Public Health, BSPH

The BSPH curriculum consists of of introductory Foundational courses, including a one-credit first-year seminar. This is followed by 15 credits of Core courses that provide students with an introduction to each of the fundamental disciplines of public health (epidemiology, behavioral and community health, biostatistics, health policy and management, and environmental health). A cluster of 18 credits of upper tier major electives is also required. Major electives can be topical if a student chooses to have an area of focus. Students may also take 6 credits of pre-approved non-BSPH coursework to fulfill the cluster requirement. Finally, each student will complete one of five choices of course-based capstone experience (3 credits) as well as a 120 hour-service learning requirement

HOURS

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The School of Public Health is committed to providing all undergraduates with a holistic learning experience. In addition to the public health course requirements, students must also fulfill their general education requirements. See more information below

A. Writing

Written communication is central to almost all disciplines and professions. Developing writing proficiency is an especially important part of undergraduate education to provide a base appropriate for professional or graduate education or for professional employment. The school requires that all students complete the following writing courses during their undergraduate career

1. Composition

Students must complete the composition requirement, ENGCMP 0200 - SEMINAR IN COMPOSITION or equivalent, with a minimum grade of C- by the end of their first year of study. Part-time students should complete the requirement within their first . Transfer students must complete this requirement within their first 15 credits

Based on placement, students may be required to complete ENGCMP 0150 - WORKSHOP IN COMPOSITION or its equivalent, prior to enrolling in ENGCMP 0200 . Students may be exempt from the composition requirement with a 660 or above Evidence-Based Reading and Writing SAT score or an ACT English score of 27 and a 5 on the AP English: Language and Composition or AP English: Literature and Composition

2. Two Writing-Intensive Courses

Writing intensive courses (W-Courses) are designed to teach writing within a discipline through writing assignments that are distributed across the entire term. In these courses, students will produce at least 20-24 pages of written work. A significant portion of this work should be substantially revised in response to instructor feedback and class discussion

All students must complete two courses that are designated as W-Courses or are identified as satisfying the writing intensive requirement for Public Health undergraduate students

We recommend the following courses

ENGCMP 0530 - WRITING FOR THE SCIENCES

ENGCMP 0535 WRITING IN THE HEALTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONS

ENGCMP 1101 - LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ENGCMP 1400 - GRANT WRITING FOR NONPROFITS

PUBHLT 0445 - ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN AND INEQUALITY IN U.S. HEALTH CARE

PUBHLT 0446 - HEALTH LAW AND POLITICS

B. Algebra and Quantitative and Formal Reasoning

1. Algebra

Students must complete the algebra requirement, MATH 0031 - ALGEBRA or equivalent, with a minimum grade of C- by the end of their first year of study. Part-time students should complete the requirement within their first . Transfer students must complete this requirement within their first 15 credits. Students will be exempt from the algebra requirement with a 620 or above Math SAT score or a 27 or above Math ACT score, or completion of full year High School Algebra 2, Trigonometry, Pre-calculus, or Calculus course with a grade of B- or better

2. Quantitative and Formal Reasoning

All students are required to take and pass with a minimum grade of C- at least one course in university-level mathematics (other than trigonometry) for which algebra is a prerequisite, or an approved course in statistics or mathematical or formal logic. PUBHLT 0310 - INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH BIOSTATISTICS will satisfy this requirement

C. Language

A Sequence of Two Courses in a Second Language

All students are required to complete with a grade of C- or better two terms of university-level study in a second language other than English. Exemptions will be granted to students who can demonstrate elementary proficiency in a second language through one of the following

Having completed level 3 or higher of high school study of a second language with a grade of B- or better in each course

Passing a special proficiency examination

Transferring credits for two terms or more of approved university-level instruction in a second language with grades of C or better

Having a native language other than English

D. Diversity

All students must complete one course that is designated as a Diversity course but may take this course within their major field of study. Diversity courses may also be courses that fulfill other General Education Requirements. PUBHLT 0120 - ESSENTIALS OF HEALTH EQUITY: EXPLORING SOCIAL AND STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH fulfills this requirement

