Dr. James Goodyear is the academic advisor for all students who have declared public health as their major, either natural or social science. For further information on the options in public health for undergraduates you may visit his office, which is located in Merryman Hall East on the Homewood campus.
To schedule an appointment with Dr. Goodyear you may call Academic Advising at 410-516-8216.
Starting in the academic year of '00-'02 the PHSF will be organizing a Peer Advising program. Contact Lisa Meckley for details.
As a Johns Hopkins undergraduate majoring in the Natural Sciences Option of public health, you will follow a pre-medical curriculum of courses consisting of:
- chemistry
- calculus
- physics
- biology
You will also complete studies of a foreign language, which may be in either French, Spanish, Portuguese or any other foreign language spoken outside Western Europe.
In addition to several required public health courses to be taken at Homewood, you will take a selection of classes at the School of Hygiene & Public Health, located on the East Baltimore campus.
(Here is a listing of the Homewood-JHMI Shuttle Bus schedule.)
The fourth component to the Natural Sciences option is the completion of 30 Humanities and/or Social Science electives, which are offered in a plethora of departments including Psychology, Writing Seminars, Sociology, and History of Science, Medicine and Technology, to name a few.
Freshman Year
- Start off by taking the basic science courses listed on the checklist. During freshman year it is best to take Introductory Chemistry with Lab, Calculus I and II, Introductory Organic Chemistry, and Physics if your sechedule permits it.
- This is also a good time to begin exploring your interests in different subjects by taking some introductory level humanities and social science courses. These courses will also begin to fulfill your H/S distribution requirements.
- In addition, this may be a good time to complete your language requirement. With a growing need for multilingual professionals, you should start taking a language this year and continue through the advanced courses. If, however, you scored above 450 on your SAT II language examination, your language requirement has already been fulfilled.
Sophomore Year
- Continue working on completing the basic science requirements. As a sophomore you will choose between a year of Physics (unless you've already taken it), and a semester each of Biochemistry and Cell Biology along with accompanying labs. Both options have advantages:
Physics allows for more flexibility to take non-science courses, whereas biology prepares you for more upper-level biology courses. You will also take Intermediate Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Lab.
- This year you should take one or two upper-level humanities and/or social science courses so as to begin fulfilling the required 15 upper-level H/S distribution credits. If you start in the spring of this year, you can average one upper-level H/S course per semester until graduation.
- Now is the time to consider studying abroad! Junior year is the most popular time for going abroad, which requires planning during the sophomore year. For more information on study Abroad consult the pamphlet on Public Health and Study Abroad located in Dr. Goodyear's office, and speak with the Study Abroad Coordinator,
Dr. Ruth Aranow, in Academic Advising.
Junior Year
- You will probably need to complete either biology or physics. Plan carefully to avoid schedule conflicts both at Homewood and at SHPH.*
- Keep pursuing the upper-level H/S courses each semester.
- Take Epidemiology on the Homewood campus in the spring.
Since much of public health is based upon principles of epidemiology, this class provides you with a valuable and essential public health tool.
- Consider finishing the statistics requirement, if you have not already done so. There are several options of statistics courses available to fulfill this requirement. Consult the Checklist for more details.
- Start your coursework at SHPH! Both Biological Basis of Public Health (1st quarter) and Environmental Health (2nd quarter) are required, so try to take at least one class this year.
If time and space permits, start taking elective credits at SHPH. You eventually need to complete 14 units of elective coursework at SHPH.
* Classes at SHPH are on a M/W/F or T/Th schedule which is not synchronized with Homewood's M/T/W or Th/F schedule. Also, SHPH is on a quarter basis, so one unit there equals 2/4 of a Homewood credit.
Senior Year
- It is time to graduate!
- Meet with your Public Health advisor and make sure you know which courses you still need to take in order to meet graduation requirements.
- If you have the time, make sure you explore classes that you have always wanted to take or seek out a research, internship, or volunteer experience that builds your resume. This will make your college experience all the more valuable.
- Hopefully post-grad goals are formulated by now and you have a plan to achieve these goals.
The course checklist corresponding to the Social Science Option of the public health major will be forthcoming.
Please check back soon, or you may contact Academic Advising.
