New generation of students triggers nationwide surge in public health
The popular public health major at Hopkins, one of the oldest in the nation, is following a national upward trend in the creation and expansion as such programs attract globally conscious students looking to make a difference.
The number of declared public health majors jumped from 159 in 1999 to 311 in 2008, according to Jim Goodyear, associate director of undergraduate public health.
Kelly Gebo, director of undergraduate public health, said that this year over 100 seniors will graduate from the program.
Due to the increased number of public health majors, the department will add another advisor this month.
While Hopkins is working to expand its public health program, other schools are working toward creating public health programs of their own.
According to the Washington Post, 137 of the 837 members of Association of American Colleges and Universities now offer majors or minors in the field, and more and more school representatives are attending workshops that will help them develop public health programs.
"Hopkins is one of only a handful of schools that has an undergraduate program in public health studies, though many undergraduate universities are trying to set one up because of growing student interest," Gebo said.
Goodyear is hardly surprised by the recent influx of interest in public health.
"[It] is a natural phenomenon, considering that people from across the spectrum interested in going to medical school and international policies come to Hopkins," Goodyear explained. "Students interested in going to medical school with a broader curriculum encompassing social sciences are attracted to public health studies. As seniors, undergraduates are given to opportunities to study with professors at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, which really gives young people a whole difference sense of themselves and the world."
Public health professors attributed the surge of interest in public health, both nationally and at Hopkins, to a number of reasons, but stressed that this generation of students' increased interest and awareness of global issues is a key motivation for students to pursue a course of study in public health.
The number of declared public health majors jumped from 159 in 1999 to 311 in 2008, according to Jim Goodyear, associate director of undergraduate public health.
Kelly Gebo, director of undergraduate public health, said that this year over 100 seniors will graduate from the program.
Due to the increased number of public health majors, the department will add another advisor this month.
While Hopkins is working to expand its public health program, other schools are working toward creating public health programs of their own.
According to the Washington Post, 137 of the 837 members of Association of American Colleges and Universities now offer majors or minors in the field, and more and more school representatives are attending workshops that will help them develop public health programs.
"Hopkins is one of only a handful of schools that has an undergraduate program in public health studies, though many undergraduate universities are trying to set one up because of growing student interest," Gebo said.
Goodyear is hardly surprised by the recent influx of interest in public health.
"[It] is a natural phenomenon, considering that people from across the spectrum interested in going to medical school and international policies come to Hopkins," Goodyear explained. "Students interested in going to medical school with a broader curriculum encompassing social sciences are attracted to public health studies. As seniors, undergraduates are given to opportunities to study with professors at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, which really gives young people a whole difference sense of themselves and the world."
Public health professors attributed the surge of interest in public health, both nationally and at Hopkins, to a number of reasons, but stressed that this generation of students' increased interest and awareness of global issues is a key motivation for students to pursue a course of study in public health.
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