If the state of the world is flat, hot and crowded, the field of public health is large, diffuse and complex. That鈥檚 why the University of Colorado Boulder is giving students the ability to earn an interdisciplinary certificate in public health.
罢丑别听听will be open to all majors and encourage students to broaden their education to include some far-ranging elements of public health. One goal is to help prepare students in a wide range of fields for the public-health issues that, during their working lives, might land on their desks.
Matthew McQueen, associate professor of integrative physiology and director of the certificate program, emphasizes that point: 鈥淧ublic health is not a field that can be addressed within a single, traditional A&S academic department. It just doesn鈥檛 work.鈥�
McQueen cites some reasons that 鈥減ublic health鈥� is broad: It encompasses political issues such as how health care is delivered, social issues such as how to provide basic health-care to war refugees, and environmental issues such as how change in climate affects human health.
鈥淚t really runs the full gamut from the environment all the way down to our cells.鈥�
The certificate program, which will require that students take courses in biology and statistics, will include two new 鈥渃ore鈥� courses: "Introduction to Epidemiology,"听taught by McQueen, and "Introduction to Global Public Health,"听taught by Elisabeth Root, assistant professor of geography.
In the last four or five years, student interest has grown tremendously.
Ellie Falletta, a senior studying geography and molecular, cellular and developmental biology, said she is proud to see CU-Boulder incorporating public health into its curriculum.
鈥淚t has become clear to our generation that the problems that the world faces can no longer be tackled by the traditional fields of study alone,鈥� she said.
鈥淏y providing more interdisciplinary certificates like public health, students from a variety of backgrounds and majors will be able to apply their knowledge from these fields and contribute to solving the crucial problems of our generation.鈥�
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