Department of Public Health

The Department of Public Health offers Public Health programs that challenge students with a unique combination of interdisciplinary liberal arts education with a specialty focus on public health. You'll learn the conceptual foundations and empirical bases for analyzing the interplay between science, society and health. Many pre-med and other health professions students also choose to minor in public health to augment their specialty education with this broad perspective.

On-Campus Public Health Programs

Online Public Health Programs

Why Public Health? 

CEPH SealDue to global concerns regarding chronic and infectious disease epidemiology, food and water safety, and sanitation and environmental health issues, there is a rising demand for graduates with  degrees in Public Health. 

Students earning their Public Health degree learn how to interpret public health data, frame a public health issue, review and apply scientific literature, and present findings on approaches to the issue.

Students who graduate from Simmons University’s Public Health programs have excellent employment prospects as researchers, community health workers and health program managers.

Learning Outcomes for our Public Health Degrees

  • Students will be able to identify current public health problems nationally and globally. They will be able to analyze case studies on national and global health issues (e.g. food safety, water safety, vaccination, exercise and obesity, exposure to toxins). Students will write research papers and make oral presentations in which they will describe a current public health issue. 
  • Students will be able to interpret public health data, frame a public health issue within an epidemiological context, review the literature and give oral presentations on epidemiological approaches to infectious disease, including observational studies, drug resistance studies, vaccine safety, surveillance, eradication, and outbreak studies. 
  • Students will be able to analyze case studies of health issues (e.g., infant mortality and obesity), assessing the role which gender, race, ethnicity, income, and income inequality play in the production of health inequalities.
  • Students will compare public health infrastructures in developed and developing countries in relation to food borne and waterborne disease. Students will undertake literature research and prepare case studies. Students will study the components of HACCP in relation to food safety and visit a food production plant and an urban waste sanitation plant. 
  • Students will write a research paper and make an oral presentation, in which they will compare the U.S. health care system with that in another country.

Public Health Requirements

Simmons University is nationally recognized for our exceptional Public Health programs that provide the conceptual and empirical foundation for analyzing the interplay between health, science, and society.

Learn more about applying to our Public Health programs: 

On-Campus Public Health Program Admission Requirements

Check out requirements and deadlines for undergraduate students and apply today!

Online Public Health Program Admission Requirements

Highlights of Simmons’ Public Health Programs

  • Simmons University is nationally recognized for our exceptional Public Health programs.
  • Our Public Health faculty are dedicated scholars and mentors.
  • Undergraduate and graduate Public Health degree students participate in internships, research opportunities enhancing the in-classroom experience for deeper understanding of course concepts. 
  • Demand for graduates of Public Health programs is on the rise, allowing Public Health degree graduates the opportunity to enter a range of careers, including emergency management specialists, health educators, epidemiologists, community health workers, researchers, and public health communicators—all seeking to identify and solve important issues in public health.
Carolyn Rodgers Photo

Carolyn Rodgers

Bachelor's Program Director