Graduate Minors in Public Health
Minors are open to all Drexel graduate students in all schools and colleges.
The minors are designed to complement student's training by providing basic knowledge in topics outside their primary discipline. In addition this list, additional minors continue to be developed.
For information on our undergraduate minors see Undergraduate Public Health Minors.
Note that some graduate minors are offered fully online. If you are interested in enrolling in any of the minor courses, please contact dsphadvising@drexel.edu.
Table of Contents:
Arts in Public Health
Art reflects the complexity of being human. The graduate minor in Arts in Public Health focuses on the vitality and power of the arts to transform individuals, neighborhoods, communities and societies.
The minor builds on Philadelphia’s renowned commitments to community arts and the growing evidence-base linking creative arts and positive health. Learning how to design and evaluate community-based arts and health initiatives will provide public health students with a valuable toolkit for social change and improving health at every level.
Read a Q+A with current students about the value of the Arts in Public Health minor.
Core courses:
- Arts for Community Health and Wellbeing
- Community-Engaged Practice in Arts and Community Health
Sample electives include:
- Multicultural Competence in Community Health and Prevention
- Interprofessional Collaboration for Urban Health
- Political Activism in the Arts
- Urbanism, Health & the Built Environment
More about the Graduate Minor in Arts in Public Health
Biostatistics
This Biostatistics minor provides a foundation in biostatistics. Students learn the basic tools of biostatistics, including the use of statistical software for both data management and analyses and approaches to verbal and written communication of statistical findings.
Core courses:
- Introduction to Statistical Computing
- Intermediate Biostatistics I
Sample electives include:
- Longitudinal Data Analysis
- Intermediate SAS
- Data Science Using R
- Design & Analysis of Clinical Trials
More about the Graduate Minor in Biostatistics
Environmental and Occupational Health
Students learn how to assess and prevent the adverse health effects of climate change, air and water pollution, and hazards in the built environment and workplace through the Environmental and Occupational Health minor.
Students gain an understanding of the major effects of biological, chemical, and physical agents on human health and safety, including how genetic and socioeconomic factors affect susceptibility to environmental hazards.
Core course: Principles and Practice of Environmental and Occupational Health
Sample electives include:
- Public Health Impacts of Global Climate Change
- Quantitative Risk Analysis for Environmental Health
- Evidence Evaluation for Identification of Environmental Hazards
- Public Health and Disaster Preparedness
More about the Graduate Minor in Environmental and Occupational Health
Global Health
Students in the Global Health minor learn about the determinants of global health, emerging health issues in developing countries, global health ethics, and approaches to health monitoring and evaluation in diverse settings.
Core course: Overview of Issues in Global Health
Sample electives include:
- Global Health Ethics
- Global Issues in Maternal and Child Health
- Public Health Impacts of Global Climate Change
- Monitoring and Evaluation in Global Health Programs and Advocacy
More about the Graduate Minor in Global Health
Health Economics
The Health Economics minor is offered by Dornsife in partnership with Drexel's LeBow College of Business and provides economics-based skills to assess health, healthcare services, policies and interventions.
Core courses: Health Economics I and II
Sample electives include:
- Intro to Econometrics and Data Analysis
- Cost Benefit Analysis for Health Services
- Statistics for Business Analytics
More about the Graduate Minor in Health Economics
Human Health Risk Assessment
The Human Health Risk Assessment minor provides students with the knowledge and skills to assess human health risks from environmental hazards using evidence-based evaluation methods and quantitative risk analyses. Students will have the opportunity to apply risk assessment concepts to individual projects within the program.
Core courses:
- Evidence Evaluation for Identification of Environmental Hazards
- Quantitative Risk Analysis for Environmental Health or Risk Assessment
- Applied Human Health Risk Assessment
Sample electives include:
- Environmental and Occupational Health Policy
- Crisis and Risk Communication in Public Health
- Behavior and Social Change Theories
More about the Graduate Minor in Human Health Risk Assessment
Infectious Disease and Population Health
The Infectious Disease and Population Health minor consists of required coursework in microbiology (microbes and public health), with selectives in public health surveillance, infectious diseases in health care, infectious disease epidemiology, and other related disciplines.
The minor is intended to prepare students to work in a field with a growing need for infectious preventionists in public health, health care, and other nonprofit settings.
Please note that students must earn a B- in EOH 650 to continue in the minor. Three selective classes, EPI 553, EPI 561, and EPI 610, have prerequisites that students should be aware of when choosing their selective. Prerequisite information can be found in the Dornsife School of Public Health course descriptions in the Graduate Catalog.
Core courses:
- Microbes in Public Health Practice I: Overview of Bacterial Pathogens
- Microbes in Public Health Practice II: Overview of Viral and Other Pathogen
Sample selectives include:
- Infection Prevention and Control in the Healthcare Environment
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Public Health Surveillance
More about the Graduate Minor in Infectious Disease and Population Health
Latino/Immigrant Health
The Latino/Immigrant Health minor explores the unique public health needs of immigrant and migrant communities, with an emphasis on Latino immigrants to the United States.
