The field of public health involves the study and promotion of the health of communities and populations. Public health practitioners monitor and seek to control the spread of infectious diseases, behavioral risks and environmental hazards that affect health, as well as to promote healthier behaviors.

Careers in Public Health

The Bachelor of Arts in Public Health (BAPH) program prepares students for a variety of roles in the health care system, in community-based private and nonprofit groups, in public agencies, such as local and state health departments and the U.S. Public Health Service and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in global health programs. These might include entry-level epidemiology or community health education roles from the county to the federal level.

The University’s Career Center is an important resource for students pursuing their career. Licensed counselors are available to help students connect with campus recruiters and to provide strategies for mastering job interviews and writing professional cover letters and resumes.

Marketable Skills

Review the marketable skills for this academic program.

Public Health at UTD

The BAPH program provides understanding into the social structural and cultural factors that shape health and illness at the individual and population levels; and knowledge about effective strategies for promoting the health of individuals and communities. The curriculum includes basic training in social epidemiology, statistics, research methods, and program development and evaluation.

Students must complete 120 hours to graduate: 42 hours from the University’s core curriculum and 48 specific hours in the major, including courses in Health and Illness, Global Health and Society, and Health and Social Policy. In addition, students must also take elective hours. Public Health at UT Dallas is also offered as a minor and requires 18 credit hours.

About the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Every new generation inherits a world more complex than that of its predecessors, which prompts a need for new thinking about public policies that impact people’s daily lives. In the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS), we examine the implications of innovation and change for individuals and communities. The social sciences are where the world turns to for answers to the important issues of today and the future such as education and health policy, financial crises, globalization, policing, political polarization, public management, terrorism, and the application of geographical information sciences to study social, economic and environmental issues.

As an undergraduate in EPPS, you will have the opportunity to work with professors who are probing issues that will affect your future. You will develop the vital skills you need to thrive in a rapidly evolving, highly competitive job market. EPPS will prepare you for careers in government, non-profits and the private sector that enable you to make a real difference in the world of today and tomorrow. EPPS is at the forefront of leadership, ethics and innovation in the public and nonprofit sectors. Our students and faculty look forward to new opportunities to study and address the complex and evolving issues of the future. Research informs much of the instruction. The school has four centers of excellence:

• Center for Global Collective Action
• Texas Schools Project
• Institute for Urban Policy Research
• The Negotiations Center

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts: Criminology, economics, geospatial information sciences, international political economy, political science, public affairs, public health, public policy, sociology

Master of Science: Applied sociology, criminology, economics, geospatial information sciences, international political economy, social data analytics and research

Master of Arts: Political science

Master of Public Affairs: Public affairs

Master of Public Policy: Public policy

Doctor of Philosophy: Criminology, economics, geospatial information sciences, political science, public affairs, public policy and political economy

Certificates

EPPS offers the following 15-hour graduate certificates, which generally can be completed in one year of part-time evening classes:

• Economic and Demographic Data Analysis: focusing on the understanding and application of quantitative analysis of demographic and economic data.
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS): focusing on the application of GIS in government, private sector and scientific areas.
• Geospatial Intelligence: focusing on the application of geospatial ideas and techniques to national security and other intelligence activity.
• Local Government Management: designed to broaden knowledge of important issues and approaches employed by professional local public administrators.
• Nonprofit Management: designed to provide an overview of the nature and context of nonprofit organizations and develop competencies needed by nonprofit managers.
• Program Evaluation: designed to provide students the opportunity to gain competencies in the design and implementation of program evaluations in fields such as education, health care, human services, criminal justice and economic development.
• Remote Sensing: focusing on remote sensing and digital image processing.