B.S. Degree

What you’ll learn

The Global and Community Health (GCH) B.S. programs serves the needs of students who aspire to a wide range of careers in the science of medicine and direct patient care. Students in the BS programs learn about the biological bases of health and disease, and how biology interacts with social, political, economic, and environmental factors to create patterns of disease in communities and societies. GCH B.S. students choose between two concentrations. Both are compatible with professional training in direct patient care (e.g., medical, dentistry, pharmacy school). The biomedical concentration prepares students whose primary focus is on the biology of disease. The public and community health concentration interweaves the biological and social determinants of health.

Courses

Students in both concentrations take a course in the foundations in global and community health along with introductory courses in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus and statistics. In the upper division, all students take courses in biochemistry, epidemiology and environmental health. Students in the biomedical concentration also take advanced courses in genetics, molecular and cell biology, human physiology, and five quarters of Spanish, culminating in a course in medical Spanish. Students in the public and community health concentration take an introductory physiology course, an advanced course in community health, and elective courses in the biological and social contexts of health. Students in both concentrations also take courses in global and community health communication and complete a capstone course in which they participate in interdisciplinary teams to analyze a contemporary problem in global and community health.

Medical and professional school admissions requirements vary; students should verify that their coursework will satisfy the admissions requirements of the programs to which they plan to apply. 

More information

• B.S. Advising
• Degree Requirements
• B.S. FAQ’s

Learning Objectives 

Students completing requirements for the B.S. in Global and Community Health (GCH) will develop knowledge and competency in five domains, which are shared with the companion B.A. in Global and Community Health (GCH). Although these programs broadly share these same program learning outcomes, the relative emphasis placed on each of these will distinguish the programs. Students who successfully complete the Global and Community Health B.S. will be able to: 

1. describe the biological and environmental contexts of global and community health; 
2. describe the social and cultural contexts of global and community health;
3. describe the institutional and policy contexts of global and community health;
4. apply methods, skills and humanities-informed analysis of global & community health; and, 
5. demonstrate an interdisciplinary understanding of global and community health in practice.