Bachelor of Science with a Major in Public Health, Pre-Health Concentration

Program Director: E. Gray

The bachelor of science with a major in public health degree program provides students with technical detail and analytic skills with a liberal arts philosophical base. It has the educational objectives of nurturing critical thinking, analysis, synthesis of information, and recognizing the historical and societal associations of current trends in public health and healthcare delivery. While nurturing students’ capacity to think analytically and creatively, the program strives to deepen students' commitment to improving the public’s health.

Students in the public health program may select the premedical professional concentration or the pre-health concentration. The public health program also may be taken without a concentration.

Visit the program website for additional information.

Information on the admission process is available on the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Applications may be submitted via the Common Application.

Supporting documents not submitted online should be mailed to:

Office of Undergraduate Admissions
The George Washington University
800 21st Street NW, Suite 100
Washington, DC 20052

Contact for questions:
gwadm@gwu.edu or 202-994-6040

The following requirements must be fulfilled: 120 credits, including 34 credits in required public health core courses and 12 credits in guided public health electives.

University General Education Requirement

See BS in public health curriculum requirements for information about fulfilling the University General Requirement.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required
PUBH 1010	First-Year Experience in Public Health
PUBH 1101	Introduction to Public Health and Health Services
PUBH 2110	Public Health Biology
PUBH 2112	Principles of Health Education and Health Promotion
PUBH 2140	Foundations of Research Methods
PUBH 2142	Introduction to Biostatistics for Public Health
PUBH 3130	Health Services Management and Economics
PUBH 3131	Epidemiology
PUBH 3132	Health and Environment
PUBH 3133	Global Health and Development
PUBH 3135W	Health Policy
PUBH 4140W	Senior Seminar
Guided electives
12 credits in pre-approved elective courses. *

 *See the list of preapproved guided electives for the BS in public health program.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Pre-health concentration requirements
Students select a specific pre-health professional track and must complete all required core courses and their track-specific required courses.
Students should meet with GW pre-health advising for assistance in planning out their requirements and preparing for graduate programs in a pre-health field.
Required core courses
BISC 1111	Introductory Biology: Cells and Molecules
BISC 1112	Introductory Biology: The Biology of Organisms
BISC 2336 & BISC 2337	Introductory Microbiology and Introductory Microbiology Laboratory
CHEM 1111	General Chemistry I
CHEM 1112	General Chemistry II
EXNS 2210	Applied Anatomy and Physiology I
EXNS 2211	Applied Anatomy and Physiology II
MATH 1220	Calculus with Precalculus I
or MATH 1221	Calculus with Precalculus II
or MATH 1231	Single-Variable Calculus I
or MATH 1232	Single-Variable Calculus II
PSYC 1001	General Psychology
Required track-specific courses
Students interested in a pre-health professional track not listed here should work with the pre-health advising office to identify appropriate coursework for that discipline
Pre-nursing track (12 credits)
EXNS 2119	Introduction to Nutrition Science
PUBH 3151W	Current Issues in Bioethics
or HSCI 2105	Current Issues in Bioethics
PSYC 2013	Developmental Psychology
SOC 1001	Introduction to Sociology
Pre-physician assistant (PA) track (15 to 16 credits)
BISC 2207 & BISC 2208	Genetics and Genetics Laboratory
or BISC 2202	Cell Biology
or BISC 3212	Immunology
BISC 3165	Biochemistry I
or CHEM 3165	Biochemistry I
or BISC 3261	Introductory Medical Biochemistry
CHEM 2151 & CHEM 2153	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
CHEM 2152 & CHEM 2154	Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
Pre-physical therapy (PT) track (11 credits)
PHYS 1011	General Physics I
or PHYS 1021	University Physics I
or PHYS 1025	University Physics I with Biological Applications
PHYS 1012	General Physics II
or PHYS 1022	University Physics II
or PHYS 1026	University Physics II with Biological Applications
PSYC 2013	Developmental Psychology
Pre-dentistry track (22 to 23 credits)
BISC 2207 & BISC 2208	Genetics and Genetics Laboratory
or BISC 2202	Cell Biology
or BISC 3212	Immunology
BISC 3165	Biochemistry I
or BISC 3261	Introductory Medical Biochemistry
or CHEM 3165	Biochemistry I
CHEM 2151 & CHEM 2153	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
CHEM 2152 & CHEM 2154	Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
PHYS 1011	General Physics I
or PHYS 1021	University Physics I
or PHYS 1025	University Physics I with Biological Applications
PHYS 1012	General Physics II
or PHYS 1022	University Physics II
or PHYS 1026	University Physics II with Biological Applications

The School of Public Health's program guide provides additional guidance to assist in choosing selective courses based on common pre-health fields of interest.

All students must comply with policies and procedures outlined in the University Regulations, GWSPH Regulations, and the BS in public health program guide available from the school. Students should pay special attention to SPH requirements for completing human subjects research training, completing eight hours of professional enhancement activities, and passing the academic integrity quiz.