UC Berkeley School of Public Health announces new undergraduate summer minor and certificate in global public health

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By: Robert E. Snyder, PhD, MPH

Berkeley, CA, Jan 3, 2017

For the first-time ever, the UC Berkeley School of Public Health will be offering an undergraduate summer minor in global public health. Enrollment opens in early February 2017 for this year’s summer program.

The minor, designed to provide a summer opportunity for non-public health majors to learn about global public health, seeks to train students in a range of disciplines and methods that are relevant to the protection and promotion of human health in the United States and worldwide. The minor option will enhance Berkeley’s many undergraduate degree programs, allowing for more students to engage with public health at the university, and also prepare students for transdisciplinary professional and academic careers.

The curriculum will expand students’ knowledge and comprehension of both domestic and international threats and challenges to human health. The minor’s curriculum is designed to introduce students to epidemiology, biostatistics, and train students how to frame and approach global public health issues with multidisciplinary approaches. Several elective courses will also be offered to supplement the core courses in the fields of health policy and management, environmental health sciences, public health microbiology, and public health nutrition. A hands-on internship experience, completed either locally, nationally, or internationally, as well as the development of technical and practical public health skills are integral components of the curriculum.

Currently, the summer minor program is only available to UC Berkeley undergraduate students not intending to major in public health. Non-UC Berkeley students inside, or outside of California (including international students) are eligible to pursue a summer certificate. UC Berkeley undergraduates who have declared a public health major are not eligible for the summer minor for several reasons – primarily because they are already exposed to the foundations of global public health through the major. Aside from offering a summer opportunity for non-public health students to study public health, the minor (exclusively a summer offering) is also an opportunity to serve Cal undergraduates who are interested in public health at UC Berkeley, but who are unable to enroll in the major. The popular undergraduate program in public health is currently capped, and is forced to turn away many qualified student applicants during each application cycle.

For more information on the programs, including a description of coursework and how to enroll, please see: http://sph.berkeley.edu/undergraduate-major/summer-minor-global-public-health.