The Social Science Option of public health is one of the most flexible majors at Johns Hopkins. There are only four required courses:
- Calculus
- Physiology
- Statistics
- Epidemiology
There is also a foreign language requirement. Instead of having many required courses, the option consists of two concentrations, one at Homewood and one at the School of Hygiene & Public Health, located on the East Baltimore campus.
At Homewood, an S&BS major must choose one department - Anthropology, Economics, Psychology, or Sociology as an area of concentration. A minimum of five courses at 300 level or above are required in this concentration.
At SHPH, a S&BS student also selects one department as the second concentration. The options include: Health Policy and Management, International Health, Population & Family Health Services, or Mental Hygiene.
There is no schema of concentrations that present itself as a "standard option" for this major. The S&BS Option is a mix and match major - students use it to find what is right for themselves. For example, someone interested in policy development might concentrate in Sociology and then take courses such as Health, Poverty, & Public Policy in the Department of Health Policy and Management. On the other hand, a student wishing to attend business school could concentrate in Economics and then take courses like Organization, Financing & Delivering of Health Services. These are, however, only two combinations of the many possibilities available to an S&BS major.
Freshman Year
- Begin exploring the introductory-level social science courses.
The 50 credits of social sciences that you will take over the next four years constitute the core of the major. A maximum of 29 credits can be introductory-level, which provides plenty of room to try out different departments including, but not limited to anthropology, psychology, economics and sociology. As you take these introductory-level courses, think of which of the four departments listed above you wish to focus your 15 credits of upper-level (s) credits.
- This may be a good time to complete your language requirement. With a growing need for multilingual professionals, you should start taking a language this year and continue through the advanced courses. If, however, you scored above 450 on your SAT II language examination, your language requirement has already been fulfilled.
- Consider finishing the statistics requirement, if you have not already done so. There are several options of statistics courses available to fulfill this requirement. Consult the Checklist for more details.
- Don't forget about your distribution requirements! 40 credits of H, N, Q and/or E are required. These include Physiology, which is offered in the spring semester and Calculus I. Pace these requirements over the next four years.
Sophomore Year
- Start taking upper-level social science courses.
The major requires a minimum of 21 upper-level credits of which 15 have to be in Anthropology, Psychology, Economics or Sociology. By starting these courses during your sophomore year, you can average one upper-level course in your department of concentration per semester until graduation.
- Be sure to fulfill your Statistics and Calculus requirements if you haven't already done so.
- Now is the time to consider studying abroad! Junior year is the most popular time for going abroad, which requires planning during the sophomore year. For more information on study Abroad consult the pamphlet on Public Health and Study Abroad located in Dr. Goodyear's office, and speak with the Study Abroad Coordinator,
Dr. Ruth Aranow, in Academic Advising.
Junior Year
- Start your coursework at SHPH.
No specific courses are required, but you must take an equivalent of 15 Homewood credits (approximately 23 SHPH units) in one of the following departments:
Health Policy and Management, International Health, Mental Hygiene, or Population & Family Health Sciences.*
- Take Epidemiology on the Homewood campus in the spring.
Since much of public health is based upon principles of epidemiology, this class provides you with a valuable and essential public health tool.
- Fulfill the physiology requirement if you haven't done so already.
Your options are Introduction to Physiology offered on the Homewood campus or Fundamentals of Human Physiology at SHPH (2nd quarter).
Physiology at SHPH covers the same material as the Homewood course, but in half the time. If you have not had any physiology before, the Homewood course may be more suitable for you.
* Classes at SHPH are on a M/W/F or T/Th schedule which is not synchronized with Homewood's M/T/W or Th/F schedule. Also, SHPH is on a quarter basis, so one unit there equals 2/4 of a Homewood credit.
Senior Year
- It is time to graduate!
- Meet with your Public Health advisor and make sure you know which courses you still need to take in order to meet graduation requirements.
- If you have the time, make sure you explore classes that you have always wanted to take or seek out a research, internship, or volunteer experience that builds your resume. This will make your college experience all the more valuable.
- Hopefully post-grad goals are formulated by now and you have a plan to achieve these goals.
An exciting way to become exposed to public health here at Hopkins is through Intersession. At Homewood, two courses, Topics in Public Health and Issues in International Health, are offered in January.
Each gives an overview of popular public health issues through presentations by various public health professionals, readings and discussions.
This is definitely a unique opportunity not to be missed, so keep a look out for registration dates in November!
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