Public Health-related Majors
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Health Policy
This major has 13 required courses and 4 foundational courses. It is a Bachelor of Arts major that satisfies the Social Science requirement of the Rochester Curriculum.
- Key goals for this major:
- Understand health policy as it relates to the organization, financing, and provision of health care in the U.S., including its history;
- Demonstrate how the principles of statistics, economics, and political science apply to health policy;
- Understand the current situation relating to population health (including environmental health), private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, long term care, and mental health at the Federal, State, and local levels, both public and private; and
- Understand how to apply the principles of health policy analysis to population health (including environmental health), private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, long term care, and mental health at the Federal, State, and local levels, both public and private.
Requirements of the Major (prerequisites in parentheses):
| A. Foundational Mathematics and Economics Courses: | ||
|---|---|---|
| MTH 141-143 | Calculus I-III (or MTH 161-162) | (none) |
| ECO 108 | Principles of Economics | (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 (212) or Appl. Stat for Social Sciences (211) | (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 (6 courses): | ||
| ECO 207 | Intermediate Microeconomics | (ECO 108) |
| ECO 230 | Economic Statistics (or PSC 200 Applied Data Analysis) |
(MTH 141 conc.) |
| ECO 236 | Economics of Health | (ECO 207) |
| HIS 305 (W, H) | Health Policy and Politics | (none) |
| HLS 116/PH 116 | Introduction to the U.S. Health System | (none) |
| PSC 243 | Environmental Politics | (none) |
| D. Electives (2 of the following - 1 must come from Group I., 1 must come from Group II.): | ||
| I. Health Services Research and Policy | ||
| PSC 237 | Domestic Social Policy | (none) |
| PSC 245 (H) | Aging and Public Policy | (none) |
| PSC 236/PH 236 | Health Care and the Law | (none) |
| PM 421 | U.S. Health Care System | (none) |
| PM 445 (W) | Introduction to Health Services Research | (none) |
| PM 448 (W, H) | Health Policy Analysis | (none) |
| CAS 397 | European Health Science Internship | (none) |
| HIS 287 (W) | History of International & Global Health | (none) |
| II. U.S. Politics | ||
| PSC 105 | Introduction to American Politics | (none) |
| PSC 209 | Interest Groups in America | (none) |
| PSC 211 | Public Opinion and Voting | (none) |
| PSC 231 | Money and Politics | (PSC 105) |
| 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. The registration rules for new or existing College courses are determined by their respective home departments. | ||
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 3.7 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 Health Policy, 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 3.7 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”.
