Public Health

Public Health is dedicated to the protection and improvement of the health of people and communities, rather than individual patients. It focuses on promoting healthy lifestyles, preventing disease and injury, and detecting, preventing, and responding to public health hazards and crises. By addressing health at the population or community level, public health works to reduce risks before problems occur through education, policy development, research, and community-based services. The field encompasses multiple specialty areas that address physical, mental, and environmental health, with a strong emphasis on improving health outcomes for communities and populations most at risk.

Public health is a broad field of study encompassing a wide range of specializations and emphases. Areas of study include: behavioral & social science, biostatistics & bioinformations, community health, environmental health, epidemiology, global health, health policy & management, health promotion & communication, maternal & child health, and minority health & health disparities. 

For more information on public health, check out the American Public Health Association (APHA): What is Public Health?

Public Health Preparation

  • Timeline

  • 1.  Obtain a Bachelor’s degree and complete all pre-public health requirements, including prerequisites, the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) (if applicable), and experiences (4+ years)
    2. Attend an accredited public health graduate program (1-2 years) and earn a Master’s in Public Health (MPH)
    Note: While a Master of Public Health is the most common graduate-level degree, students also have the option of pursuing a Master in Health Administration (MHA), Master of Science (MS), or Master of Health Sciences (MHS)
    3. Work in the field. Public health work is interdisciplinary so public health practitioners can be found anywhere: hospitals, federal & local government agencies, university settings, non profits, research, policy advocacy, educational programming, global health efforts, etc. The most important thing is for students to find how they want to make their impact
    Optional: Students can continue their education and earn either a Doctorates in Public Health (DrPH), Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health (PhD), or a Doctor of Science in Public Health (ScD)

    To learn more about the many various educational pathways in public health, head over to the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)’s webpage on Degrees.

    Upon matriculation into a health professional school or program, there are additional steps students must complete in order to obtain licensure or professional certification. These steps vary by field and by program, and may include board examinations, supervised clinical hours, background checks, or other program-specific milestones. Once you are in your graduate program, your graduate program advisor will provide guidance on the post-graduation next steps.

  • Pre-Requisites
  • Public health programs may not necessarily have a general list of prerequisite courses due to the offering a wide variety of specialities. Prerequisites will depend on the area of study that students are interested in. It is recommended that students check with the schools they are interested in and the specific specialty to see what courses may be required before applying.

    For example, students who are interested in bioinformatics may have to take statistics, calculus, or coding/programming courses while those interested in community health may have to take prerequisites such as sociology.

    HPA recommendations:
    1. Complete all prerequisite courses for a letter grade, not P/NP.
    2. Earn a “C” or higher in all prerequisite coursework. Some programs may require no lower than a B in any of your prerequisite courses.
    3. Maintain a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher. A competitive GPA will likely be higher for most programs.
    4. Pre-public health students can consider taking undergraduate courses offered by the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences and/or minoring in Public Health Sciences with the UC Davis School of Medicine.

    Please note that public health programs do accept community college work in varying degrees, some accept all transferable work, some a certain amount of units, and others accept a very limited amount. If you have any questions about your major, prerequisite courses, or grade/GPA concerns, you are encouraged to make an appointment with one of HPA Staff Advisors.
  • Exam
  • The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) may be required by some public health programs and it is strongly recommended to be taken prior to applying. You can speak with a HPA Staff Advisor about your specific timeline. Check each individual school’s admissions webpage that you are applying to to see if they require it.

    Please note: The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is not a course-dependent test, meaning there are no specific UCD courses you need to take to prepare. The best way is to give yourself time to study the test by buying test prep books or taking a test prep course.

    To learn more about the standardized exam and preparing for it, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Standardized Exams and HPA’s Test Prep Events & Resources.

Applying to Public Health Schools

  • Choosing Schools
  • There are over 1000 public health programs in the U.S. Check out the Association of School and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)'s list of accredited U.S. public health programs.

