Boston University offers an undergraduate minor in public health in conjunction with the Boston University School of Public Health. Administration of the minor is conducted through Sargent College’s Health Science Program Office, 635 Commonwealth Ave., Room 405. The minor is designed to introduce the interdisciplinary field that addresses environmental, social, and behavioral determinants of health.

The requirements for the public health minor are changing as of September 2011. Students must complete a minimum of 20 credits for the public health minor. This is achieved by taking four required courses (Introduction to Public Health, a course in Biostatistics, a course in Epidemiology, and a course in Global Health) and two courses from a list of public health electives. Students must earn a grade of B- or better in PH510: Introduction to Public Health and a C or better in the remaining courses.

There are no specific prerequisites, but it is recommended that students take PH510 prior to taking the public health electives. Students in the public health minor must be aware that courses which have been applied toward an undergraduate public health minor cannot be counted towards a graduate degree in public health, even if the courses are in excess of the credits required for a bachelor’s degree at Boston University. In addition, the 500-level courses from the School of Public Health may not be applied towards a graduate degree at the School of Public Health.

Some courses are taught on the Medical Campus, while others are taught at the Charles River Campus. A free shuttle bus service is available for students to transport them between campuses. Note that if you are contemplating a graduate program in public health and you will graduate with more than 128 credits, any graduate level SPH courses (numbered 700 or higher) could potentially be counted for graduate school credit. For a more detailed discussion of credit counting for graduate school, see Undergraduate Programs in Public Health.

The following four courses are required:

Introduction to Public Health:

• SPH PH 510 Introduction to Public Health (4 credits)

One of the following International Health courses:

• SAR HS 363 Global Health: Beyond Germs and Disease (4 credits)
• SPH PH 511 Pathogens, Poverty, and Populations: An Introduction to International Health (4 credits)
• SPH PH 506e International Health at the World Health Organization (4 credits) (Offered through Geneva Program only)
• SPH PH 507e Controversies in International Health (4 credits) (Offered through Geneva Program only)

One of the following epidemiology courses:

• SAR HS 300 Epidemiology (4 credits)
• SPH EP 713 Introduction to Epidemiology (3 credits)

One of the following statistics courses:

• CAS MA 113 Elementary Statistics (4 credits)
• CAS MA 115 Statistics 1 (4 credits)
• CAS PS 211 Introduction to Experimental Design in Psychology (4 credits)
• SMG SM 221 Probabilistic and Statistical Decision Making for Management (4 credits)
• SPH BS 701 Elementary Biostatistics (3 credits)
• SPH BS 703 Biostatistics (4 credits)

A minimum of two courses from the following list of Public Health Electives are required (note that other SPH courses may be substituted with the permission of the director of the Public Health Minor or the Assistant Dean for Education at SPH):

• SPH EH 708 Introduction to Environmental Health (2 credits) or                      SPH EH 765 Survey of Environmental Health (4 credits)*
• SPH LW 707 Essentials of Public Law (2 credits) or                                       SPH LW 751 Public Health Law (4 Credits)**
• SPH LW 740 Health and Human Rights (4 credits)
• SPH PM 702 Introduction to Health Policy & Management (3 credits) or         SAR HP 353 Organization in Delivery of Health Care in the U.S. (4 credits)***
• SPH MC 705 Safe Sex in the City: From Biology to Policy (4 credit)
• SPH MC 725 Woman, Children & Adolescents: Public Health Approaches (4 credits)
• SPH SB 721 Social and Behavioral Sciences and Public Health (3 credits)
• SPH PH 709 The Biology of Public Health (4 credits)
• SAR HS 320 Genomics in Public Health (4 credits)

* Most MPH candidates take EH708, while MPH students concentrating in Environmental Health take EH765.

** Most MPH candidates take LW707, while MPH students concentrating in Health Law take LW751.

*** Students who decide to enter an MPH program should be aware that undergraduate course work cannot be counted for graduate programs. In addition, graduate courses that were used to fulfill any undergraduate requirements including the Public Health Minor, cannot be counted for a graduate program. For students who undertake an MPH at BU SPH, successful completion of HP353 can waive the requirement for PM702 if they are not concentrating in Health Policy and Management, but the credits for HP353 cannot be counted toward the MPH.

Questions should be directed to:
Sophie Godley, M.P.H.
Director of Undergraduate Education, Boston University School of Public Health
Tel (617) 638-5296
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or

Dr. Wayne LaMorte, Assistant Dean for Education, Boston University School of Public Health
Tel (617) 638-5073
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