E. Humanities and Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences

Each student is required to take nine courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences distributed as below. Such courses allow students to pursue their own interests while they explore diverse views of a broad range of human cultures, modes of thought, and bodies of knowledge. The courses that fulfill these requirements are truly courses in the disciplines that draw on the unique resources of a research university

1. Literature (1 course)

By studying a range of literary and other texts in this course, students will be introduced to the techniques and methods of textual analysis and will develop critical perspectives on a variety of forms of cultural expression

2. Arts (1 course)

This course introduces students to modes of analysis appropriate to music, theatre, or the visual and plastic arts. It may take the form of a survey, the study of a genre or period, or may focus on a particular artist

3. Creative Work (1 course)

In this course students are expected to produce some form of creative work, and they will also be trained in the techniques and modes of its production. The course could be situated in theatre, studio arts, writing, visual arts (including photography, film), music, and dance; or it may be a course that engages in innovative or original work in relation to written, oral, or visual material, new media, social media, and other contemporary forms of communication and representation

4. Philosophical Thinking or Ethics (1 course)

This course will emphasize close and critical reading of theories about knowledge, reality, humanity, and values. Courses could focus on human nature; scientific reasoning; theories of cognition and consciousness; human/social rights; competing systems of belief; morality; concepts of freedom; theories of justice; social obligations/constraints; or ethics, including applied or professional ethics

5. Social Science (1 course)

A course that treats topics considered of significant importance in the social or behavioral sciences (including social psychology). Courses will introduce students to the subject matter and methodology of a particular discipline and will involve them in the modes of investigation, analysis, and judgment characteristically applied by practitioners

6. Historical Analysis (1 course)

In this course, students will develop skills and methods by which to understand significant cultural, social, economic, or political accounts of the past. The course may focus on pivotal moments of change, or important transitions over longer periods of time. Courses could explore developments in science, technology, literature, or art, and the ideas around them, or examine critical historical shifts by analyzing various data or cultural forms

7. Natural Sciences (3 courses)

These will be courses that introduce students to scientific principles and concepts rather than offering a simple codification of facts in a discipline or a history of a discipline. The courses may be interdisciplinary, and no more than two courses may have the same primary departmental sponsor. PUBHLT 0110 - GENES, CELLS, AND COMMUNITIES: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH BIOLOGY fulfills one of the courses for this requirement

F. Global Awareness and Cultural Understanding

Each student must complete three courses in global awareness and cultural understanding as distributed below

1. Global Issues (1 course)

This course will examine significant issues that are global in scale. Courses could address, for example: globalization; the global and cultural impact of climate change/sustainability; the effects of and resistances to colonialism; or worldwide issues related to health, gender, ethnicity, race, technology, labor, law, or the economy

2. Geographic Region Specific (1 course)

This course will be an in-depth study and analysis of a particular region or locality outside of the United States

3. Cross-Cultural Analysis (1 course)

This course, through cross-cultural perspective, will promote knowledge of and reflection upon the cultures of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, or the indigenous peoples of the world past and present. Students will develop an understanding of cultures, traditions, and societies that differ substantially from those that prevail in North America and Europe

TIER 1: Foundational Courses

TIER 2: Core Courses

TIER 3: BSPH Major Elective Courses

BSPH Capstone

Service Learning

TOTAL CREDITS

Tier 1: Foundational Courses

This tier consists of of introductory classes, including a one-credit first-year seminar

PUBHLT 0100 - FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC HEALTH

PUBHLT 0110 - GENES, CELLS, AND COMMUNITIES: INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH BIOLOGY

PUBHLT 0120 - ESSENTIALS OF HEALTH EQUITY: EXPLORING SOCIAL AND STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

PUBHLT 0140 - FIRST-YEAR PUBLIC HEALTH SEMINAR

Tier 2: Core Courses

This tier consists of of classes that provide students with an introduction to each of the fundamental disciplines of public health (epidemiology, behavioral and community health, biostatistics, health policy and management, and environmental health)

