Public Health Major Courses

^{NOTE: Effective FA24, all BSPH Course Subject Codes have changed from FMPH to PH.}

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.  

• Public Health Courses

PH 40. Introduction to Public Health (4)

This course provides an introduction to the infrastructure of public health; the analytical tools employed by public health practitioners; bio-psychosocial perspectives of public health problems; health promotion/disease prevention; quality assessment in public health; and legal and ethical concerns.

PH 45. Introduction to Methods and Ethics in Public Health Research (4)

This course will lay a foundation for understanding how to conduct research to answer questions about public health. It aims to teach students why research is done the way it is, what questions we can and can't answer, and the methodological and ethical limits that must be considered along the way. Students will learn to think critically about the implications and limitations of existing research, and to form their own research questions about public health and the ways to investigate answers. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40.

PH 50. Primary Care and Public Health (4)

This course explores historical and current interactions, achievements and challenges of primary care and public health. It will analyze the impact of common medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, mental health disorders, and others on individuals, their families, and society. 

PH 80. Racism as a Public Health Crisis (4)

Recently, municipalities around the country have formally declared racism as a public health crisis. What does this mean? We will discuss race, racism, racial health disparities, and the nature of public health crises. Students will practice scientific writing in groups and individually.

PH 91. Topics in Public Health (4)

Selected topics in the field of public health.

PH 91. Climate Change and Public Health: From Evidence to Action

This course explores how climate change affects human health and how one can respond through science, policy, and action. The course begins with an overview of the causes and science of climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, and future climate projections. The course then examines major health impacts such as heat-related illnesses, worsening air quality, changes in infectious diseases (such as malaria or Valley fever), food and water insecurity, mental health stressors, and displacement due to extreme weather or sea-level rise. Focus is placed on those most affected by climate change, with an emphasis on how it exacerbates existing health disparities. The course also considers variations in impacts across regions, income levels, race, and other factors. Case studies from around the world, including the U.S., highlight both challenges and community-led responses. Finally, the course explores solutions, including public health adaptation, early warning systems, urban planning, climate-smart healthcare, and strategies to reduce emissions in ways that improve health. Upon completion, students will be able to think critically about climate and health, incorporating considerations of equity and justice into future work.  Prerequisites: Department approval.

NOTE: PH 91.Climate Change and Public Health: From Evidence to Action counts towards the LD Public Health Trending Topics Area.

PH 91. Gender and Public Health

This course will introduce students to the way gender has contributed to deferentially structuring everyone's health experiences. It aims to answer questions such as: How has gender influenced the construction of public health in diverse societies? How do our social frameworks and structures, such as gender, affect people’s experiences and expectations of health? The interfaces between gender, class, race/ethnicity, and sexuality will also be emphasized. The course will cover a broad range of health issues for which gender has been of special importance. Topics to be covered include reproductive health, sexual health and sexuality, violence, occupational health and work, and chronic and communicable diseases. Students will practice scientific writing in groups and individually. Prerequisites: Department approval.

NOTE: PH 91. Gender and Public Health counts towards the LD Public Health Trending Topics Area.

PH 91. Health Promotion

Course Description coming soon... Prerequisites: Department approval.

NOTE: PH 91. Health Promotion counts towards the LD Public Health Trending Topics Area.

PH 95. Medical School Prep 101 (1 - P/NP only)

This course is designed for first-year freshmen students and first-year transfer students who are interested in pursuing medicine and becoming physicians. Learn what it takes to prepare for medical school as well as what it takes to be a competitive applicant. We'll cover everything from academic requirements, timeline, and MCAT to obtaining relevant experiences (i.e. healthcare, service, leadership, and research), letters of evaluation, the 15 core competencies and more.

• PH 95: Medical School Prep 101 Application (to be attached with EASy Request)
  • WI25 and SP25 - Open to all students who entered UCSD in FA24 - First-year freshmen students and first-year transfer students who entered UCSD in FA24 and have a UC GPA of a 2.5 or higher are eligible and welcome to apply for WI25 and SP25. All other students are not eligible.

PH 98. Directed Group Study (1-4)

Investigation of Public Health topics through directed reading and discussion by a small group of students under supervision of a faculty member. Opportunities can also include experiential and research components. May be taken for credit three times. Prerequisites: Completion of thirty units of UCSD undergraduate study, a minimum UCSD GPA of 3.0, consent of instructor, and a completed and approved Special Studies request.

