Undergraduate Guide - UMass Amherst

The Tracks

Two tracks are available within the Public Health Sciences major: Social Science and Science. The Social Science track is designed for students preparing for entry-level public health positions in fields such as school health education, community education, management and policy, or continuing in a health science graduate level program in these fields. The Science track is designed for students interested in pre-med, pre-nursing, research-based work, or continuing in a health science graduate-level program. Each track consists of four components:
I. Mathematics and statistics courses
II. Foundation courses
III. Public Health courses
IV. Collateral fields related to Public Health.
The science courses in the Social Science track are limited to those useful to entry-level public health professionals while still providing the scientific base appropriate to a bachelor of science degree. Both tracks require an additional nine credits in Public Health electives. Students are offered opportunities for internships. The five required public health courses in each track 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.

Requirements for the Social Sciences Track
I. Mathematics and Statistics courses: MATH 121 or higher and one of the following statistics courses—PSYCH 240, RES-ECON 211 or 212, SOCIOL 212, STATISTC 111 or 240.

II. Foundation courses: a minimum of 15 credits required from sections 1 and 2 (below) with at least 9 credits at the 200 level or above.
1. At least two courses from the following or equivalent courses:
BIOCHEM 100 My DNA
BIOLOGY 102 Introduction to Animal Biology
BIOLOGY 106 Human Biology
CHEM 101 General Chemistry for Non-science Majors
KIN 100 Introduction to Kinesiology
KIN 110 Human Performance and Nutrition
MICROBIO 310 General Microbiology
NUTRITN 130 Nutrition for a Healthy Lifestyle
PLSOILIN 126 Insects and Human Society
PLSOILIN 185 Sustainable Living
PLSOILIN 326 Insect Biology
PLSOILIN 342 Pesticides, Public Policy and the Environment
2. At least three courses from the following or equivalent courses approved by the student’s academic adviser:
ANTHRO 104 Culture, Society and People
ECON 103 Introduction to Microeconomics
ECON 104 Introduction to Macroeconomics
ECON 105 Introduction to Political Economy
PHIL 161 Problems in Social Thought
POLISCI 181 Controversies in Public Policy
POLISCI 220 Public Administration
POLISCI 252 Globalization, Governance and World Order
POLISCI 253 International Environmental Politics and Policy
PSYCH 100 Introduction to Psychology
PSYCH 305 Educational Psychology
PSYCH 350 Child Psychology
PSYCH 360 Social Psychology
PSYCH 380 Abnormal Psychology
SOCIOL 103 Social Problems
SOCIOL 106 Race, Sex, and Social Class

III. Public Health Courses
At least 24 credits are required: 15 from category A. and 9 from category B.
A. The following courses are required:
PUBHLTH 129 Healthcare for All
PUBHLTH 160 My Body, My Health*
PUBHLTH 320 Introduction to Public Health (Junior Year Writing requirement)
PUBHLTH 324 Introduction to Bioepidemiology
PUBHLTH 490B Capstone Course, open to seniors only and offered spring semester
B. An additional 9 credits in Public Health at the 300-500 level
PUBHLTH 213, 214 Peer Health Education I, II count as 300-level courses.
PUBHLTH 396 Independent Study and PUBHLTH 398 Internships are available. No more than 9 credits total may be taken as independent study or internship.

*Only one General Education course can be applied to to a PUBHLTH department class to fulfill the major requirement. SPIRE automatically puts PUBHLTH 160 into this category.

IV. Collateral Fields related to Public Health Courses

At least 18 credits are required, with 12 or more credits at the 300 level or above, chosen from courses offered by such departments as Afro-American Studies, Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Communication, Communication Disorders, Economics, Education, Environmental Science, Geoscience, History, Kinesiology, Microbiology, Nutrition, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology, or the Journalism program, or the School of Education or the Isenberg School of Management or any other area approved by a student’s academic adviser.

Requirements for the Science Track
I. Mathematics and Statistics courses: MATH 127 and 128 or MATH 131 and 132, and one of the following statistics courses—PSYCH 240, RES-ECON 211 or 212, SOCIOL 212, STATISTC 111 or 240.

II. Foundation courses: at least 15 credits are required.
Students choose two of the following course sequences or equivalents with the approval of their academic adviser:
CHEM 111, 112 General Chemistry for Science and Engineering Majors
KIN 270, 272 Anatomy and Physiology I, II with labs
PHYSICS 131, 132 Introductory Physics I, II with labs

III. Public Health Courses
At least 24 credits are required: 15 from category A. and 9 from category B., Independent Study or Internships.
1. The following courses are required:
PUBHLTH 320 Introduction to Public Health (Junior Year Writing requirement)
PUBHLTH 324 Introduction to Bioepidemiology
PUBHLTH 390X Introduction to Environmental Health Sciences (or PUBHLTH 565)
PUBHLTH 391B Introduction to Biostatistics (or PUBHLTH 540)
PUBHLTH 490B Capstone Course, open to seniors only and offered spring semester
2. An additional 9 credits in Public Health at the 300-500 level including one course at the 500 level.
PUBHLTH 396 Independent Study and PUBHLTH 398 Internships are available. No more than 9 credits total may be taken as an independent study or internship.

IV. Collateral Fields related to Public Health Courses

For more information about the B.S. in Public Health Sciences contact the Program Director: Lynn Koerbel (lkoerbel@schoolph.umass.edu), 302 Arnold House.