Public Health-related Majors
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Epidemiology
This major has 15 required courses and 2 foundational courses. It is a Bachelor of Arts major that satisfies the Social Science requirement of the Rochester Curriculum.
- Key goals for this major:
- Understanding of the theories, concepts and skills required to assess population health;
- Familiarity with methodologies used to examine factors associated with the development and prevention of disease;
- Development of the basic tools necessary for analysis of data applicable to public health outcomes.
Requirements of the Major (prerequisites in parentheses):
| A. Foundational Mathematics Courses: | ||
|---|---|---|
| MTH 161-162 | Calculus IA and IIA (or MTH 141-143) | (none) |
| B. Common Core (5 courses): | ||
| PH 101 | Introduction to Public Health I | (none) |
| PH 102 | Introduction to Public Health II | (PH 101) |
| PH 103 | Concepts of Epidemiology | (none) |
| STT 212 or STT 211 | Appl. Stat. for the Biological and Physical Sciences I or Appl. Stat. for the Social Sciences | (none) |
| PHL 228 or PHL 225 |
Public Health Ethics (228) or Ethical Decisions in Medicine (225) | (1 in PHL; or permission of instructor) |
| C. Specific Core Requirements (5 courses): | ||
| PM 414 (W) | History of Epidemiology | (PH 103) |
| PM 415 | Principles of Epidemiology | (PH 103) |
| STT 216 | Appl. Stat. for the Biological and Physical Sciences II | (STT 212) |
| MTH 218 | Intro. to Mathematical Models in the Life Sciences | (MTH 162) |
| PM 412 | Survey Research | (PM 415; or permission of instructor) |
| D. Electives (5 of the following - 4 must come from Group I; 1 must come from Group II): | ||
| I. Epidemiology | ||
| PM 413 (H) | Field Epidemiology | (PM 415) |
| PM 418 (W) | Cardiovascular Epidemiology | (PM 415; or permission of instructor) |
| PM 424 (W) | Chronic Diseases Epidemiology | (PH 103) |
| PM 451 (W) | Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases | (PM 415; or permission of instructor) |
| PM 442 (W,H) | Nutritional Epidemiology | (PM 415, BST 463; or permission of instructor) |
| PM 470 (W) | Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology | (PM 415) |
| BST 465 | Design of Clinical Trials | (BST 463 or equivalent) |
| II. Statistics | ||
| MTH/STT 201 | Introduction to Probability | (MTH 162) |
| MTH/STT 203 |
Introduction to Mathematical Statistics | (MTH 201) |
| STT 221W | Sampling Techniques | (STT 213, 203) |
| STT 277 |
Introduction to Statistical Software and Exploratory Data Analysis | (STT 212 & STT 216 or STT 226) |
| STT 226W | Introduction to Linear Models | (STT 212, 203) |
| E. Upper-Level Writing Requirement: | ||
| Students will be required to register for two upper-level writing courses within this major. The courses designated with (W) have writing requirements that would satisfy the Rochester Curriculum’s upper-level writing requirement. Students would register for the “W” section; for each PM (W) course there will be a cap of five students registering for the writing component. | ||
Honors Program:
Students will be invited by the Office for Public Health-related Programs to apply to the honors program. Invitations are based on a 3.70 grade-point average in the five Public Health-related Common Core Courses (all five courses need to have been completed by the end of junior year) and on progress toward finishing requirements for the major. Students who receive an invitation will need to formally apply to the Office for Public Health-related Programs to enroll in the honors program. To graduate with honors in Epidemiology, students must complete the major; complete at least one advanced course designated with (H); complete eight credit hours of independent study over and above the credits required for the major (PH 391 for fall semester and PH 398 for spring semester of senior year); have a cumulative grade-point average of at least a 3.70 in the major; and, complete a distinguished research paper under the direction of a faculty adviser. The thesis must be of at least A- quality. Students will not receive honors for a thesis that does not meet this minimum standard.
Distinction Program:
This major will offer a distinction program in which the terms “distinction”, “high distinction”, and “highest distinction” will reflect the quality of performance in the major. A GPA of at least 3.40 will qualify for “distinction”; a GPA of at least 3.60 will qualify for “high distinction”; and a GPA of at least 3.80 will qualify for “highest distinction”.
