Public Health Major

Promote health, wellness, and disease prevention.
IN THIS SECTION

Get the skills to start your career.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how important public health strategies are. The Major in Public Health will give you the skills to start your career path in this field. You will examine the social, behavioral, and environmental determinants associated with pressing health problems and learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate appropriate health promotion programs and preventive services to improve population health. You will also examine health inequalities and other emerging health challenges that impact both local and global communities. Through cooperative, multi-disciplinary experiences, you will receive preparation in wellness, health promotion, holistic disease prevention, and community health services. As a high achieving health sciences student, you may qualify to earn dual bachelor’s degrees in public health and nursing through our partnership with the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

  • Acquire knowledge and practical skills that prepare you to pursue a career in a public health–related profession
  • Understand the importance of prevention strategies in improving health and well-being
  • Develop a data analysis plan for evaluation and research related to health promotion
  • Complete a semester-long fieldwork practicum at a community organization in Worcester or beyond

VIEW THE CATALOG

Concentrations in Health Science

Explore sample courses in this program.

HC-201 Introduction to Public Health

This course is an overview and focuses on populations, prevention, and the evidence-based practice of public health.
3 credits

HC-202 Introduction to Global Health

This course is an overview and focuses on the developing world from a population and prevention perspective.
3 credits

HC-203 Introduction to Epidemiology

Basic epidemiologic concepts are covered and application of concepts to everyday problems, e.g., hazards in food supplies and risks associated with lifestyle.
3 credits

HC-220 Health Policy

Examination of the process and factors that influence formulation, implementation, and modification of health policy in the United States.
3 credits

HC-228 Health Ethics

Ethical issues in health including genetic research, euthanasia, medical intervention, and reproductive technologies as well as professional ethics.
3 credits

HC-234 Multiculturalism and Health

Examination of diverse ethnic/racial and cultural beliefs beliefs and practices affecting health and illness.
3 credits

HC-245 Introduction to Public Health Research

This course introduces students to health sciences research. Students develop critical skills including effectively navigating and interpreting information and distinguishing between high quality and low quality sources of evidence. Students gain an understanding of the importance of staying actively informed of current events relevant to public health and how informed public health professionals can seek out high quality news on public health and discern from misleading news information that is relevant to public health policy. Students also spend extensive time exploring the difference between information found on internet searches and social media versus reliable health agency information.
3 credits

HC-338 Peer Education Training

Emphasis on student development of practical skills to implement programming centered on peer education programs and focused on preventative health.
3 credits

HC-340 Global Perspective in Public Health

Seminar course for students accepted into a global service learning trip during the academic year. It is designed to prepare students through curriculum-based learning, the components of service learning, ethical partnering with vulnerable communities, and the cultural/historical/political and economic factors that impact health and healthcare policies within the population where immersion takes places. There is self-reflection and integration of learning through journal writing, critical thinking, exercises, formal preparation for service in the host country, and a final paper at the end of the semester.
3 credits

HC-345 Introduction to the US Health Care System

This course is an overview of the US health care system (USHCS) and its components. Subjects reviewed include how social determinants of health influence access to health care and the role of health care providers and their effect in the health care system. The history of USHCS, the financing of services, types of services offered, and access and quality of these services. Understanding these topics helps formulate an understanding of how the USHCS functions and the factors involved in the delivery of healthcare services.
3 credits

HC-430 Health Promotion Program Implementation and Evaluation

The success of a well-planned health promotion program depends on effective implementation and evaluation procedures. This course reviews the process of program planning and explores implementation and evaluation strategies. This course equips students to collect, analyze, interpret, and disseminate evidence of a program’s effectiveness to relevant stakeholders. The course culminates with a written evaluation plan and mock poster presentation delivered to an audience of peers.
3 credits

HE-100 Personal Health

Physical, mental, and emotional aspects of well-being and how to maintain and increase the quality of one’s lifestyle.
3 credits

HE-120 Health and Nutrition

Nutritional needs, weight control, healthy diets, myths, and nutritional aids to better health.
3 credits

HE-140 Creative Arts and Health

An experiential and didactic introduction to the separate arts therapies: movement, art, music, and language arts, emphasizing the creative process.
3 credits

HE-170 Humans in Motion

Concepts of the human neuro-musculoskeletal system, which provides function and health across the lifespan under normal and stress conditions.
3 credits

HE-208 Systems of Addictions Treatment

This course provides an overview of counseling modalities and techniques used in addiction treatment and recovery settings, including for those with co-occurring disorders. A family systems approach is employed to understand how the criminal justice system, the mental health system, and the larger community relate. Legal and regulatory restrictions, ethical codes, and legal sanctions also are discussed.
3 credits

HE-225 Advanced Nutrition: The Prevention and Treatment of Obesity

This course examines the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of a major public health issue: obesity. The course builds on basic nutrition principles and their application to weight management and eating behaviors. Emphasis is on the consequences of obesity on cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. Body weight regulation concepts include, but are not limited to, body weight assessment, energy metabolism, regulation of eating behavior, energy nutrients, and the role of diet/physical activity in weight management.
3 credits

HE-230 Human Sexuality and Sex Education

Focus on the need for and understanding of sex education, along with the process of implementing sexuality education, with emphasis upon teacher preparation.
3 credits

HE-275 Fitness for Life

Knowledge of health-related fitness components and their effect on total wellness; emphasis on developing personalized fitness program, namely cardiovascular endurance.
3 credits

HE-325 Sports Nutrition

The course is designed to examine the role of nutrition in exercise metabolism and to explore the link between basics of exercise physiology concepts and nutrition. This course includes the application of nutrition principles to maintain optimum health and to enhance athletic performance from a healthy, adequate, and personalized diet. Sports nutrition concepts include, but are not limited to, body composition, nutritional supplements, energy balance, and nutritional needs for physically active people and athletes.
3 credits

Meet the Health Sciences Faculty

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Mariana Calle Ph. D., MS., RDN.

Professor

Dr. Calle received her B.S. (Nutrition 2001) at the University of Buenos Aires, College of Medicine, in Argentina; Master of Science (Human Nutrition and Metabolism 2009) and Ph.D. (Nutritional Sciences 2011) at the University of Connecticut; and [...]

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Elinor Fondell

Assistant Professor

During my PhD studies in Sweden, I studied the impact of nutrition, physical activity, stress, and sleep on the immune system. Specifically, I looked at how these lifestyle factors affect susceptibility to common cold and influenza. [...]

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Andrew Piazza, PhD, MCHES, CSCS

Associate Professor, Chair

Dr. Piazza received a B.S. and M.S. in health education from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Piazza holds a doctor of philosophy in health education & promotion from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is a [...]

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Jaime F. Vallejos MD, MPH

Assistant Professor of Health Sciences and Public Health

Dr. Vallejos is a family medicine physician trained in Nicaragua. He had the privilege of managing a small community health center and organized vaccination campaigns, nutritional programs, chronic disease prevention strategies, and infectious [...]

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