Getting Started

School: PHHS

Information below is meant to guide first-year students in getting starting with this major and choosing appropriate courses. More advanced students interested in this major would also likely start with proposed foundation/pre-requisite courses. Please refer to the Major page located in the left menu bar to learn about the full major requirements.

How to Explore the Major

Suggested General Education Courses

All undergraduates are required to satisfy the General Education Requirements. Guidelines for students are available at https://www.umass.edu/gened. Students should choose a wide variety of Gen Ed courses, providing breadth of experience.

Suggested Major and Pre-Requisite Courses

We recommend that during your first year you take at least one of the following two courses:

SPHHS 150 (Great Challenges in Public Health)
PUBHLTH 129 (Healthcare for All)

Note: Both SPHHS 150 and PUBHLTH 129 (SB & DU) can fulfill Gen Ed requirements.

Students should also begin to take social science and natural science foundation courses and math courses (for a detailed list of course offerings see the public health major website – Major Requirements):

For those who are interested in careers in research or the medical field (medical, dental, physician assistant, etc.) you should take the following (for a complete list of requirements visit the Pre-Med website https://www.cns.umass.edu/advising/pre-med-pre-health/):

CHEM 111 & 112
BIOLOGY 151, 152, 153
KIN 270, 272
MATH 127

How to Declare/Change into the Major

For current & admitted students: This major is unrestricted, which means any student may declare the major. Unrestricted majors may still have an entry process such as meeting with an advisor or attending an informational meeting.

All UMass prospective public health major applicants must attend an information session (see website for dates) and complete the application to be eligible to apply to the Public Health Sciences major. The application is located on the website under the heading “Academics”. Applications should be submitted at the information session.

If an applicant would like to learn more about the major but is not ready to apply then he/she is welcome to attend the information session and hand in the application at a later date in the Peer Advising Center in Arnold House Rm 102. New incoming students may declare the major during NSO.

After checking the undergraduate website listed below, prospective students should attend an information session. Additionally, questions may be directed to the Peer Advisors, peeradvising@schoolph.umass.edu or to Brigid Williams, Advisor, at bwilliams@umass.edu. Peer Advisor Drop-In Center hours are listed on the Program website.

Summary of Requirements for the Major

Minimum total # of credits required: 68 credits

Required PUBLHLTH courses are designed to introduce students to the five recognized public health core competencies: Community Health Education, Health Policy and Management, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics.

Four core components make up the major: Math course (3 cr.), Foundation courses (18 cr.), Public Health courses (34 cr.) and Focus Area courses (12 cr.) The Focus Area allows students to explore areas of particular interest and relevance to public health, drawing connections between disciplines. Think of the requirement as your focus area within public health. The classes that you choose will enhance your understanding of the field and better prepare you for a career as a public health professional. Courses can be taken in public health, another department, abroad or at one of the Five Colleges. The course material must be relevant to the study of public health and pre-approved by the Program Advisor.

Refer to the Major page located in the left menu bar to learn more.

Is there a minor?
No! A minor is not available. But students should check out the Five College Culture, Health and Sciences Certificate.

For further information, contact:
Brigid Williams, MS, Chief Undergraduate Advisor
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
103 Arnold House
bwilliams@umass.edu
http://www.umass.edu/sphhs/public-health