Bachelor of Science in Public and One Health (B.S. PAOH)

Solving Global Health Problems Through One Health.

The Public and One Health undergraduate degree program in the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine stands out as a unique public health program that utilizes One Health as its guiding principle.  This holistic approach prepares graduates of the program to proactively devise and implement solutions to pressing local and global health issues.

Careers

There is a strong demand for professionals with bachelor’s-level public health training and this employment demand is projected to increase both regionally and nationally. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the projected change in job placement opportunities for public health professionals over the next decade is expected to grow faster than the national average for other professional fields.

PAOH students may choose various electives depending on interests and career goals. Program graduates may begin working in entry-level careers in public, animal or environmental health. Or if interested in attending medical, veterinary or other professional or graduate programs, all prerequisite academic requirements for those programs can be completed within the credit hours required for this major.

Program Description

By highlighting the One Health concept throughout the curriculum, undergraduate students enrolled in the program will obtain a comprehensive public health education that emphasizes the interconnectedness and mutual interdependency of humans, animals, and the environment. Diverse faculty from multiple scientific fields within the College of Veterinary Medicine and across the Auburn University campus will provide expert instruction to foster deeper insight into organismal and environmental health and how various systems coexist and change together. The program will prepare undergraduate students for success in a variety of introductory public health positions or graduate or professional programs.

While public health focuses on population health and prevention of disease in humans, One Health incorporates the interconnectedness between human, animal and environmental health more broadly, recognizing that human health can only be improved if the health of animals and the ecosystem are concurrently addressed. One Health was founded as a strategy to develop and expand transdisciplinary collaborations across multiple sectors to address complex issues at the human-animal-ecosystem interface. These issues include (but are not limited to) zoonotic and vector-borne disease, food safety, biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, antimicrobial resistance, hunger, and global health issues relating to climate change. The recent introduction and spread of SARS CoV-2 is just one of many serious global health issues requiring immediate attention and is a direct result of environmental disturbance and human interaction with wild animal populations. The Public and One Health undergraduate degree program will educate future health professionals to take a transdisciplinary approach that establishes a conceptual framework of the complex web of factors affecting health.

Students enrolled in the Public and One Health degree program will graduate with an understanding of basic concepts in the following fields:

• Core concepts of public health and population health
• Public health policy and ethics 
• Epidemiology and biostatistics
• Social and behavioral determinants of health
• Global health and comparative health systems
• Science of health and disease
• Microbiology and infectious disease
• Climate change impacts on health
• Environmental health
• Human impacts on ecosystems and wildlife
• Emergencies and disasters

Contact

Email: paoh@auburn.edu
Phone: (334) 844-3717

Frank F. (Skip) Bartol, MS, PhD
Alumni Professor &
Associate Dean
bartoff@auburn.edu

Andrea Perkins, PhD, MPH, CPH
Department of Clinical Sciences
avp0010@auburn.edu

Kelley Steury, DVM, MPH, DACVPM
Department of Pathobiology
kbsteury@auburn.edu

Genta Stanfield M.Ed., Ed.S.
Student Services Coordinator III
Public and One Health Major
gms0008@auburn.edu