I’m interested in Emory, but I recently had a shift in interest from Psychology to Public Health. Public Health at Emory is listed as a preprofessional option. Does this mean that there is no undergraduate major for public health from emory?
Pre professional tracks (like pre-med and pre-law) prepare you for a professional degree after your bachelor’s. There’s no designated major for them; your advisor just helps you select certain courses and extracurriculars to make you a desirable applicant. Then, towards the end of your time in undergrad you apply to the appropriate program (in your case public health).
You could probably be a psychology major while still following the public health track.
Does that mean that it isn’t technically a degree? Like, I couldn’t be a Public Health undergrad?
That’s correct, yes. It’s a pathway, not a major.
@ccnaf14 : Very few schools have a public health undergraduate program. I can kind of understand why. For one, a graduate degree has much more leverage to many of the big opportunities in that field. In addition, the graduate programs in it certainly want diverse academic backgrounds and perspectives to bring to what is ultimately a project/research based degree program. Emory does, however, have the human health major which is a solid option for undergraduates interested in healthcare outside of nursing, medicine, or pharmacy:http://s165322.gridserver.com/wordpress/curriculum/ they even have some from public health teach certain courses. You can also gain relevant perspectives from say, the environmental science department. Now-a-days, environmental issues and public health are heavily intertwined and Emory’s ENVS actually offers some degree programs partnered with Rollins: http://envs.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/
*Ultimately there are many ways to gain perspectives and experiences that could lead to a career in public health. You certainly do not need specialized undergraduate training in it (it would not be as beneficial as it would be to have specialized UG training in some other healthcare fields).
For undergraduates, things like public health and business careers are more so built on experiences (internships and projects) than the specific area of the bachelors degree. Emory (and Atlanta) is an excellent place to get this in PH. You can get a degree in whatever and pretty much jump on different projects and opportunities that gain you experience. Keep things like this in mind.