2023-24 Edition

Public Health, Minor

The minor in Public Health provides students with the fundamental knowledge of principles, applications, and skills needed to develop a firm appreciation of health and disease prevention at the population level, and to use this special knowledge to transform the experience of their major education into innovative approaches for solving problems in health care and assessment. 

Teaching and learning. Public Health education demands interdisciplinary engagement. The minor curriculum is intended to engage students from majors across the campus by introducing them to the main concepts and branches of public health, while also giving them the skills and values needed to translate their major education into meaningful projects in population health assessment and disease prevention. In concert with the major degrees in public health, the minor emphasizes learning through the ecological model of public health where the linkages and relationships among multiple determinants affecting health are examined to identify critical nodes of opportunities to improve the health of populations at various scales of analysis. 

Service. Public Health education also demands community engagement. All students of Public Health are encouraged to incorporate public health impacts and benefit assessments into societal functions that ground their understanding of public problems. Experience in public health service may be acquired through participation in learning opportunities and by reflecting critically on those experiences under the auspices of vigorous campus organizations such as the Public Health Association.

Requirements for the Minor

Nine courses are required (36 units), no more than two of which may be taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis, distributed as follows:

A. Complete:
PUBHLTH 1 Principles of Public Health
PUBHLTH 2 Case Studies in Public Health Practice
B. Seven upper-division courses in Public Health with at least one course from four of the five areas:
Epidemiology, Genetics, and Health Informatics
PUBHLTH 101–119
Health Policy and Management
PUBHLTH 120–139
Social and Behavioral Health Sciences
PUBHLTH 140–159
Environmental and Global Health Sciences
PUBHLTH 160–179
Infectious and Chronic Diseases
PUBHLTH 180–189

No more than two courses may overlap between the student’s major degree and the minor in Public Health.

Residence Requirement: A minimum of six courses required for the minor must be completed at UCI. Approved courses taken in the UC Education Abroad Program are considered to be in-residence courses.