Public Health

Health Related Sciences Academy

Public health and related fields are among the fastest growing employment sectors in the New York region and nationally. Driven by efforts to improve the health of the public, the demand for public health professionals with formal training is expected to grow significantly in the future. Public health professionals are defined as all those responsible for providing the essential services of public health regardless of the organization in which they work. They are employed in such diverse positions as health educators, health care workers, epidemiologists, environmental health specialists and public health administrators.

The Public Health Program at Queensborough Community College is an Associate of Science degree program that offers students a challenging, educational experience with courses in the fields of biology, statistics, epidemiology, nutrition, general education and public health education. The curriculum provides a strong foundation in public health that will prepare students to pursue further education in baccalaureate programs in Public Health related fields or as entry-level professionals in a variety of workplaces including public, private, and non-profit organizations.

The program has a transfer agreement with Hunter College's B.S. degree program in Community Health which is an accredited program by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH). Students who enroll in the Public Health degree program are part of the Queensborough Health-Related Sciences Academy who along with the Department of Biological Sciences and Geology and the Department of Health, Physical Education and Dance advises students on their curriculum and opportunities for transfer to 4-year institutions. The Transfer Resource Center at the College will help students prepare to transfer.

Associate in Science Degree (AS)

Common Core Requirements

Common Core Categories	Courses	Credits
REQUIRED CORE: 1A.	ENGL-101: English Composition I	3
REQUIRED CORE: 1A.	ENGL-102: English Composition II	3
REQUIRED CORE: 1B.	MA-119: College Algebra¹	3
REQUIRED CORE: 1C.	BI-201: General Biology I¹	4
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2A.	World Cultures & Global Issues (Recommended: ANTH-160: Anthropology of Health & Healing)	3
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2B.	U.S. Experience & Its Diversity (Recommended: SP-211: Speech Communication)	3
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2C.	Creative Expression (Select one course)	3
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2D.	Individual & Society (Recommended: PHIL-148: Public Health Ethics or SOCY-101: Introduction to Sociology)	3
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2E.	BI-520: Introduction to Public Health¹	4
FLEXIBLE CORE: 2A., 2B., 2C., 2D. or 2E.	Recommended: SOCY-200 level course from 2D or PSYC-101	3
Subtotal		32

Major Requirements

Courses		Credits
BI-503: General Epidemiology		3
BI-521: Public Health Biology		3
HE-103: Fundamentals of Human Nutrition		3
HE-114: Foundations of Health Promotion & Disease Prevention		3
IS-151: The Health of the Nations		2
MA-336: Statistics		3
Subtotal		17

Major Electives² (choose 11 credits from:)

Courses		Credits
BI-202: General Biology II		4
BI-461: General Microbiology		4
BI-501: Environmental Health		4
BI-522: Applied Biostatistics		3
BI-505: Current Environmental Issues		1
BI-554: Research Laboratory Internship		2
HE-102: Health, Behavior and Society		2
HE-104: Addiction and Dependencies		3
HE-105: Human Sexuality		3
HE-107: Mental Health: Understanding Your Behavior		3
HE-108: Health & Physical Fitness		3
HE-110: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation		1
HE-111: Stress Management		3
HE-202: Social and Behavior Determinants of Health		3
Subtotal		11
Total Credits Required		60

¹ Students are required to take STEM Variants in 1B, 1C and 2E; if students do not take STEM variants in common core, they will have to take additional credits to complete their degree requirements.

² Advised Major Electives should be guided by appropriate transfer articulations. All students must successfully complete two (2) writing-intensive classes (designated “WI”) to fulfill degree requirements.

Degree Plans

Student Learning Outcomes for Academic Programs

A.S. in Public Health

General Education Outcomes

A robust general education is founded on the knowledge, concepts, methods, and perspectives that students gain through the study of many academic disciplines. These disciplinary studies stimulate intellectual inquiry, global awareness, and cultural and artistic appreciation: they equip students to make informed judgments and remain engaged beyond the classroom. To that end, QCC promotes educational activities that allow students to demonstrate that they can:

Communicate effectively in various forms
Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed decisions
Reason quantitatively as required in various fields of interest and in everyday life
Apply information management and digital technology skills useful for academic research and lifelong learning

To support these institutional general education outcomes, the academic departments-;through their programs-may also assess the ability of students to:

Integrate knowledge and skills in the program of study
Make ethical judgments while recognizing multiple perspectives, as appropriate in the program of study
Work collaboratively to accomplish learning objectives

Approved by the Academic Senate on February 13, 2018.

Program Outcomes

Analyze public health theory and practice in the following areas: social and behavioral sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, health communication, health care systems and policy.
Apply and synthesize basic quantitative and qualitative data, professional and scholarly literature to produce papers and oral presentations related to public health
Analyze and evaluate the biological principles associated with the distribution of infectious and non-infectious diseases of public health importance
Examine the current research related to public health problems and formulate methods for the prevention and control of diseases
Evaluate the role of social justice in bringing about social change to improve the health of the public
Communicate, promote and advocate for improvements in the health of the public

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