PH 98. Living Well - Doing Well: Dimensions of Well-Being and Staying Healthy to Succeed in College (2 - P/NP only)

This class is open to first- and second-year students and first quarter transfers. “Living Well - Doing Well” will provide students a framework to encourage healthy choices to foster holistic well-being as they pursue their educational goals at UC San Diego. The 8 Dimensions of Well-Being will be the focus of this course as students learn about campus and community partners and resources. (Flyer) Prerequisites: Department approval. 

PH 99. Independent Study (2-4)

Individual undergraduate study or research not covered by the present course offerings. May be taken for credit three times. Prerequisites: Completion of thirty units of UCSD undergraduate study, a minimum UCSD GPA of 3.0, consent of instructor, and a completed and approved Special Studies request.

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Biology Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Chemistry Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Computer Science and Engineering Courses
• Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Cognitive Science Courses
• Human Developmental Sciences Program Courses
• Department of Mathematics Courses
• Department of Psychology Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Biology Courses
• Department of Chemistry Courses
• Department of Physics Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Department of Anthropology Courses
• Critical Gender Studies Program Courses
• Department of Cognitive Science Courses
• Department of Communication Courses
• Department of Economics Courses
• Enviromental Studies Program Courses
• Environmental Systems Program Courses
  
• Global Health Program Courses
• Human Developmental Sciences Program Courses
• Department of History Courses
• Department of Literature Courses
• Department of Political Science Courses
• Department of Psychology Courses
• Department of Sociology Courses
• Urban Studies and Planning Program Courses

^{NOTE: Effective FA24, all BSPH Course Subject Codes have changed from FMPH to PH.}

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Public Health Courses
• Urban Studies and Planning Program Courses

PH 101. Epidemiology (4)

This course covers the basic principles of epidemiology, with applications to investigations of noninfectious (“chronic”) and infectious diseases. Explores various study designs appropriate for disease surveillance and studies of etiology and prevention. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, PSYC 60, COGS 14B, HDS 60, or MATH 11, and upper-division standing.

PH 102. Biostatistics in Public Health (4)

Fundamentals of biostatistics and basic methods for analysis of continuous and binary outcomes for one, two, or several groups. Includes: summarizing and displaying data; probability; statistical distributions; central limit theorem, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing; comparing means of continuous variables between two groups; comparing proportions between two groups; simple and multiple linear regression. Hands-on data analysis using software and statistical applications in public health. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, PSYC 60, COGS 14B, HDS 60, or MATH 11, and upper-division standing.

PH 110. Health Behavior and Chronic Diseases (4)

This course introduces health behavior concepts through applications to chronic disease prevention. The focus is on smoking, dietary behaviors, and physical activity and is organized around relationships to health, measurement, influencing factors, interventions, and translation to public health practice. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and sophomore standing.

PH 120. Health Policies for Healthy Lifestyles (4)

This course covers the rationale for and effectiveness of policies to influence nutrition, physical activity, and substance use behavior. Policies include legalization, taxation, labeling, produce manufacturing, warning labels, licensing, marketing, and counter-marketing practices and restrictions on use. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and upper-division standing.

PH 130. Environmental and Occupational Health (4)

This core public health course addresses the fundamentals of environmental and occupational health, including identification of hazards, basic toxicology, risk assessment, prevention/protection, and regulatory/control policies. Specific environmental and occupational hazards and relevant case studies will be presented. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, PH 101 or FMPH 101, and upper-division standing.

USP 143. The US Health-Care System (4)

This course will provide an overview of the organization of health care within the context of the community with emphasis on the political, social, and cultural influences. It is concerned with the structure, objectives, and trends of major health and health-related programs in the United States to include sponsorship, financing, training and utilization of health personnel. Prerequisites: Upper-division standing or consent of instructor.

^{NOTE: Effective FA24, all BSPH Course Subject Codes have changed from FMPH to PH.}

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.  

• Public Health Courses

PH 172. Immunizations and Public Health (4)

This course addresses fundamentals of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunizations, with an emphasis on resources to maintain public health expertise in a continually evolving field. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and sophomore standing. Renumbered from FMPH 191 - students can't receive credit for FMPH 172 if already completed FMPH 191 "Immunizations and Public Health". 

