • CAS AN 210 Medical Anthropology
    • CAS BI 114 Human Infectious Diseases: AIDS to Tuberculosis,
    • CAS EC 371 Environmental Economics
    • CAS EC 387 Introduction to Health Economics
    • CAS EE 275 Introduction to Quantitative Environmental Modeling
    • CAS EE 425 Environmental Policy Analysis and Modeling
    • CAS EE 430 Environmental Pollution and Control Technology
    • CAS MA 116 Statistics II
    • CAS MA 214 Applied Statistics 
    • CAS PH 150 Introduction to Ethics
    • CAS PO 241 Introduction to Public Policy
    • CAS PO 341 Comparative Public Policy
    • CAS PO 544 Interest Groups, Public Opinions, and the Policy Process
    • CAS SO215 Health and Society
    • CAS SO 521 Seminar: Epidemiology
    • ENG BE 400 Undergraduate Special Topics in Biomedical Engineering
    • SAR HP 252 Health and Disability Across the Lifespan
    • SAR HS 201 Introduction to Nutrition
    • SAR HS 251 Human Nutrition Science
    • SAR HS320 Genomics in Public Health
    • SAR HS 470 Topics in Pubic Health
    • SAR HS 475 Advocacy Disability and the Law
    • SAR HP 412 Abnormal Behavior in Rehabilitation
    • SAR HP 500 Helping Skills
    • SED HE 522 Community Health
    • SED HE 523 Applied Nutrition
    • SED HE 539 Health and Exceptionality 
     

    Inquiries and course approval should be directed to:
    Eileen B. O’Keefe, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor of Health Sciences
    Office Location: Sargent College, 635 Commonwealth Ave, Room 405
    Office Tele: 617-358-5477 e-mail: hscience@bu.edu