Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities – including animals and the environment. Public health professionals focus on health promotion and disease prevention by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching chronic or infectious disease causes, or preventing injury. Public health solutions are aimed at protecting the health of an entire population (whereas health sciences degrees are more individual/client focused) by studying how common diseases are, the disease distribution across the population, and risk factors for diseases, and then implementing interventions to the appropriate population. Public health professionals work to address health disparities and promote health care access, quality and accessibility. Public health professionals may implement educational programs, recommend policies, administer services or conduct research. The MU MPH program includes two different emphasis area tracks, health promotion and policy, and veterinary public health.

In 2007, MU’s master’s in public health (MPH) program was established, initially structured as an interdisciplinary graduate program that drew on faculty from multiple colleges and departments. In 2010, the program first received CEPH accreditation. In 2017, the Bachelor of Health Science in Public Health (BHS-PH) degree was formed. In 2019, the Department of Public Health was created to serve as the home for the BHS-PH and MPH degrees.

Today, our programs continue to engage faculty from across campus, and the MU College of Veterinary Medicine remains a close collaborator on the MPH veterinary public health concentration. The Department of Public Health resides within the College of Health Sciences alongside seven other departments/schools: Social Work; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences; Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences; Health Psychology; Health Sciences; Occupational Therapy; and Physical Therapy.

From infant health and safety to the concerns of a rapidly aging population, public health issues are among the most immediate, relevant and growing throughout the world. International travel and commerce, climate change, antibiotic resistance and even geopolitical threats such as terrorism are on the radar of public health professionals no matter where they live. A degree in public health allows you to make a real and lasting impact on the world around you.