Advising
- Public Health students are assigned an academic advisor and a faculty mentor.
- The role of the academic advisor is to assist the student in development of an academic plan and to monitor coursework to ensure student success.
- The role of the faculty mentor is to assist with selection of elective courses and a minor program of study, convey important information about the program, undergraduate research opportunities, and extracurricular activities relevant to the program, and to discuss career and graduate education opportunities.
- In addition, all students are required to attend an internship information meeting in the fall of the year prior to when they will begin their internship and work with an internship advisor throughout the internship process. Learn more.
Career Development
Public Health professionals promote and protect the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play (American Public Health Association). This includes professionals who conduct scientific research, provide health and prevention education, deliver health interventions to communities, set and monitor occupational health standards, develop and evaluate health programs, track disease, study and address health disparities, and serve as health policy advocates. Therefore, our students are trained to help populations and communities improve their health through behavior change, but also to lead interventions and social action through community and coalition building, the promotion of environmental and systems change, and advocacy for inclusion of health in all public policies. Learn more.
Public Health Club
The Public Health Club is designed for students interested in all aspects of the public health field. The club allows students to participate in community activities dedicated to improving the well-being and quality of life of local citizens. The club is committed to providing a peer network system of students striving for a healthier and more just world and to engage in public health activities locally, at the state level and nationally. Many members of the club are Public Health majors, while others are minoring in Public Health or interested in pursuing graduate level studies in Public Health.
All students, regardless of major, are invited and welcome to join the club. Throughout the year, the club provides members with information on professional development opportunities, useful presentations and guest speakers to help students prepare for their future careers in public health, a variety of service and volunteer/civic engagement opportunities, as well as interaction with students and educators from around the campus. Learn more.
Interprofessional Opportunities
The Beaver College of Health Sciences provides numerous opportunities for interprofessional education offered by the BCBSNC Institute of Health and Human Services. For instance, each fall, upper-level students participate in a case study event where they begin by talking about a common, faculty-developed, interprofessional case study in their PH courses. Then, students come together in round tables with students from other BCHS programs and partnering Wake Forest Physician Assistant Program to discuss the case in an interprofessional environment. PH students also have the opportunity to attend a dozen or more interprofessional lectures and course meetings each year, including the Blue Cross Blue Shield Transforming Health Series.
Scholarships
Through the establishment of scholarships and endowments, generous donors support the efforts of students in the Beaver College of Health Sciences. Learn more.
Departmental Honors in Public Health
The Public Health Program in the Department of Public Health and Exercise Science offers an honors program to students who exhibit academic excellence, a commitment to community engagement, and a desire to conduct public health research. Honors distinction requires completing nine or more disciplinary hours of honors work at the 3000 or 4000 level, including the honors section of Seminar in Rural Public Health (PH4650) and three semester hour honors thesis directed by a public health faculty member. Students can earn Honors credit for a non-honors course by contracting with the Professor for an enriched academic experience. This may include completing service-learning activities outside the classroom. Students wishing to take a course under a contract should contact the Departmental Honors Director in consultation with the class instructor to request the contract and arrange the course requirements.
Enrollment in the public health honors program requires an application and is by permission of the Departmental Honors Director. To graduate with departmental honors in public health a student must be a major, have maintained an overall grade point average of 3.45, have no grade less than a B in any departmental honors courses, and have completed and defended a departmental honors thesis.
Students who are interested in pursuing departmental honors should contact the Departmental Honors Director, Dr. Jennifer Zwetsloot, at zwetslootjj@appstate.edu.