Introduction
The mission of the public health program is to develop emerging public health leaders through an interdisciplinary education rooted in the liberal arts and connected with contemporary public health practice. The curriculum challenges students to understand the intellectual meaning and practical implications of the broad array of influences on population health, emphasizing the social foundations of health.
The study of public health is dedicated to understanding and improving the health and well-being of all people. The public health major is designed to develop students’ abilities to understand, analyze, problem-solve and communicate effectively in a complicated, international and rapidly changing world. Pacific’s public health program integrates health science, social science and humanistic approaches to addressing global health challenges.
Public health students study core courses within public health, such as introductory public health, epidemiology, social foundations of population health, environmental health, and global health. But we know that public health workers need a broad set of skills and abilities to be effective in promoting health and well-being, so our students complete their public health majors with courses in statistics and biology, plus a choice of courses from anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, environmental sciences, ethics, history, media arts, politics, psychology, sociology, social work and the humanities.