Public Health

Why Study Public Health at TFC?
The Public Health concentration in the Biology major approaches rigorous scientific investigation as a natural outgrowth of a Christian worldview, facilitating the development of knowledge, skills, and character necessary to produce graduates prepared to pursue a career, or graduate study, in ecology and environmental sciences. Students in this program will be prepared to serve the health needs of communities either locally or abroad. This concentration provides students with unique opportunities to integrate Christian faith with health education interventions. Understanding contemporary challenges in human health on a global scale will equip students to positively impact the societies in which they live and work while dealing with complex public health issues.
The Public Health concentration can prepare you to work in public health careers such as a Health Educator working one on one with patients, a Community Health Worker liaising with healthcare workers with diverse socioeconomic groups, or an Emergency Response Coordinator pulling together a team to respond to natural disasters or pandemics. This concentration can also prepare you for the more traditional career of Epidemiologist, or one of the emerging positions in Infection Prevention or Data Analyst. Likewise, this program can also prepare you to continue your education in Health Informatics, a growing field of data science used to make health insurance and policy decisions or be the policy writer with Health Policy & Administrations.

Minors:
- Chemistry
- Business Administration
- Mathematics
- Management
Biology Program Video
“What’s exciting in the last few years is that we’ve added three concentrations to our biology program, namely Pre-professional, Public Health, and Ecology & Environmental Science. So, students who are particularly interested in one of those areas have the opportunity for some more specialized training.”
Dr. Kieran M. Clements


Public Health Courses
The Public Health concentration in the Biology major is a 126 hour program that includes 71 hours of general education courses (including 30 hours of Bible and Theology), 15 hours of open electives, and 40 hours in Biology-specific courses (21 of which are hours dedicated to the Public Health Concentration).
Featured Courses:
- Medical Microbiology
- Global Public Health
- Nutrition
- Fundamentals of Epidemiology

Testimonial

What can you do with a Public Health Concentration?
When you earn a Biology degree with a Public Health concentration, you will find that there are many career opportunities available to you. Graduates are qualified for a wide range of jobs, such as:
Health Educator/Community Health Worker
As a public health graduate, students would be well prepared for a career as a health educator or community health worker. These fields would involve working one on one with patients and liaising healthcare workers with diverse socioeconomic groups.
Emergency Response Coordinator
When emergency strikes, an emergency response coordinator is responsible for pulling together a team to respond to natural disasters or pandemics. Public health graduates would be equipped to navigate this growing, and needed field.
Epidemiologist
Public health studies can prepare graduates for the more traditional career of Epidemiologist. This is an area of medicine that studies and investigates the causes, distribution and control of diseases.
Infection Prevention/Data Analyst
Another area of interest for public health graduates are the areas in infection prevention and data analysis. As an infection preventionist, you would make sure healthcare workers and facilities are properly protecting against infections caused by bacteria and viruses.