PUBHLT 0300 - INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACHES TO PUBLIC HEALTH

PUBHLT 0310 - INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH BIOSTATISTICS

PUBHLT 0320 - INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES

PUBHLT 0330 - INTRODUCTION TO EPIDEMIOLOGY

PUBHLT 0340 - FUNDAMENTALS OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

TIER 3: BSPH Major Elective Courses

This tier consists of of upper-tier BSPH electives that can be used to focus on an area of interest. Students must take a minimum of of major elective BSPH courses. Electives can be organized into topical areas (“clusters”) to allow students to explore an area of interest in greater depth. Students are free to create their own cluster based on their area of interest in collaboration with their advisor. Public health is an interdisciplinary field by design, and our goal is to provide a degree that encourages students to take advantage of the full breadth of training in relevant disciplines that is available across the University of Pittsburgh by incorporating classes from other schools into their clusters. Therefore, students may take six credits of pre-approved non-BSPH electives to complete to fulfill this elective cluster requirement

BSPH elective courses

PUBHLT 0350 - PUBLIC HEALTH THREATS IN SURINAME; FROM ECOSYSTEMS TO HUMAN HEALTH

PUBHLT 0400 - SOCIAL MEDIA AND HEALTH

PUBHLT 0401 - CAN ART HEAL? AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ARTS IN HEALTH RESEARCH AND INTERVENTIONS

PUBHLT 0402 - ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA AND HEALTH

PUBHLT 0403 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH: LINKING THEORY AND PRACTICE

PUBHLT 0404 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

PUBHLT 0405 STORIES, SYSTEMS, AND SOLUTIONS: PUBLIC HEALTH DISCOURSE ACROSS THE WALL

PUBHLT 0410 - DATA FOR GOOD: BIOSTATISTICS IN ACTION

PUBHLT 0411 - STATISTICAL PACKAGES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ANALYSIS

PUBHLT 0412 - DATA TO DECISION: MODELING IN PUBLIC HEALTH

PUBHLT 0413 - DATA TO PREDICTION: MACHINE LEARNING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH

PUBHLT 0420 - EVIDENCE-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL AND "ONE HEALTH" POLICY AND PRACTICE

PUBHLT 0421 - HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION AND CLIMATE

PUBHLT 0422 - MOLECULES OF LIFE, SICKNESS, AND DEATH

PUBHLT 0424 - OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE: PROMOTING WORKPLACE SAFETY & HEALTHY RETIREMENT

PUBHLT 0430 - GET SASSY: DATA MANAGEMENT & ANALYSIS WITH SAS

PUBHLT 0431 - UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETING HEALTH RESEARCH

PUBHLT 0432 - EPIDEMIOLOGY IN PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE

PUBHLT 0433 - EPIDEMIOLOGY OF FIREARM INJURIES AND DEATH

PUBHLT 0440 - INTRODUCTION TO THE US HEALTH SYSTEM

PUBHLT 0442 - FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT FOR HEALTH INDUSTRY LEADERS

PUBHLT 0443 - REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE US: POLICY, POLITICS, AND JUSTICE

PUBHLT 0444 - HEALTH EQUITY AND THE US HEALTH SYSTEM: WHAT IS AND WHAT COULD BE

PUBHLT 0445 - ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN AND INEQUALITY IN U.S. HEALTH CARE

PUBHLT 0446 - HEALTH LAW AND POLITICS

PUBHLT 0447 POLITICAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

PUBHLT 0451 - HUMAN GENETICS: HEALTH AND DISEASE

PUBHLT 0452 - HUMAN GENETICS, SOCIETY, & LAW

PUBHLT 0453 - INTRODUCTION TO GENETIC COUNSELING

PUBHLT 0461 - VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES

PUBHLT 0462 - HISTORIC AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

PUBHLT 0464 - INFECTIOUS DISEASE EMERGENCIES: PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS, & RESPONSE

PUBHLT 0500 - ETHICAL ISSUES IN PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH

