Public Health

Welcome to the Public Health Program!

Public Health includes a wide variety of activities. Traditional public health includes population-based initiatives to track and monitor the spread of disease, screen for disease, provide preventative services, like vaccinations, reach vulnerable and underserved groups, and communicate health information to small and large audiences. Public health can be administered through large-scale initiatives or to small target audiences. Even clinical services improve public health through evidence-based research and practice. Lastly, policy can shape and reinforce public health programs through intentional health-based interventions and broad social policy alike. The American Public Health Association (APHA) calls this “health in all policies”. A bachelor’s degree in Public Health at UMBC can prepare you for all of this and more!

Collage of pictures showing students and faculty in UMBC Public Health at events, classrooms, and research presentations.
Learn, connect, and grow with UMBC Public Health

Follow us on myUMBC Public Health Majors and Minors  (current students only), and on Instagram @umbcpublichealth.

 

students with Dr. Freeman Hwabowski
2022 Public Health Interns presenting their work to UMBC’s former President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski!

The Public Health program offers a 49-credit BA major and an 18-credit minor. We are also home to several student organizations. Public Health faculty are highly engaged in research and students are encouraged to get involved with faculty research. Talk to your professors and advisor about research opportunities in the Program and around campus. Public Health students come to UMBC from a diverse set of backgrounds, and this diversity provides for a rich university experience.

Many Public Health majors go directly into the workforce after graduation. Students have gone on to work in the non-clinical medical setting in hospitals and care facilities, government organizations, nonprofit organizations, research organizations, and private healthcare-related jobs. Frequently these positions are the result of the required internship. Many students also go on to pursue graduate degrees in health administration, health policy, and public health. Students also combine their bachelors degree in Public Health with clinical degrees like nursing, PA, PT, and MD.

The UMBC Public Health program also offers a Public Health minor that can be a rewarding complement for many majors, such as Biology, Emergency Health Services, Information Technology, Psychology, and Political Science, among others.

 

Alumni Spotlights

Sam Saxena Alumni Spotlight
Sam Saxena, MPH CHES®(2015) is the Sexual Health Program Coordinator at CommUnityCare Health Centers in Austin, Texas. Sam helps to oversee awarded grants and implement programs and policies clinic-wide that promote sexual health and wellbeing.
Iman Adegbuyi Alumni Spotlight
Imani Adegbuyi, MHA, (2017) is the Director of School-Based Health at Henry Ford Health System. Henry Ford Health System’s School-Based and Community Health Program provides primary care and behavioral health services to children ages 5-21 regardless of health insurance coverage or ability to pay.
Kavita Kumar
Kavita Kumar (2019) is a Health Care Analyst at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA’s Quality Solutions Group provides consulting services to government and private sector clients looking to develop or implement health care quality measures, transform patient-centered practice, and innovate approaches to assist vulnerable populations.
Olivia Hardy Alumni Spotlight
Olivia Hardy (2020) is Special Assistant to the Baltimore City Commissioner of Health, where she is responsible for high level coordination and administrative functions for the department. The Baltimore City Health Department is the primary public health agency for the City of Baltimore.
Aisha Chisti Alumni Spotlight
Aisha Chishti, MHS, PA-C earned her Public Health degree from UMBC in 2021 and her Master of Health Science in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 2025. She is now practicing in trauma and acute care surgery.
Ester Weir Alumni Spotlight
Ester Weir graduated from UMBC with her BA in public health in 2022. She interned on the health care team at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) during her time at UMBC, working on a report examining intensive mental health care services for veterans living in rural areas. She is now a health policy analyst at GAO, and and has worked on multiple reports ranging from clinical comparative effectiveness research to VA healthcare.

Our Graduates are Employed with: CMS, CDC, IMPAQ, HRSA, State and Local Health Departments, Booz Allen Hamilton, USAID, NIH, Johns Hopkins Hospital, CareFirst, DHHS, MedStar, US DOJ, Erickson, Mercy Medical Center, The Hilltop Institute, NORC, Signant Health, and many more.

 

Public Health students at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland
Public Health Students visiting the UN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Public Health students are able to apply for an accelerated BA/MA in Applied Sociology and an accelerated BA/MPP in Public Policy within the respective graduate programs.

Accelerated programs allow a student to take graduate level courses as an undergraduate, and count three to four classes toward both the undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students may also be interested in number of undergraduate certificate programs, such as the Social Dimensions of Health Certificate or the Health IT Certificate. Talk to you advisor about these and other programs that can complement your Public Health BA at UMBC.

You can also refer to the UMBC Undergraduate Catalog for further information about the academic program and course descriptions for the Public Health Major.