Public Health

Professors DiLillo, Quaye
Associate Professors Fink, Hildebrand
Assistant Professors Dailey, Nix

The field of public health is an important part of the empowerment of individuals, communities, and governments to improve health and manage disease. The focus of public health is on the prevention of ill-health in the future as well as understanding the spread and incidence of disease across populations. People trained in the field of public health are critical to keeping communities healthy, preventing and managing pandemics, working toward social justice, managing disaster relief, and increasing access to health care for all. The OWU Public Health major will train students to understand and work in the promotion of health and the prevention of disease. The field of public health draws from many disciplines to inform research, develop action plans, and evaluate intervention programs. A degree in public health will give students a foundation in the profession in a range of public health settings, and transferable skills for careers in public policy, health professions, social science, law, private industry, non-profit institutions, education, and government.

Goals & Objectives

Objectives Threaded Throughout the Program

Students will view health “less as an abstract state and more as a means to an end which can be expressed in functional terms as a resource which permits people to lead an individually, socially, and economically productive life, not an object of living.” (WHO, 1986)
Students will develop a social ecological perspective on individual and collective health and well-being.
Students will adopt a Global Health perspective throughout the program, focusing on health determinants, definitions, precursors, and challenges around the world.
Students will develop competency in diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts and practices as they relate to public health challenges and opportunities and will be able to serve as a resource for their community, workplace, and society as a whole.
Students will gain exposure to the history of public health, landmark studies in the field, and the ethics of public health practice.

Course-Related Learning Objectives

Students will learn how to identify and address health inequities.
Students will have the opportunity to explore a range of perspectives in:
- Structural and systemic influences of health, including the influence of regulatory bodies and policies on public health outcomes.
- Social determinants of health.
- How to conduct needs assessment and assess community capacities to promote health with a particular focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- The physiology of human disease and opportunities for addressing risks throughout the lifespan.
Students will be able to discuss and describe how to use epidemiological methods to explore major public health concerns, disparities, and underlying causes.
Students will learn to leverage resources/collaboration to solve health-related problems.
Students will gain experience in the field with mentoring and collaborative, reflective work.

Number of required units: 12

Major Requirements

Core (7 units)*

PUBH 114 Introduction to Public Health
NUTR 100 2 Introduction to Food and Nutrition
PSYC 210 , MATH 105 , or MATH 200 3
PUBH 250 Epidemiology (Psych 210, MATH 105, or MATH 200 3 pre-requisite)
Perspectives on Public / Global Health course (choose 2)
- BWS 201 1 Comparing Medical Professions Cross-Nationally**
- BWS 300 11 Race, Ethnicity, and Health**
- COMM 300 10 Health Communication **
- SOAN 347 Health, Culture, and Society **
- PSYC 326 Public Health: Psychological, Behavioral, and Social Issues **
HHK/PUBH 499 Senior Seminar
- In this course, students would mentor students in sequence I toward their OWU Connection experience, as well as develop a presentation, poster, or other deliverable for the OWU Connection conference

Community Health & Health Behavior (2 units)

HHK 300 8 and HHK 300 9 (pre-req: HHK 114)
- Health Program Planning (0.5 units)
- Health Instructional Strategies (0.5 units)
HHK 347 Special Topics in Health and Human Kinetics
NUTR 300 10 Lifespan Nutrition
PSYC 262 Health Psychology (pre-req: PSYC 110)

Global & Population Health (2 units)

BWS 300 5 African Medical Systems
ECON 282 Global Poverty
NUTR 200 3 Food, Culture and Society
NUTR 300 12 Global Food Systems
SOAN XXX: Social Science and Reproduction
SOAN 349 Gender and the Body

Supporting Coursework (1 unit)

One additional unit of supporting coursework** aligned with the student’s interests, and approved by the director of the Public Health program.

* No more than 5.25 units of credit from this major can overlap with any other major.

**If this course is taken as a core “Perspectives” course, it cannot count as a Supporting Course elective.