Pre-Public Health
Start your journey to becoming a public health professional.
Public Health Overview
Public health is the science and art of creating healthy communities through education, research, and promotion of healthy lifestyles. In public health, the focus is on health promotion and disease/injury prevention, in contrast to the medical model of care, which focuses more heavily upon diagnosing and treating illnesses and conditions after they occur.
Degree Pathway.
A bachelor’s degree is required for admission to certificate, Master’s, or Doctoral public health programs. Some schools offer a bachelor’s degree in public health, but UNL does not. A bachelor’s degree in any major is acceptable. Meet with an advisor today to get a personalized 4-year pre-public health plan!
Core Areas of Public Health.
Schools of public health offer graduate programs in at least all five core areas of public health. These core areas of public health include Social & Behavioral Sciences, Biostatistics, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Health Services Administration.
Pre-Public Health Roadmap at UNL
Public Health Prerequisite Classes
While many public health graduate programs do not have specific prerequisites, the following University of Nebraska Lincoln courses can be helpful for students to gain a background in public health issues. This is not an all-inclusive list, as many other classes also exist that have relevant information for public health. Some of these classes may have prerequisites. Please consult with an Advisor.
Required Courses
Students should consult each school they plan to apply to in order to know what coursework will be required for admission. These requirements may vary widely by degree type and/or concentration. Three of UNMC’s Master's of Public Health concentrations have specific prerequisites for admission:
Biostatistics: B or better in statistics, differential calculus, and integral calculus classes
Epidemiology: B or better in a statistics, calculus, or algebra class
Environmental and Occupational Health: two semesters of biology, two semesters of chemistry, one semester of physics, and one semester of college level math
Recommended Courses
Below are recommended courses only. Contact your desired graduate school for any required courses.
Anthropology: ANTH 215, 422, 430
Biological & Life Sciences: BIOS 101/101L, BIOS 110/110L, LIFE 120/L, LIFE 121/L
Child, Youth and Family Studies: CYAF 333, 380, 446, 488
Communication Studies: COMM 354, 368
Economics: ECON 211, 212, 389
Gerontology: GERO 200 and any other GERO courses of interest
History & Science/Medicine: CLAS 233, HIST 221, 228, 320, 402
Medical Ethics: PHIL 213
Nutrition: NUTR 100, 250, 251, 253, 256, 351, 401
Psychology: PSYC 428, 430, 471
Public Policy: POLS 235, 236
Sociology: SOCI 252, 309, 353, 443, 444, 454
The above courses are recommendations only as each graduate program may have widely varying requirements. Please meet with an Explore Center Advisor for more information and guidance. Students are strongly encouraged to contact their desired graduate schools for specific course requirements or recommendations.
Extracurricular Involvement and Activities:
Pre-Public Health students are encouraged to participate in experiences, such as leadership roles, volunteer work, research, and shadowing, which will help them prepare for public health school and the various professions in public health. Activities outside the classroom play a significant role in a student’s application to a professional school program. Such experiences demonstrate a commitment to and knowledge about the profession. In particular, working or volunteering at a hospital/clinic, health department, health related organizations, or non-profit involved in public health advocacy or policy would be helpful to learn about the different professions in public health. Students pursuing a career in public health should recognize how these professions differ from a clinical practitioner like a physician, nurse, etc.
Application and Admission
For admission to UNMC’s MPH or PhD programs, students must apply through the centralized application process – SOPHAS. Information on SOPHAS can be found at https://sophas.org. The admissions committees for all programs review grade point average, recommendations (when appropriate), knowledge of profession, service, and leadership experience. Interviews are part of the application process for doctoral level programs. Some schools may require entrance exam such as the GRE or MCAT.