PH 191 Topics in Public Health (4)

Selected topics in the field of Public Health. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40; Instructor and department approval. Additional prerequisites may be required at instructor’s discretion.

PH 191: "Climate Change as a Public Health Crisis"

Climate Change as a Public Health Crisis will utilize problem-based learning to describe climate change and the health problems exacerbated by it, discuss how climate change causes health problems and disparities, and research specific health disparities caused by climate change. Students are expected to collaborate with group members to construct a public health issue brief and complete a research project related to climate change and public health. This class will focus on crises of fire, water, air and earth as related to climate change, and will include instruction on scientific writing and defining a research problem. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and department approval.

PH 191: "Health Economics and Health Policy"

Health Economics and Health Policy introduces key concepts in health economics and applies these concepts to better understand and evaluate policy issues in the U.S. healthcare system and health and medical care production and demand. The course is divided into three modules. Module 1 gives an overview of the U.S. healthcare system and introduces core Microeconomic tools as applied in Health Economics. Module 2 examines key players in the U.S. healthcare system, including private and public insurers and various health care providers. Module 3 synthesizes the content of previous modules and studies health policy issues including government intervention, externalities, medical malpractice, comparative healthcare systems, health insurance reform as well as health and development.  Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and department approval.

PH 191: "Health Vulnerability, Climate Change, and Extreme Weather Disasters"

Health Vulnerability, Climate Change, and Extreme Weather Disasters focuses on the health impacts from climate change, extreme weather events, and disasters at the individual, local, regional, national, and international level with a lens of emergency preparedness, response, and resilience development. The course will utilize guest lecturers from the larger international community from government and international organizations to supplement the topics with subject matter expertise and “on the ground” experience. The course will provide an overview of the causes of major disasters with a focus on the impacts of these disasters to health and approaches to prepare and respond to these large-scale emergencies.  Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and department approval.

PH 191: "Integrative Health and Public Health"

Integrative Health and Public Health examines the historical origins, scientific research, and common practices used in complementary and alternative medicine, which is now broadly defined as “Integrative Health.” The course features numerous guest lectures by healthcare providers of Integrative Health services in UCSD Health clinics as well as by healthcare providers from diverse clinics in the San Diego region. All course content is examined in terms of how Integrative Health supports Public Health.  Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40 and department approval.

PH 195. Instruction in Public Health (4)

Introduction to teaching in a public health course. As an Undergraduate Instructional Apprentice, students will attend the lectures of the course, weekly meetings with students of the course; weekly meetings with course instructor. Responsibilities may include class presentations, designing and leading weekly discussion sections, assisting with homework and exam grading, and monitoring and responding to online discussion posts. Prerequisites: A minimum of A- in the course in which the student plans to assist, a 3.0 cumulative UC GPA, instructor and department approval.

PH 198. Directed Group Study (1–4)

Investigation of Public Health topics through directed reading and discussion by a small group of students under supervision of a faculty member. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit nine times. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, upper-division standing, completion of ninety units of UC San Diego undergraduate study, a minimum UC San Diego GPA of 2.5, consent of instructor, and a completed and approved Special Studies request.

PH 199 Independent Study (2-4)

Individual undergraduate study or research not covered by the present course offerings. Study or research must be under the direction of a faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health and approval must be secured from the faculty member prior to registering. P/NP grades only. May be taken for credit nine times. Prerequisites: Upper-division standing, completion of ninety units of UCSD undergraduate study, a minimum UCSD GPA of 2.5, consent of instructor, and a completed and approved Special Studies request.

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Academic Internship Program Courses
• Department of Anthropology Courses
• Department of Biology Courses
• Climate Change Studies Courses
• Department of Cognitive Science Courses
• Department of Communication Courses
• Critical Gender Studies Courses
• Department of Economics Courses
• Environmental Studies Program Courses
• Environmental Systems Program Courses
• Department of Ethnic Studies Courses
  
• Global Health Program Courses
• Department of History Courses
• Department of Literature Courses
• Department of Mathematics Courses
• Department of Philosophy Courses
• Department of Political Science Courses
• Department of Psychology Courses
• Department of Scripps Institution of Oceanography Courses
• Department of Sociology Courses
• Urban Studies and Planning Program Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Public Health Courses

Students can view course descriptions and course prerequisites through UCSD's General Catalog.