PUBHLT 0501 - INTERDISCIPLINARY RESOLUTION OF BIOETHICS CASES

PUBHLT 0502 - PUBLIC HEALTH, THE COMMON GOOD, AND HUMAN FLOURISHING

PUBHLT 1001 - INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL HEALTH

PUBHLT 1305 HEALTH, LAW AND ETHICS

Other elective courses

Students may take up to of pre-approved non-BSPH electives

AFRCNA 1710 - AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH ISSUES

COMMRC 1181 HEALTH COMMUNICATION

ENGCMP 0420 WRITING FOR THE PUBLIC

ENGCMP 0535 - WRITING IN THE HEALTH SCIENCE PROFESSIONS

ENGCMP 0540 - INTRODUCTION TO DISABILITY STUDIES

ENGCMP 1102 LANGUAGE OF MEDICINE

ENGCMP 1400 - GRANT WRITING FOR NONPROFITS

PUBSRV 0020 - INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SERVICE

RELGST 1402 - HEALTH AND RELIGION

RELGST 1519 - RELIGION, NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT

RELGST 1622 - BODY SIZE AROUND THE GLOBE

RELGST 1726 - HEALING AND HUMANITY

Internship/Research/Independent Study

Students can also receive credit for doing an internship, working on research projects or completing an independent study. If the main mentor for these opportunities is outside the SPH, students will need to have a BSPH faculty sponsor

PUBHLT 1900 - INTERNSHIP

PUBHLT 1901 - UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

PUBHLT 1902 - INDEPENDENT STUDY

BSPH Capstone

Students must complete

The BSPH Capstone Experience provides students with the opportunity to synthesize their learning in different competency areas and apply cross-cutting skills. Students can choose from five options to complete their undergraduate training within the school. Each experience is designed to challenge students to synthesize what they have learned, apply knowledge and skills acquired, and gain new experience in public health practice. The capstone will be guided and monitored by faculty mentors in addition to being supervised within the course context

Option 1: PUBHLT 0910 - BSPH CAPSTONE PROJECT

3-credit semester-long course

Project-based course focusing on case-studies from local public health organizations that highlight a real-life challenge where students work in groups to design a solution

Final deliverable is poster presentation and a three-minute talk at a school-sponsored event to present analysis and synthesis of practicum experience

Timing: Students cannot take this course until senior year

Option 2: Practicum + PUBHLT 0911 - BSPH CAPSTONE SEMINAR

Students must enroll and in a minimum of of a pre-approved public health practicum (recommended junior or senior year including summer and academic breaks) and PUBHLT 0911 (must be taken senior year)

Pre-approved semester-long public health-related practicum completed by the student. Options include: internship, research project with faculty member or independent study, study abroad experience, Bioethics Capstone on a public health topic, Bachelors of Philosophy in the Honors College on a public health topic

Students must complete a minimum of per week at their practicum. Students must complete a total of 140 hours engaged in the activity over the course of the practicum

Students will be required to have a supervisor or preceptor for their experience. There will be midway and final check-ins with this individual to ensure successful completion of project. Forms for check-ins can be found at http://www.sph.pitt.edu

PUBHLT 0911 final deliverables include a poster presentation and a three-minute talk at a school-sponsored event to present analysis and synthesis of practicum experience

Service Learning

As part of the BSPH degree, we will incorporate service learning and experiential learning opportunities to complement the curriculum and provide students with meaningful ways to apply their coursework to real work scenarios. All students are required to complete of service learning over the course of four years. The first ten hours are built into PUBHLT 0100 , and portions of the remainder may also be course-based. Students will self-track hours but will be monitored by the Experiential Learning Specialist. Additionally, the Experiential Learning Specialist will assist in placement and learning objectives at these sites. These opportunities should be discussed with the academic advisor

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