The Community Health major is designed for students interested in working in health related professions and activities as these apply to the health of communities.
There are two ways to look at health professions – those directed either at an individual level or at the level of the community. Careers and activities for work with individuals tend toward clinical and patient care work (in professions such as nursing and medicine). PMC students prepare for these pathways through the Biology major.
The community focus on health involves work to assess the health needs of a community, and to design and implement programs to improve community health. Community health professionals work with educators, public health officials, clinicians, and community leaders to tackle problems that affect groups. For example, community health workers might seek to design and implement surveys to assess the level of HIV awareness and knowledge in a community; then to create and implement a program to improve HIV awareness; and finally measure the degree to which awareness increased.
Preparation for Community Health involves developing both knowledge and skills. The major contains two parts:
1.A core of courses for learning foundational principles of community health, and
2.The freedom to select a minor “Focusing Area” that defines the individual student’s knowledge, skill set and approach to the practice of community health.
The Community Health Major also emphasizes experiential learning. The learning goals of the major are rooted in the overall goals of the College and are related to “core functions” which have been defined for all professionals working in community health. Students completing the Community Health Major will be able to:
•Write effectively and persuasively about science and health issues
•Understand the US healthcare system and policy
•Interpret, analyze, and present quantitative and qualitative information
•Work effectively with groups of people in multicultural settings
•Function effectively as a member of a team or group to achieve a common purpose
•Design and undertake research on the biological and social aspects of community health
•Have a focused set of knowledge and skills (such as in human health issues, sociology, management or psychology) that they can apply to community health issues
Focusing Area
Each student completes a minor that reflects her individual approach to the field of community health. She may choose among these six minors: Psychology, Counseling, Sociology, Management, and Human Health. The courses in the minor are not taken after the completion of the core courses; rather they are taken concurrently with the core courses.