Programs

Biostatistics

Beyond crunching numbers

Understanding disease risks and uncovering health trends requires a lot of data, and biostatisticians make sense of it. Biostatisticians combine insights from biology, mathematics and statistical analysis to look at health data in new ways, sifting meaningful information from useless “noise” and discovering patterns that shape the health of individuals and communities. From analyzing genetics to designing clinical trials to determining racism’s impacts on health, biostatisticians address critical emerging health problems. Alumni go on to work in universities, private research, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and more.

Environmental Health Sciences

A 'one health' approach

From the food we eat to the air we breathe, our environment can help us thrive, or contribute to illness and early death. By identifying toxic chemicals and infectious microorganisms in the world around us, environmental public health professionals protect individual and community health. Students use methods from biology, chemistry, microbiology, toxicology, epidemiology and more to untangle the relationships between and among humans, animals and the environment and explore how those connections contribute to disease. Students learn how environmental risk factors  disproportionately harm vulnerable communities and learn strategies to dismantle inequities. Alumni go on to careers in government — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and Department of Energy – and throughout private industry, academia and nonprofit organizations.

Epidemiology

Disease detectives

COVID-19. Racism. Cancer. HIV. Vexing public health challenges demand answers from epidemiology — the study and analysis of disease distribution, frequency and causes. Decisions like coronavirus closures, tobacco policy and nutrition labeling can’t be made responsibly without epidemiology to back them up. Along with critical skills in disease surveillance, outbreak investigation, molecular epidemiology and research methods, Ohio State epidemiology students gain an understanding of the historical and social context surrounding diseases. Taught by world-class faculty, they examine how social determinants of health — like chronic and infectious illnesses — tend to spread in predictable patterns. Alumni go on to work at research firms, colleges and universities, hospitals and public health agencies. 

Undergraduate Degrees

Interested in preventing illness and premature deaths, enabling people to live healthier, more productive lives and working to eliminate inequities? Public health covers a broad range of issues that contribute to health and well-being – infectious diseases, pollution, access to care, obesity, behavioral choices, racism and more. Our bachelor’s program prepares students to contribute to the public health workforce in a meaningful, impactful way — or to go on to advance their educational journey in public health or other disciplines.

Health Behavior and Health Promotion

Helping people thrive

Obesity. Drug use. Unsafe sex. Why are these health challenges so rampant when we know that much of the burden is preventable? Health behavior and health promotion professionals look at the socioeconomic, environmental and societal factors undermining public health and design strategies to intervene and support healthy choices. Students learn to become change agents for diverse communities, reduce health disparities and promote health. Courses on developing and evaluating programs and policies and preventing disease through behavioral science and community problem solving equip students with the tools to recognize and advance the conditions necessary for healthy living. Alumni find themselves in careers in health education, drug and alcohol misuse prevention, minority health, community relations and more.

Health Services Management and Policy

An impactful, dynamic field

Running hospitals, state health agencies and other institutions requires keeping track of many moving parts and maintaining a focus on the well-being of the people you serve. From organizational behavior and leadership, to information management, to patient access and care, health services management and policy professionals have the power to influence entire systems and communities. Our students learn from passionate and engaged faculty about the factors influencing health care policy, quality and equity, as well as patient safety and health economics. With the U.S. health care system dramatically growing and evolving, and disparities becoming clearer, a wealth of opportunities to transform the  future of health care are available, including in consulting, research, policy analysis, hospital administration and financial management. 

MPH-Program for Experienced Professionals

Our fully online Master of Public Health degree, the MPH Program For Experienced Professionals (MPH-PEP), offers a unique curriculum in population health leadership and management — skills essential for today’s public health and health care leaders. Students graduate with mastery of MPH competencies and specialized skills developed to match the needs of professionals in public health, health care and nonprofit organizations as they serve communities and patients. The unique concentration of specialization courses allows students to dig deeper into specific concepts in leadership, organizational operations, decision-making, cost-effectiveness evaluation and project management. Students will become leaders in public health, health care and community health who can work across sectors to create real change in the populations they serve.

Degree Enhancements

The College of Public Health offers a wide array of opportunities for growth — for public health students, students from other disciplines and life-long learners. We invite you to explore opportunities to enhance your degree, sharpen your skills or learn about something entirely new – something that will provide you with a more complete, nuanced perspective on how public health connects to so much within our world, knowledge that will help you be a powerful force for improving lives in the communities in which you live, learn and work.