Minors
We offer four different minors, three in the social sciences (SS) academic division and one in the humanities (H) academic division:
- Bioethics (H)
- Epidemiology (SS)
- Health, behavior and society (SS)
- Health policy (SS)
Overlapping Classes
Students can choose to major, minor, or complete a cluster within the public health-related programs, but they cannot do more than one. Due to our program’s interdisciplinary nature, no more than one course can overlap between a public health minor and another program of study.
Pre-Health Students
A public health-related major can easily integrate with an interest in the health professions, such as medical or dental school. Pre-health students may approach completing the necessary pre-health admission requirements in several different ways. It is to the applicants' advantage to tailor their schedules to reflect their specific needs and strengths. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with a health professions advisor for further program planning assistance.
Minor in Bioethics
This minor examines major ethical and legal questions that arise in medicine and public health, and the frameworks in which individual, social, and political moral decisions should be made.
The bioethics minor is intended for students who want to explore a secondary interest in the philosophical study of ethical controversies in biology, medicine, and public health. This minor comprises six courses and fulfills the humanities academic division of the Rochester Curriculum.
Required Courses
PHLT 101: Introduction to Public Health I
Plus one of the following:
- PHIL 225: Ethical Decisions in Medicine
- PHIL 228: Public Health Ethics
At least two of the following:
- PHLT 236: Healthcare and Law
- PHLT 300W: Seminar in Bioethics
- PHIL 225: Ethical Decisions in Medicine (if not taken above)
- PHIL 228: Public Health Ethics (if not taken above)
- PHIL 312: Neuroethics
- PHIL 321: Death
- MHB 210: Bioethics at the Bedside
May take up to two of the following:
- PHIL 102: Ethics
- PHIL 103: Contemporary Moral Problems
- PHIL 220/220W: Recent Ethical Theory
- PHIL 223/223W: Social and Political Philosophy
- PHIL 226: Philosophy of Law
- PHIL 230/230W: Environmental Justice
Minor in Epidemiology
This minor examines the principles and skills required to examine factors associated with the development and prevention of disease.
The epidemiology minor is intended for students who want to explore a secondary interest in population medicine, or those who wish to apply the skills of their major concentration to population health. This minor comprises six courses and fulfills the social sciences academic division of the Rochester Curriculum.
Required Courses
PHLT 101: Introduction to Public Health I
PHLT 103: Concepts of Epidemiology
Plus one of the following:
- STAT 211: Stat Lit/Applied Methodology (valid until spring 2020)
- STAT 212: Applied Statistics I
Plus three of the following:
- PM 414U: History of Epidemiology
- PM 415U: Principles of Epidemiology
- PM 413U: Field Epidemiology
- PM 424U: Chronic Diseases Epidemiology
- PM 451U: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- PM 470U: Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology
- PM 489U: Injury Epidemiology and Emergency Care Research Methods
Minor in Health, Behavior and Society
This minor examines the psychological and societal structures and mechanisms that affect human health and health behavior.
The health, behavior and society minor is intended for students who want to explore a secondary interest in the social or behavioral medicine, or those who wish to apply the skills of their major concentration to population health. This minor comprises six courses and fulfills the social sciences academic division of the Rochester Curriculum.
Required Courses
PHLT 101: Introduction to Public Health I
PHLT 116: Introduction to the U.S. Health System
Plus four of the following:
- ANTH 216: Medical Anthropology
- GSWS 206/PHLT 206: The Global Politics of Gender and Health
- HIST 359W: Birth in the Nation: A History of Reproduction
- HIST 373W: American Health Policy and Politics
- HIST 383W: Disease and Society from Antiquity to the Present
- MHB 220: Stories in Healthcare: Clinicians, Patients, and Narrative Medicine
- PHLT 216: Peer Health Advocacy (valid until spring 2022)
- PHLT 236: Healthcare and Law or PHLT 230: Public Health Law and Policy
- PHLT 240: Communities Mental Health and Injury Prevention
- PHLT 265W: Global Health
- PSYC 283: Behavioral Medicine
Minor in Health Policy
This minor examines health policy in relation to the organization, financing, and provision of health care in the US, including its history and the role of health policy analysis in assessing population health.
The health policy minor is intended for students who want to explore a secondary interest in the fields of health care administration or health policy and planning, or those who wish to apply the skills of their major concentration to population health. This minor comprises six courses and fulfills the social sciences academic division of the Rochester Curriculum.
Required Courses
PHLT 101: Introduction to Public Health I
PHLT 116: Introduction to the U.S Health System
Plus one of the following:
- PHLT 230: Law in Public Health Practice
- PHLT 236: Health Care and Law
Plus three of the following:
- ECON 207: Intermediate Microeconomics
- ECON 230: Economic Statistics or PSCI 205: Data Analysis II
- ECON 236: Economics of Health
- HIST 203: Childhood, Health, and the Formation of U.S. Social Policy
- HIST 242W: Unequal, Unjust: 100 Years of Racism in American Public Health
- HIST 373W: Health Policy and Politics
- HIST 374W: Pandemics, Politics, and Policis in the U.S.
- PHLT 232: Environmental Health Policy
- PHLT 234W: Maternal and Child Health Policy
- PHLT 238: Environmental Health and Justice in the Rochester Community
- PSCI 243: Environmental Politics or PSCI 246: Environmental Law and Policy or PSCI 247: Green Markets: Environmental Pitfalls and Opportunities*
*Only one of the three courses listed can be used as an elective