• Public Health Courses

PH 196AH. Public Health Honors Practicum I (6)

This is the first of a two-part honors series that serves as the culminating experience for BSPH majors.  This course represents an experiential learning opportunity at a pre-approved community site. Under supervision of public health faculty and pertinent site representatives, students will refine and implement the public health proposal developed in the first part of the honors series. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, PH 45, PH 101 or FMPH 101, PH 102 or FMPH 102, PH 110 or FMPH 110, and PH 120 or FMPH 120. Department approval required. Restricted to upper-division public health majors only.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: Completion of PH 45 is not required for students who entered UC San Diego before 2024. For the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years, students who entered in 2024 or later may take PH 45 concurrently with PH 196AH.

PH 196BH. Public Health Honors Practicum II (6)

This is the second of a two-part honors series that serves as the culminating experience for BSPH majors.  Students will analyze, interpret, and contextualize findings from their projects completed in the series. Oral and written communication will focus on disseminating public health information in diverse formats, and will include a presentation and an honors thesis. Prerequisites: PH 40 or FMPH 40, PH 45, PH 101 or FMPH 101, PH 102 or FMPH 102, PH 110 or FMPH 110, PH 120 or FMPH 120, and PH 196AH.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: Completion of PH 45 is not required for students who entered UC San Diego before 2024. For the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years, students who entered in 2024 or later may take PH 45 concurrently with PH 196AH.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Develop skills to successfully apply for jobs and graduate training (e.g., resumes interviewing skills, etc.) and function in a modern workplace.
2. Conduct the main steps of a public health evaluation, including identification of stakeholders, developing a program description, focusing the evaluation design, gathering credible data, performing appropriate analyses, interpreting the data, and ensuring use of findings and appropriate dissemination.
3. Develop a comprehensive evaluation plan which includes the program description, evaluation objectives, methods including ethical considerations and data collection instruments, an analytic plan, dissemination plan, and budget and timeline.
4. Collect and enter data, either qualitative, quantitative, or both, that are reliable and valid.
5. Use software to perform appropriate data analyses and organize in an understandable, concise, and visually appealing manner. Prepare materials for different audiences, including stakeholders and public health colleagues.
6. Synthesize evaluation findings to develop recommendations for policies and other interventions.
7. Prepare effective written and oral presentations for different public health audiences, including public health officials and the lay public.
8. Work effectively in teams in a manner than maximizes each person's contribution to the overall goal.
9. Develop ability to act professionally in the work environment.

PH 194/PH 196BH Final: Poster Showcase Presentation

The final for PH 194 and PH 196BH is an in-person poster presentation of the Capstone project or Honors Practicum project at the Poster Showcase. The Poster Showcase is the final step in students culminating research project. It is designed to give students an in-person experience of sharing and discussing work with peers and faculty the same way that is expected of many public health professionals. It is an essential step in preparation for a career in the field of public health and a required final event of this PH 194 Capstone course and the PH 196BH course. 

Attendance to this event is mandatory for all students to pass the course. Students failing to attend will be required to retake the course in a future quarter. 

The final requirement of participating in the Poster Showcase is not merely a formality but a pivotal component of the students’ comprehensive research experience. It is crafted to provide a realistic experience that mirrors the professional expectations placed upon public health professionals. Engaging in this forum allows students to convey and deliberate over their findings with both peers and faculty, fostering a collaborative and scholarly environment. 

This Poster Showcase is indispensable in the academic and professional journey within the public health sphere. It equips students with the vital skills of communication, critical feedback reception, and networking, which are cornerstone abilities in the field. Moreover, it prepares them for the real-world scenario where sharing and defending their research findings is a common practice among public health professionals. The presentation and subsequent question-and-answer session are designed to simulate the professional conferences and symposiums where experts convene to exchange ideas and advance public health knowledge. 

BSPH Program Policy on Maximum Number of Absences

The BSPH Program policy includes that students must attend a minimum of 80% of each Capstone course in the sequence or the Honors Practicum sequence. Students will not pass PH 193/194 or PH 196AH/BH if they miss >20% of classes (for any reason). Regardless of a student's earned grade, any student who has missed more than the allowed number of absences (excused or unexcused) will fail the course and need to retake the course in a future quarter.