COVID-19 has underscored the need for public health professionals who can help plan responses to outbreaks and other health emergencies. Beyond moments of crisis, public health experts also help policymakers and the public understand important health questions, and create resources and networks for helping people thrive. Public health is an ideal major for Wesleyan students interested in helping others. This interdisciplinary major will prepare students to understand community dynamics and see the world through the eyes of the people you will serve. By its very nature, public health is inclusive. Public health professionals are interested in and address challenges that affect all people regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, sexual orientation, or location. Students will find one of the most rewarding benefits of the field is knowing they are preparing for careers that improve society.
If you want to develop critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to confront issues affecting public health such as controlling disease, expanding access to health care, promoting health education, responding to outbreaks, and advancing preparedness and safety standards, as well as contributing to life-saving health initiatives such as clean water standards, vaccination programs, cancer prevention, and motor vehicle safety, public health could be the major for you. This major includes solid training in data analysis, statistics, economics, and research methods, so you’ll graduate knowing how to inform public policy.
Major: Public health
Minor: Public health
Related majors: Psychology, biology
Related minors: Mathematics, economics, political science, chemistry
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* also a minor
Find out more about our Pre-Professional programs here.
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Career servicesWesleyan offers 25 majors and 35 minors, including self-designed interdisciplinary studies, eight pre-professional programs and the bachelor of science in nursing and bachelor of fine arts degrees.
Major listingsclinical research, epidemiology, health educator, healthcare consultant, infection control officer, nutritionist, disaster training, public health administration, public health officer, social worker, first responder.
This undergraduate, interdisciplinary program will enable students to develop analytical and communication skills while addressing a public need for increasing numbers of health care workers. The public health major is academically challenging, requiring students to complete coursework in public health, mathematics, psychology, economics, biology, chemistry, and political science. It is purposeful in that students who major in public health are prepared for a wide range of careers and graduate programs. The interdisciplinary major is predicated on problem solving using theories, tools, and knowledge from multiple disciplines, specifically mathematics, economics, psychology, political science, chemistry, biology, and public health.
While much of the coursework is taught by Wesleyan’s full-time faculty, approximately one-third of the coursework will be completed through courses offered online as part of Wesleyan’s agreement Rize consortium. Rize is designed to help students who want to take specialized courses that aren’t offered at their home institutions or classes that conflict with their tight schedules stay on track to graduate. Rize enables students at their home institution to easily enroll in a course from another institution without dealing with transcripts from multiple institutions.
The major will prepare students for a wide range of career options as well as pathways for graduate programs, and is an excellent option for students interested in medicine. Public health professionals create health policies, develop medical care programs, analyze health statistics, and work in communities. They may work in schools, governments, or private companies. The issues on which they focus may be local, regional, national, or international.
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