Minor for Public Health?

[shm98]

Hi all!

Sorry if this question has been asked before.

I am currently a sophomore nursing student trying to plan for junior year and ahead. I have known for a while now that I would like to pursue a degree in public health, specifically epidemiology. I have taken a global health course and am currently enrolled in an intro to epi course. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to me or make me more competitive when applying to public health schools if I declared a minor. I have some extra room in my schedule the next two years, so I would have the time. I would most likely be minoring in Sociology, as one of my past professors suggested this, and it sounds like a good idea and I will be able to fulfill the requirements. On the flip side though, there are a lot of other classes which could be beneficial to take, but would not lead to a minor. There are some anthropology classes and health economics classes that my professors also recommended.

I guess I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions of which to do. Should I take the variety of classes not leading to a minor, but still being beneficial, or to take the classes focused on one topic and declare a minor?

Any input would be extremely helpful! Thank you!

[klone, MSN, RN]

I'm confused what your plan is. What is your undergrad degree going to be?

[shm98]

I'm sorry, I guess I forgot to mention that. I am currently in a BSN nursing degree program. I also should have mentioned that my college does not have a public health minor or anything of that sort.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I think I would suggest getting your BSN and then going for an MPH. In my experience, minors don't count for much.

If you're wanting to get into epidemiology, then you will probably need to go for a PhD.

[caliotter3]

My school had a health science department, where one found the epi, biostat, and other public health courses. I minored in health science while working on the BSN. Intentions were to go for a MPH. If you can not minor in the subject area, can you continue to take the separate courses? Take as many of the lower division public health/health science courses as possible, and when you have accumulatetd 15-18 units, you will have effectively completed a minor in the subject area. If nothing else, that shows your interest when you apply for the MPH program.

[shm98]

Okay thank you caliotter! I've been trying to look at requirements at other schools for a health science or public health minor and think this may be better than having a title of a Sociology minor. I have already taken two public health courses, so I guess I am on the right track!

[CommunityOB]

If you have time, instead of going for a soc/anthro I would actually suggest a foreign language like Spanish. I think in the long run it would be much more beneficial, especially if you want to work in any kind of international setting