Public Health & Society is the newest interdisciplinary cross-school undergraduate course of study in Arts & Sciences (A&S) at WashU. We currently offer a minor, but in fall of 2025 we will be offering a major. Embarking on an undergraduate journey in in Public Health & Society (PH&S) offers students a new and exciting opportunity to become pioneers in shaping a healthier, more equitable world.
Public health is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to protecting and improving the health and well-being of communities and populations. It encompasses a wide range of activities, from disease prevention and health promotion to health policy and environmental health advocacy. However, there is so much more to public health than this definition suggests. Public health also is about business, medicine, water, crime prevention, housing policy, climate change, transportation, civil rights, politics, music, how we sleep (and who we sleep with), agriculture, nutrition, dogs and cats, migration, war, the microbes inside us and around us, and the health of the planet itself. And we’ve not even scratched the surface of what public health and health-related professionals actually do. It may seem overwhelming. How can you prepare yourself for this dizzying array of possibilities and interconnected issues? At their heart, the skills needed to become an innovator in public health and health-related issues are ones learned through an A&S degree at WashU.
Why? Because of the ampersand. A broad-based A&S education at WashU cultivates critical thinking and comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analytical skills, encourages students to engage in complex team-based problem-solving, fosters excellent communication abilities, and develops an ability to analyze situations from multiple perspectives. These skills are invaluable in all health-related fields, where professionals must interpret diverse data, understand multifaceted health issues, devise effective solutions based on interdisciplinary knowledge, and communicate complex information to a wide range of audiences. Vitally, the versatility and breadth of an A&S education offers a well-rounded understanding of the complicated and interconnected historical, social, cultural, and environmental factors influencing public health and health-related issues. A comprehensive perspective on the social determinants of health, the impact of policy on health outcomes, and the role of the environment on population health is crucial for health professionals, businesses, and policy makers who must navigate and address these factors as they implement effective health strategies and interventions.
An A&S degree in PH&S lays a strong foundation for students aspiring to pursue a career in public health- and health-related fields including medicine, business, government, non-profit advocacy, and policy. The ampersand connects the intellectual skills of an A&S degree with professional training from and with public health professionals. PH&S at WashU is a new program, and we invite you to grow with us on a journey that will take you as far as you want to go.
