2024-2025 Catalog

Public Health

Overview

Public health seeks to improve human health through the development and application of knowledge that prevents disease, protects the public from harm, and promotes health throughout local communities, the state, the nation, and the world. The field of public health confronts complex health issues, such as improving access to health care, controlling infectious disease, and reducing environmental hazards, violence, substance abuse, and injury.

Through the Public Health Minor at Occidental College, students develop and apply knowledge from multiple disciplines for the promotion and protection of the health of the human population, giving due consideration to principles of human rights and cultural perspectives that abound in our multicultural country and world. The minor, like the field itself, is interdisciplinary. Students will learn about the scientific aspects of disease as well as the political and policy issues involved in improving people’s health and well-being. The minor is jointly administered by the departments of Biology, Kinesiology, and Urban & Environmental Policy (UEP), with course offerings from multiple departments.

Requirements

Five courses are required to complete the Public Health minor.

Minor

Required Courses

PUBH 203Introduction to Public Health

4 units

PUBH 238Epidemiology

4 units

Statistics Requirements

Students must complete one of the following courses:

BIO 268Biostatistics

4 units

COMP 146Statistics

4 units

MATH 150Statistical Data Analysis

4 units

PSYC 201Statistics in Psychological Science

4 units

SOC 305Quantitative Research Methods

4 units

UEP 305Urban Data Analysis

4 units

Electives

Students must complete two additional courses from the list below. Each elective course must be from a different department. 

AMST 130Dis/ability Theory

4 units

HIST 274Medicine and Disease in Western Society

4 units

HIST 277Reproductive Justice Histories

4 units

KINE 104Introduction to Kinesiology

4 units

KINE 210Nutrition and Homeostasis

4 units

KINE 299Women's Sports and Empowerment

4 units

KINE 304Human Physiology

4 units

PHIL 233Bioethics

4 units

PHIL 332Public Health Ethics

4 units

PSYC 334Health Psychology

4 units

PUBH 220Public Health Nutrition

4

PUBH 248/DWA 248Global Public Health

4 units

PUBH 249Public Health and Human Rights: Global and Local Practices

4 units

PUBH 301Women's Health

4 units

PUBH 307Public Health Practicum

2 or 4 units

SOC 320Health and Illness

4 units

UEP 201Environmental Health and Policy

4 units

UEP 209/PUBH 209Health Policy

4 units

*The electives must be from two different departments.

 

As new courses develop, more options may be added to this list. Students will be strongly encouraged to participate in internship, volunteer, or research opportunities within the field of public health (e.g. PUBH 307) before they graduate.

Transfer Credit Policies

The two required core courses for the Public Health minor, including PUBH 203 Introduction to Public Health and PUBH 238 Epidemiology, must be taken at Occidental College. Transfer credit will not be accepted for these two courses.

Transfer credit for the statistics and elective requirements will be considered to apply toward the Public Health minor. However, courses must be approved by the appropriate department or program. Students should reference the Transfer Credit section for details.

 

Advising Information

Public Health Transfer Student Advice

Transfer Course Limit for Transfer Students: 3 courses

Designated Transfer Adviser


Expected preparation for transfer students wanting to minor in Public Health:

  • Transfer students can complete the minor without any prior coursework, since it requires only five courses, but depending on the intended major and how many Core requirements need to be completed, it will be easier to complete the minor if students start Occidental having already completed a statistics class and one elective.


General advice for transfer students wanting to minor in Public Health:

  • The following two courses must be taken at Occidental: Introduction to Public Health (PUBH 203) and Epidemiology (PUBH 238). 

  • Transfer credit for the Statistics requirement (1 course) is determined by the appropriate department (Math, Computer Science, Biology, etc.). Transfer credit for the electives requirement (2 courses) is determined by the chair of Public Health. 


What courses should a transfer student take during their first semester at Occidental?

  • Rising Juniors should take Introduction to Public Health (PUBH 203). This is a requirement for Epidemiology (PUBH 238), which is only offered in the spring. Students entering as sophomores or mid way through their sophomore year should plan to take PUBH 203 early on so that they can take PUBH 238 during a future spring semester (either in their junior or senior year).

Courses

Public Health Courses

Faculty

Jessica Dirkes, chair; designated transfer adviser

Resident Assistant Professor; Public Health Program Coordinator

B.S., University of Missouri; M.P.H., Tulane University; Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago

Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Alicia O. Carranza
Visiting Assistant Professor
B.A., University of California, Riverside; M.P.H., National University; D.P.H., Loma Linda University

Heng Lam Foong

Visiting Instructor
B.A. College of New Rochelle, M.S. Capella University

Jackie Provost

Visiting Instructor
A.B., Occidental College; M.P.H., University of California, Los Angeles

Other faculty associated with the Public Health minor can be viewed here.