Columbia University Public Health Programs: Shaping a Healthier Future
Public health is integral to a civil society. Some of society’s most pressing problems-gun violence, the opioid epidemic, climate change, obesity, mass incarceration, health and healthcare inequalities across the globe-concern public health. These complex problems and the emergence of novel challenges in the future demand a nimble application of public health knowledge and principles, leveraging the foundations of a liberal arts education in order to achieve solutions. Viable solutions will require cross-sector collaborations and systems-level, policy, and environmental action that will affect the social, political, and economic determinants of health. Necessary for leaders to solve these types of societal problems is a broad set of fundamental set of skills. Columbia University offers a range of public health programs designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to address these challenges and improve population health outcomes.
Undergraduate Special Program in Public Health
The special program in public health is intended to be a secondary emphasis of study that complements the disciplinary specialization of a major. The goal for the undergraduate special program in public health is to foster critical understanding and analysis of the multiple ways in which population health both shapes and is shaped by civil society, complementing the foundation created by the Core curriculum. At the heart of the special program in public health are historical and contemporary issues in population health in the context of an increasingly connected, global, urban, aging, and inequitable world.
The required courses create a rich intellectual foundation in public health, providing students with a multifaceted view of the social production of health, as well as an integrated exposure to and understanding of the core disciplines of public health. Together, they serve to illuminate and allow students to analyze critically the social production of health and its connections with and implications for civil society.
Elective Courses
Elective courses (minimum of 9 points) in the Special Program in Public Health will allow students to draw upon courses offered in a wide range of departments and centers across the University. Examples of departments with relevant elective courses include: African American Studies; Comparative Literature and Society; The Center for Ethnicity and Race; Earth and Environmental Sciences; Economics; Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology; History; Human Rights; History of South East Asia; Political Science; Psychology; Sociology; Statistics; Sustainable Development; Women’s Studies; Urban Studies. Elective courses are designed to allow students to add dimension and depth to their interests in public health, along the main themes of the Special Program. Electives may also allow students to amplify the connections to public health in their major area of study.
Key Courses in the Undergraduate Program
- PUBH UN3100 FUNDAMENTALS OF GLOBAL HEALTH: Many of the greatest challenges in public health are global. This course uses a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the major underlying determinants of poor health and the relationship between health and political, social and economic development. Drawing upon the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, students will be introduced to the evolution of modern approaches to the setting of global health priorities, the functions and roles of health systems, an overview of current global health practices, and the major institutional players in global health. The first unit of the class will focus on establishing the foundations for a public health approach to understanding the challenges of global health. This will involve exploration of the factors shaping the global distribution of disease and their connection with issues of social, economic, and political development, as reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The second unit will explore in further detail a number of major health priorities. A significant goal of the class will be to identify common sources of vulnerability and challenge across health risks, and the consequent need for a systemic approach to their being addressed. The third and final unit builds upon this analysis to demonstrate the multi-disciplinary, multi-level approach required to effectively address global health priorities, and the political and organizational cooperation required to achieve this. The class concludes with an analysis of the major challenges and threats to global coordination regarding such threats as pandemic influenza and emerging health threats related to climate change.
- PUBH UN3200 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HEALTH: An introduction to and overview of public health. Through a series of sessions with leading public health experts, this course views the multifaceted nature of public health through a prismic lens addressing key concepts, approaches, and issues of historical and contemporary import: What is public health and how has public health evolved over time? What are the core methods of public health? What are the approaches to understanding and addressing both infectious and chronic, non-communicable diseases? What role do micro- and macro-level determinants (i.e. biology and social context) play in public health? What are the global trends in population health? How does the individual life course bear on population health? How do systems, policy, and population health mutually shape each other? How are public health programs designed and evaluated?
- PUBH UN3400 Data Science and Health Equity in New York City: This course, which has no pre-requisites, teaches students about data science and public health. Students will create and answer public health research questions related to health equity in NYC. The course will use publicly available NYC health data to learn the seven steps of data science: 1) writing a research question; 2) obtaining data to address the question; 3) data cleaning; 4) data exploration; (5) analysis; 6) replication and validity evaluation; and 7) presentation and summary.
- PUBH GU4100 (Y)OUR LONGER LIFE: People are living 30 years longer than we did 100 years ago. We have created a whole new stage of life. How do we prepare to benefit from our longer lives? What can you do in your own life? This course explores the personal, population, community, and societal dimensions of our now-longer lives, of aging itself, and the role of health and societal design in the experience of aging. The course examines the meaning of aging and the attendant expectations, myths, fears, and realities. The course examines an aging society as a public health success, the potential for building health futures, the health plan you want to be healthy in old age, and the potential for longer lives and how we unlock it. It addresses the roles public health currently plays and can play in shaping a society for an aging population. The course explores how a public health system-indeed, a society-optimized for an aging population stands to benefit all. The course also examines the physical, cognitive, and psychological aspects of aging, the exposures across our lives that affect these, the attributes and challenges of aging, keys to successful aging, and aging around the globe. The culminating project will design elements of our society that are needed to support the opportunity of having longer lives. This course comprises lectures, class discussions, individual assignments, in-class case activities, and a group project in which students shall take an active role. You will be responsible for regular preparatory assignments, writing assignments, one group project, and attending course sessions.
