Public Health (PBHL)

An overview of the public health field, including its mission, core functions, and the social, environmental, and behavioral factors that shape population health. Students learn foundational concepts such as health equity, prevention, and the use of basic public health data.

An introduction to epidemiologic principles and methods used to study the distribution and determinants of health events in populations. Students learn core measures, study designs, and basic analytic skills used to interpret epidemiologic data for public health decision making. Prerequisite: STAT 1342

Overview of theories, processes, activities and settings for health education/health promotion practice. Credit may not be obtained in both PBHL 2325 and EDHL 2325.

An informed health consumer is one who purchases health products and services that are useful and beneficial. This consumer is also aware of consumer protection, product safety and services available if dissatisfied with a product or service. Credit may not be obtained in both PBHL 3331 and EDHL 3331.

Introduces principles and practice of environmental public health with emphasis on hazards, exposure pathways, monitoring/surveillance data, policy/regulation, ethics, environmental justice, and systems thinking. Prerequisite: BIOL 2402.

Introduces global burden of disease, determinants of inequities, health systems/Universal Health Care, financing and governance, and evidence-based interventions with ethical partnership and decolonizing global health perspectives. Prerequisite: PBHL 2301.

Acquaints the student with all aspects of community and public health. Designed to prepare students for planning, implementation and evaluation of health education/health promotion programs in community, health care and worksite settings. Credit may not be obtained in both PBHL 3381 and EDHL 3381. Prerequisites: junior standing.

Explore the demographics of the Kingsville area, identify a disease that is prevalent to a local population, assess the resources available, develop a health promotion program and implement the program at a local facility. Credit may not be obtained in both PBHL 4342 and EDHL 4342. Prerequisite: PBHL 3381

Overview of health care systems with emphasis on access, quality, cost, and the role of EHRs and population surveillance in quality improvement and system redesign. Prerequisite: PBHL 2301.

Develops health communication competencies in interpersonal, organizational, and media contexts, emphasizing health literacy, campaign design, and risk/crisis communication. Prerequisite: PBHL 3350.

Public policy and its formation through the interaction of political groups and governmental institutions in selected areas of public policy; relevant comparisons to other national systems. Credit may not be obtained in both PBHL 4363 and POLS 4363. Prerequisite: 6 semester hours of Political Science.

Develops applied skills in data management, analysis, visualization, regression interpretation, and foundational AI/ML literacy for public health practice, with strong emphasis on ethics, bias, and responsible data stewardship. Prerequisite: STAT 1342 and PBHL 2306.

Culminating capstone integrating Public Health competencies into an applied project, professional portfolio, and transition-to-work activities. May be individual or team-based. Prerequisite: PBHL 4342.

Supervised placement programs bridging academic training with professional public health practice. Minimum 120 hours with an approved site. Prerequisite: PBHL 4342.