BA in Epidemiology

This major has 13 required courses and two recommended mathematics courses. The epidemiology major leads to a bachelor of arts degree and satisfies the social sciences requirement of the Rochester Curriculum.

Key goals for this major:

  • Understand the theories, concepts, and skills required to assess population health
  • Understand the methodologies used to examine factors associated with the development and prevention of disease
  • Apply the basic tools necessary for analysis of data applicable to public health outcomes

***Beginning in spring 2024 and moving forward, PHLT 102 ‘Introduction to Public Health II' will no longer be a required course for public health majors. Moving forward, PHLT 102 will no longer be offered. Students who are already declared as an epidemiology (EPD) major will continue to follow their programs as they originally declared. If a student completed PHLT 102 with the intention of using it for their intended EPD major, the undergraduate public health program will work with that student to incorporate it as part of their EPD major.

Major Requirements

Some of these courses require prerequisites. These prerequisites are not counted toward the major.

Recommended Mathematics Courses

MATH 161: Calculus I
MATH 162: Calculus II

Note: Students can also take MATH 141-MATH 143

Public Health General Core (Four Courses)

PHLT 101: Introduction to Public Health I
PHLT 103: Concepts of Epidemiology
STAT 212: Applied Statistics I (valid until spring 2024) or STAT 180: Introduction to Applied Statistical Methodology (valid beginning fall 2024)
PHIL 228 (PHIL 228W): Public Health Ethics or PHIL 225: Ethical Decisions in Medicine

Specific Core Requirements (Four Courses)

PM 414U: History of Epidemiology
PM 415U: Principles of Epidemiology 
STAT 216: Applied Statistical Models I
STAT 218: Categorical Data Analysis

Electives (Five Courses)

I. Epidemiology (3 courses)

Choose three of the following:

  • PM 412U: Survey Research
  • PM 413U (H): Field Epidemiology
  • PM 418U (W): Cardiovascular Epidemiology
  • PM 424U (W): Chronic Diseases Epidemiology
  • PM 442U (W)(H): Nutritional Epidemiology
  • PM 451U (W): Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
  • PM 470U (W): Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology
  • PM 489U (W): Injury Epidemiology and Emergency Care Research Methods
  • BST 465: Design of Clinical Trials
  • EESC 251: Introduction to Geographic Systems
  • PHLT 201W: Environmental Health
  • PHLT 397W: Community Engagement Internship**

**Open to juniors, seniors, Take 5, and e5 public health majors; permission of EPD faculty advisor required

Students may to use up to 2 PHLT internship courses towards their public health major.

II. Statistics (1 course)

Choose one of the following:

  • MATH 218: Intro to Mathematical Models in the Life
  • MATH/STAT 201: Introduction to Probability
  • MATH/STAT 203: Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
  • STAT 217: Applied Statistical Methods II
  • STAT 219: Nonparametic Inference
  • STAT 221W: Sampling Techniques
  • STAT 276: Statistical Computing in R
  • STAT 277: Introduction to Statistical Software and Exploratory Data Analysis

III. Additional Epidemiology or Statistics Elective (1 course)

The same course may not be used to satisfy a Group I or Group II elective course and a Group III elective course.

Upper-Level Writing Requirement

Students are 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 should register for the “W” section; for each PM (W) course there is a cap of five students who can register for the writing component.

Overlapping Major Courses

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the public health-related programs, no more than two courses may overlap between a public health major and another major.

The introductory STAT course (STAT 212 or STAT 180) is not included in course overlap.

Transfer Credit

Students are permitted (with the approval of their public health faculty advisor) to use up to two transfer courses towards their public health program.

Note: Students may choose to major, or to minor, or to complete a cluster within the Public Health-Related programs, but they cannot do more than one.