    There are a variety of factors that go into choosing which public health schools to apply to, including degree awarded, location, environment (i.e. urban), tuition, class size, focus or mission statement, etc. Spend some time researching schools online and create a spreadsheet that tracks the factors most important to you. On average, pre-health profession students apply to 5 to 6 public health schools. HPA also recommends meeting with an advisor to discuss your school list.
  • Application System
  • Applicants typically apply the year before they matriculate into the public health school and Schools of Public Health Application Service (SOPHAS) is a centralized application system that is used by most public health schools. To learn more about SOPHAS, visit the webpage SOPHAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs. Students are encouraged to refer to the SOPHAS Applicant Help Center for additional guidance on how to complete their applications. Some schools will have applicants participate in SOPHAS and will also have applicants complete an application through their own internal graduate school applications, while other programs do not use SOPHAS at all. HPA recommends for applicants to carefully review the application process of each individual school that they are applying to.

    The SOPHAS is open year-round; these dates may vary for schools who are not utilizing the SOPHAS. While SOPHAS stays open year round, participating schools of SOPHAS may have earlier deadline dates, which are the deadlines applicants should be submitting by. These deadlines may also vary by schools or some may admit students on a rolling basis; please check your individual schools for specific dates. If that is the case for your school of choice, be sure to submit your application early, but only when you are ready. Come see an advisor at Health Professions Advising to review your application.
    Not all schools and programs participate in SOPHAS.  If a program does not use SOPHAS, you will need to apply through their graduate school application and will find instructions on the program's website on how to do so.

    Schools and application systems may have specific guidelines about what is considered a completed application, and these components may vary based on the application system and/or individual school. Some examples include but are not limited to submitting the application fee and receiving letters of recommendations and official transcripts. Students are responsible for ensuring their applications are complete, submitted, and verified by the application deadline.

    To learn more about applications and application timeline, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Applications and Application Timelines.
  • Personal Statement
  • The prompt and/or character or word count may vary per year. HPA recommends applicants  begin drafting their personal statement in advance of the application opening. It is very common for applicants to write multiple drafts before they finalize their personal statement. To learn more about approaching personal statements, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Personal Statements.
  • Experiences and Activities

  • Experiences and activities help students learn more about their motivations, interests, and goals, and to explore the field of public health. What you do with your time helps define who you are in your application. Whatever you choose to do, be sure you are dedicated, passionate about it, and understand your motivation for pursuing it. It is important that you balance your co-curricular activities with your academics to ensure you are maintaining strong academic performance while still engaging meaningfully outside the classroom.

    Students who are looking to gain experiences after their undergraduate degree, are welcome to consider some of the common post-grad federal programs like Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, or the CDC’s Public Health Associate Program for Recent Graduates, etc.

    To learn more about experiences and various on- and off-campus opportunities, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Experiences. UC Davis students are also encouraged to subscribe to HPA Today (HPA’s newsletter).

  • Letters of Recommendation

  • Letter of recommendation requirements vary by health professional schools. For many health fields, HPA recommends two lecture-based science instructor recommendations (this excludes research PI), one lecture-based non-science instructor, and additional letters from your co-curricular experiences. This can include a research PI, mentor, volunteer coordinator, professional you shadowed, etc. Your specific school list will determine what letters you may actually need.

    To learn more about the etiquettes for letters of recommendation, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Letters of Recommendations.

  • Supplemental Applications
  • Supplemental applications (or secondaries) may be required for some public health schools and some may not require it. Students should carefully review the application process of the schools they are applying to. Supplemental/secondary applications may include additional fees and/or essays. To learn more about supplemental applications, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Applications.
  • Interviews
  • Interviews may be required for some public health schools and some may not require it. Students should carefully review the application process of the schools they are applying to. To learn more about preparing for interviews, please visit HPA’s Application Preparation tab on Interviews and HPA’s Interview Week.

More questions? Check out the frequently asked questions or schedule an appointment with an advisor.