It is my perception that Public Health, perhaps the most important field of knowledge to know and apply for oneself, one's family and one's community, is a major that hardly exists and certainly does not thrive at colleges and even high powered research-oriented Universities. It is, somewhat ironically, much more emphasized within community college curricula. As a primary care general internist I encounter a lot of very basic Public Health knowledge (especially applied knowledge) deficiencies in my patients. I despair having the time to overcome this deficit and see my patients in a timely & effective manner. It is why I spend the overwhelming amount of my time documenting the "Patient Instructions" part of the visit in the presence of the patient, a not so bad emphasis in any case. Visits with patients who have some Public (& Population) Health awareness are so much more productive.
Hi Charles! You're correct: there aren't many undergraduate degrees in public health. Many public health professionals study a health-related science in their undergraduate, and then go on to receive a Master's in Public Health. However, some colleges that offer this as a Bachelor's degree include UC Berkeley, Simmons College, University of Washington, UC Irvine and UMass Amherst. Remember, sometimes a major could be called something different: many of these colleges use the term "health policy," or another variation. Good luck!