FAQ
Public health is the science and art of improving health, preventing disease, prolonging life and enhancing well-being. Public health is closely related to medicine and draws on the same body of scientific knowledge. But unlike clinical medicine and nursing, which deal with individual patients one at a time, public health safeguards the health of entire populations – cities, states, countries and even the world. Public health workers fight epidemics. They protect the environment. They work to promote social justice and reduce disparities in health.
Public health is highly interdisciplinary. Its core science is epidemiology. It collaborates with a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, biostatistics, demography, environmental science, climate science, economics, law, history, geography, social science, neuroscience, psychology, political science, international studies, health care administration, and city planning.
Boston College offers a 6 course undergraduate minor and newly approved 12 course major in Global Public Health and the Common Good as well as and a range of public health courses. Our entry-level courses are open to all students from across Boston College and are designed to introduce students in any field of study to core concepts in public health.
Enrollment in the minor and major in Global Public Health and the Common Good is by competitive application submitted in January/early February of the freshman or sophomore year.
A unique and distinctive aspect of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College is our strong focus on the ethical, moral and legal foundations of global public health. This emphasis reflects our foundation in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition of service and our commitment to a preferential option for the poor.
The program is unique also in that it spans multiple schools across Boston College – the Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences, the Connell School of Nursing, the School of Social Work, the Lynch School of Education, the Carroll School of Management, the Law School, and the School of Theology & Ministry. Faculty members from all of these schools teach and advise students in the Global Public Health program. Selected courses in all of these schools are approved as Electives in the minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good.
All students who take classes in Global Public Health at Boston College will gain familiarity with core concepts in public health and acquire insights about health and society that will inform their life’s work in a broad range of fields and professions. They will come to understand the key role that public health plays in maintaining the stability of modern societies – a role that has never been more clearly evident than in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students who complete the minor will gain a solid understanding of public health appropriate for careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and nursing. Our 12-course (36-credit) undergraduate major provides students with deep understanding of the theory and practice of public health and prepares them for graduate study and a broad range of health careers or postgraduate studies in public health (MPH and PhD).
For students headed to medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and nursing as well as for those interested in law, economics, international studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, the humanities, business, social work or education, both programs in Global Public Health will deepen their education and broaden their understanding of the intersections between human health, the environment and the health of the planet.
Because public health is highly interdisciplinary, students from all schools and majors across Boston College are encouraged to take courses through the program for Global Public Health and the Common Good. Our student body is deliberately diverse, and this diversity brings a unique perspective to the classroom.
For example, International Studies students in the Global Public Health minor educate their fellow students about the role of diplomacy in advancing public health. Students interested in entrepreneurship or communication will gain insights about public health that will enable them to develop new products and services or design health-marketing campaigns. Students planning careers in medicine, nursing or dentistry will come to understand how the health of populations influences the health and well-being of individual patients.
Public health and medicine are closely related and they share a common body of scientific knowledge, but they differ from each other in that the focus of public health is on the health of populations, while medicine’s focus is on the health of individual patients.
The Medical Humanities minor at Boston College is an interdisciplinary, humanistic and cultural sequence of courses that studies illness, health, health care, and the body. Courses in the Medical Humanities minor complement coursework in public health and in the pre-health program. Students can cross-enroll in these programs.
Students who complete the program in Global Public Health and the Common Good will have a variety of career options.
Upon graduation from Boston College, students who complete the major or minor in Global Public health and the Common Good will be competitive for staff positions in environmental and community health organizations and for research assistant positions at health departments, universities, and hospitals.
They will be fully prepared to pursue advanced training in public health at a School of Public Health and to earn a Master’s degree (MPH) degree or a doctoral degree (PhD or Dr.P.H.) in public health.
They will be prepared to enter any of the health professions - medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, or the allied health professions – and they will carry with them an extra credential and a body of knowledge that will enrich and inform their life’s work.
Visit our website and sign up for our list serve to learn about public health and public-health-related events at Boston College and throughout the Boston area. Boston is a hub for medical and public health activity—there is everything from lectures, debates, and film screenings.
There are many public health-related clubs on campus at BC working in a wide variety of areas. The Public Health Club of Boston College started in September 2015 and coordinates on-campus events to educate students about public health. For a list of other clubs, click here.
Please email (publichealth@bc.edu) if you would like more information or if you want to advertise an event or job opportunity.
There are many opportunities to gain experience in public health both on and off campus. Students can work as an Undergraduate Research Fellow for a faculty member doing research in an area of public health.
They can explore internship and volunteer opportunities in a wide range of public health organizations within the City of Boston and beyond.
The goal of minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is to introduce students from a wide range of majors, disciplines, and schools across Boston College broadly to key concepts in Global Public Health. Students intending on pursuing career interests in medicine, nursing, environmental studies, and public health would be appropriate for the minor. A distinctive future of the minor is its strong emphasis on the ethical, moral, and legal foundations of global public health.
The major will prepare students for postgraduate studies and careers in public health (MPH and PhD) and also enrich the education of students headed to medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and nursing who wish deep knowledge of public health. Coursework in the major in Global Public Health and the Common Good will be grounded in epidemiology and biostatistics, the core disciplines of public health. Students will delve deeply into the intellectual and experiential understanding of the social determinants of health – the complex web of social, economic, environmental, political and historical factors that influence health and drive the spread of disease.
All students accepted into the program have the opportunity to explore epidemiology, the core science of public health, and to pursue coursework and research in diverse areas of public health such as infectious disease epidemiology, the epidemiology of cancer, children’s environmental health, environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, and refugee health.
Enrollment in the major or minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is by a competitive application submitted in January/early February of the freshman or sophomore year. In some circumstances, we will also consider applications from juniors who have a clear and demonstrated path for completion of the program in their time left at BC. We recommend signing up for our Newsletter to stay up to date on application dates and procedures. Decisions are released in March, before advising and registration for the fall.
This program will enrich the education of students headed to medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and nursing and complement the pre-health curriculum. Many pre-health students minor in Global Public health and a smaller number complete the major. Future physicians, dentists and nurses who are cross-trained in public health will be uniquely well equipped to understand how social, cultural, economic and historical factors influence the health and well-being of their patients.
In theory, students can double major in Global Public Health and the Common Good and another program at Boston College. However, careful advising is recommended if a student intends to pursue two majors to be sure there is adequate space in the schedule to allow for the completion of both sets of program requirements prior to graduation.
Students are welcome to take public health electives and even to fulfill core public health requirements at universities in other countries during semesters abroad, but each course that a student plans to take in an overseas university must be individually reviewed and approved in advance by the Director of the BC Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good. We are pleased to assist students in selecting overseas universities and courses.
In order to earn an interdisciplinary Minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good, no more than three (3) credits can be used to fulfill requirements for another Major, Minor or the Boston College Core Curriculum. Students must have at least 15 credits in the program that are unique to the Minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good. The exception to this is CSON Nursing students, who have 2 courses double counting (NURS4260 and NURS4261 Population Health courses which count as Electives on the "A list").
For the Major in Global Public Health and the Common Good, no more than six (6) credits used in another Major or Minor may be applied toward the program. In other words, at least 30 credits must be unique to the Global Public Health and the Common Good Major.