Public Health

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (PH) degree program in the Department of Public and Environmental Wellness prepares students to live and promote a healthy lifestyle. These professional skills are utilized in health enhancement, disease prevention, health education, health and fitness, corporate and worksite wellness, as well as human resource practice and management.

The PH program offers the PH Combined BS-MPH degree program.

Requirements for the B.S. degree with a major in Public Health

Students seeking the Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health must complete a minimum 120 credits, including the following requirements:

1. Meet the university General Education requirements

In order to graduate on-schedule without taking additional courses, it is highly recommended that students meet with an Undergraduate Academic Adviser concerning the selection of all of their General Education courses.

Each candidate for an Oakland University baccalaureate will need to satisfactorily complete approved courses in each of the following areas: Foundations, Explorations, and Integration. For details, refer to the General Education Requirements section of the catalog.

2. Complete the Public Health core curriculum credits

Public Health Foundations

• course Basic Statistics for Health Sciences (3)*

  or course Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Reasoning (4)* 

• course Introduction to Health and Health Behaviors (3)* and course Introduction to Health and Health Behaviors Learning Lab (1)

• course Research Methods in Health Sciences (3) 

  or course Research Design in Psychology (4) 

• course Contemporary World Business (4)*

  • (satisfies writing intensive in general education)

• course Introduction to Health Literacy (4) 

• course Introduction to Psychology (4)*

Cultural Ethnicity and Well-Being Core

• course Contemporary Topics in Health (3)

• course Equitable Wellness for Diverse Populations (4) 

• course Wellness Facilitation (4)

• course Culture, Ethnicity and Well-being (3)

• course Assessment and Interventions in Wellness (4)

• course Laboratory in Assessment and Interventions (4) 

Public Health Core

• course Ethics in Health Care (4) *(satisfies writing intensive in the major)

• course Introduction to Public Health (3) *(satisfies diversity in general education)

• course Public Health Program Implementation (4) 

• course Persuasion and Marketing in Health Promotion (4) 

• course Social Determinants of Health (4) 

• course Global Health and Social Issues (4) 

• course Internship in Health Promotion (4) (Coordinator approval required) or course Directed Research in Public Health (1 TO 4) (Must be taken for 4 credits)

• course Health Psychology (4) 

Notes

Courses above with * after them also satisfy university general education requirements.

course is a prerequisite for course, course, course, course, course, course, course 

3. Complete a minimum of 21 credit hours of electives

Electives can be chosen either from the following recommended courses or students can apply courses taken as part of a minor toward the elective requirements.

Note:  The number of required elective credits varies based on core courses completed.  Students must achieve a minimum of 120 total credits and satisfy all University degree requirement to graduate. 

Health Services

• course Health Care Safety (4)

• course Delivering Safe Patient Care (4)

• course Hospital Safety and Health (4)

Health Educator

• course Instructional Design and Development (4) 

• course Principles of Leadership (4) 

• course Leadership and Healthcare (4) 

• course Foundations of Recreation for All (4) 

• course Population Health, Health Policy, and Healthcare Delivery (4) 

Health Promotion

• course Ergonomics (3)

• course Safety and First Aid in Exercise Settings (2)

• course Stress Management (3)

• course Human Nutrition and Health (3)

• course Social Action for Health & Sustainability (4)

Environmental Health

• course Introduction to Community Engagement (4) 

• course Principles of Environmental Health Sciences (4) 

• course Environmental Justice (4) 

• or any course not required for the Public Health degree or used to fulfill general education requirements.

Grade Point Policy

To graduate with the Public Health (PH) major a student must attain a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 in all School of Health Sciences coursework applied to the core curriculum of the major (School of Health Sciences coursework includes courses in EHS, HS, PH, and WHP). Public Health majors and Wellness and Health Promotion minors must achieve minimum course grades of C+ in all core PH and WHP courses (except for course which is graded as Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U). An “S” grade in course will satisfy the requirement). If students earn a grade below a C+, they must meet with the program coordinator to discuss their options. 

Applicable Minors

All Minors are applicable to this major with the exception of the following Minor(s): Child Welfare, International Orientation for EGR/CS, and Sustainability Engineering.