Courses cover health disparities, the public health implications of international migration, theories of immigration and immigrant health, and approaches to improving the health of migrants.
Key methodological and ethical issues related to research and practice are also addressed. Students may intern with organizations that serve immigrants and refugees.
Core courses:
- Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations
- Intersectional Perspectives
- Public Health Practice in and with Latino Communities
- Migration and Health
More about the Graduate Minor in Latino/Immigrant Health
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations have unique health concerns often unrecognized in routine health care and public health practice. The LGBT Health minor focuses on these concerns and the current state of knowledge about LGBT health.
Students will explore research methods used to study sexual and gender minorities and the intersection between sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, race/ethnicity, age and other factors that influence health.
Core courses:
- Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations
- Sexual Orientations and Health
- Genders and Sexes and Health
Sample electives include:
- Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Justice
- Interprofessional Collaboration for Urban Health
- Behavior and Social Change Theories
More about the Graduate Minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Health
Maternal and Child Health
The Maternal and Child Health minor prepares students to improve the health of women, children, adolescents and families.
The program takes a life-course perspective and focuses on areas such as global health, perinatal epidemiology, children and youth with special health care needs, autism spectrum disorders, family-centered maternal and pediatric care, breast feeding, health communication, program evaluation, health disparities, the role of technology in health care, and maternal and child health policy.
Drexel Dornsife has an active and dedicated Maternal and Child Health Program.
Core courses:
- Overview of Maternal and Child Health
- Global Issues in Maternal and Child Health or Maternal & Child Health Policy
Sample electives include:
- Multicultural Competence in Community Health and Prevention
- Perinatal Epidemiology
- Health Disparities: Systemic, Structural, Environmental & Economic
- Healthy Housing & Built Environment
More about the Graduate Minor in Maternal and Child Health
Program Monitoring and Evaluation
The minor in Health Program Monitoring and Evaluation prepares students to develop, improve, and critique public health programs using quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods that can be applied in governmental or non-governmental agencies.
In addition to required courses, students are encouraged to take additional advanced research methods courses and to build practical evaluation experience into their graduate studies by working with faculty on a community-based evaluation.
Core courses:
- Design and Grant Writing for Community Health Programs
- Outcomes and Impact Evaluation
- Process Monitoring and Outcomes Evaluation for Community Health Programs
- Measuring Health
More about the Graduate Minor in Program Monitoring and Evaluation
Public Health Emergency Preparedness
The Public Health Emergency Preparedness minor is designed for students interested in gaining knowledge and skills in the public health aspects of preparing for and responding to emergencies that impact the health of communities.
Core courses:
- Public Health and Disaster Preparedness
- Crisis and Risk Communication in Public Health
Sample electives include:
- Multicultural Competence in Community Health and Prevention
- Public Health Impacts of Global Climate Change
- Introduction to GIS for Public Health
- Epidemiology for Public Health Practice
More about the Graduate Minor in Public Health Emergency Preparedness
Public Health Ethics and History
The Public Health Ethics and History minor emphasizes critical thinking skills in public health history and ethics. For those pursuing an academic career in public health, the minor prepares them to become thought leaders who understand the field's history, ethical controversies, and the ways in which these are influenced by conceptual assumptions, value judgments, and historical events.
For students with an interest in the history and ethics of health professions, the courses can be a foundation for further study in the humanities or other programs that emphasize ethics and policy.
Core courses:
- History of Public Health
- Public Health Ethics
Sample electives include:
- Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Justice
- Perspectives on Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Social Class
- Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations
More about the Graduate Minor in Public Health Ethics and History
Substance Use and Misuse
The Substance Use and Misuse minor focuses on key issues relating to the history, epidemiology, and study of drug use. This includes the examination of drug policies, public health outcomes linked to the use/misuse of legal and illegal drugs and characteristics of marginalized individuals who use.
Students will gain understanding of the economic, cultural, and health-related contexts of drug use, including consideration of intersects between drug use and homelessness, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, mental health, violence, and health disparities.
Core courses:
- Drug Use and Public Health
- Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations
- Qualitative Research in Community Health
- Advanced Topics in Qualitative Analysis & Manuscript Development
More about the Graduate Minor in Substance Use and Misuse
Urban Health
The Urban Health minor introduces students to public health challenges and opportunities in urban areas and draws from the expertise of Dornsife's Urban Health Collaborative.
Courses give students the basic knowledge and skills necessary to describe health in urban areas, understand and analyze the drivers of health, identify and evaluate effective strategies to improve urban health, work with interdisciplinary teams, and communicate about effective urban health determinants and policies with diverse stakeholders.
Core courses:
- Introduction to Urban Health
- Interprofessional Collaboration for Urban Health
Sample electives include:
- Process Monitoring and Outcomes Evaluation for Community Health Programs
- Making Sense of Data
- Public Health Impacts of Global Climate Change
- Urban Inequality and Health: Theory, Evidence, and Action
More about the Graduate Minor in Urban Health
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