- PUBH GU4200 Environment, Health, and Justice: Concepts and Practice: Please note: this class was designed as part of the Special Concentration in Public Health. It is open to undergraduates, as well as students in Public Health, and will be taught on the Morningside campus. This course introduces key concepts on environmental health sciences and environmental justice and their application to address environmental health disparities affecting communities in New York City, across the United States and globally. The course will present theory and methods needed to characterize, understand and intervene on environmental health problems with a focus on methods that are particularly appropriate for environmental justice research and interventions.
- Public Health: The purpose of this course is to provide students with an historical understanding of the role public health has played in American history. The underlying assumptions are that disease, and the ways we define disease, are simultaneously reflections of social and cultural values, as well as important factors in shaping those values. Also, it is maintained that the environments that we build determine the ways we live and die. The dread infectious and acute diseases in the nineteenth century, the chronic, degenerative conditions of the twentieth and the new, vaguely understood conditions rooted in a changing chemical and human-made environment are emblematic of the societies we created. Among the questions that will be addressed are: How does the health status of Americans reflect and shape our history? How do ideas about health reflect broader attitudes and values in American history and culture? How does the American experience with pain, disability, and disease affect our actions and lives? What are the responsibilities of the state and of the individual in preserving health?
Public Health Certificate Programs
The Public Health Certificate programs form an integral part of the two-year Columbia MPH degree experience and provide students with advanced training in a focused area of public health beyond the departmental discipline. Certificates lead to a Columbia University approved credential. The 20+ available Certificate programs in public health have been developed in consultation with industry employers and other key stakeholders to reflect today’s most sought-after knowledge and skillsets. Most Certificate-related coursework takes place from the second to fourth semesters. However, some Certificate-specific, non-credit sessions and special events are held during the first and second semesters. Please visit the individual public health certificate pages to view some of the sample courses offered for the Certificate. Most students apply to a Certificate as part of the process for applying to the School. Most Certificates are open to students across the School. However, Certificate switches are not guaranteed after the Fall semester Open-Enrollment period has concluded. Some have admissions requirements related to prior coursework or test scores. Students can refer to the individual webpages (to the left) for each Certificate to learn more about the specific admissions criteria. Additionally, some Certificates have financial and academic implications. Visit the MPH Course Requirements for more information about courses, scheduling, and contacts. The Certificate courses are included within the flat tuition model.
Read also: Columbia University Legacy
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Founded in 1922 as the DeLamar Institute of Public Health, it is one of the oldest public health schools in the United States. It became an official school within Columbia University in 1945. The school was renamed the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health in 1999.
Key Departments and Centers
The school is home to numerous research centers, including the Center for Infection and Immunity, ICAP, the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, and more.
- Center for Infection and Immunity (CII): The Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) is one of the world's largest and most advanced academic centers focused on microbial surveillance, discovery, and diagnosis. CII is directed by W. Ian Lipkin, MD, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and Professor of Neurology and Pathology who has been named the "World’s Most Celebrated Virus Hunter" due to his speed and innovative methods of identifying new viruses. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 to 60 CII researchers began collaborating with researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in China.
- ICAP at Columbia University: ICAP at Columbia University is a leader in global public health, internationally known for tackling the world's toughest health challenges-from HIV to tuberculosis, from malaria to maternal and child health, and the growing problem of non-communicable diseases, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic-in more than 40 countries. As a result of ICAP's support, 40.5 million people have been tested for HIV and 2.6 million have received HIV care in ICAP-supported health facilities. At its start, ICAP was led by Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, University Professor, and Dr. Robert N.
- Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center: Columbia University's Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center is a university-wide hub for aging science and policy. The Columbia Aging Center houses the International Longevity Center USA (ILC-USA), and it is the current home of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG). The ILC-USA is a member of the global consortium of ILCs devoted to the development of policies, awareness campaigns and interventions at the individual and societal level to best respond to populating aging and support longevity.
Historical Milestones
- 1922: Founded as the DeLamar Institute of Public Health.
- 1945: Became an official school within Columbia University, changing its designation from "Institute of Public Health" to "School of Public Health."
- 1967: The nation's first Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program was established with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.
- 1999: The school was renamed the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health.
- 2011: The School established the Climate and Health Program to foster cross-disciplinary, translational scholarship on the human health dimensions of climate change.
Accessing Course Information
Beginning in Spring 2025, students will use Vergil Course Search to find all current and active courses for past and upcoming semesters. Vergil offers a variety of filters and in-directory tools to help students efficiently navigate and find the most comprehensive course information. Once logged in with a UNI account, Vergil will prompt a course search for the most current semester. To change the semester you are viewing, select the year and semester on the upper-right hand side of the screen. Now, you can specify your search further by using the “Departments”, “Subjects”, or “Subterms” fields.
Read also: Opportunities at Columbia University
Read also: Paying for Columbia
tags: #columbia #university #public #health #programs
