Requirements and Curriculum

The minor, open to students in any major, requires the completion of 19 credit hours and a minimum GPA of 2.0 in all required and elective courses.

Required Courses (10 credits)

All courses are 3 credit hours unless otherwise indicated.

  • PUB 101 Introduction to Public Health
  • PUB 340 Introduction to Epidemiology
  • STA 119 Statistical Methods (4 credits)

Elective Courses (9 credits)

Students must take one 200-level public health course (PUB). Current 200-level courses include (3 credits):

  • PUB 210 Global Public Health
  • PUB 220 Behavioral and Social Influences on Health
  • PUB 230 Stress and Population Health

Any two 300-level or 400-level public health (PUB) course numbered PUB 350-480, or choose from of the following options (6 credits):

  • AAS 414 Health Problem in the Black Community
  • AMS 343 Human Ecology
  • BIO 317 Medical Entomology/Parasitology
  • CEP 404 Introduction to the Rehabilitation of Substance Abuse & Addiction
  • COM 380 Health Communication
  • ECO 411 Health Economics
  • END 308 Health and Urban Environments
  • ES 402 Exercise Nutrition
  • ES 428 Health Promotion, Prevention, and Wellness
  • GEO 412 Geography of Health
  • HIS 447 Health and Illness in American History
  • MFC 450 Strategic Planning and Budgeting for Health-Care Departments
  • MFC 451 Human Resources Issues for Health-Care Managers
  • MFC 452 Quality Management in Health Care
  • MGG 493 The Business of Healthcare
  • NTR 401 Nutrition and Health
  • NTR 402 Nutrition in the Life Cycle
  • PSC 314 Public Policy Making
  • PSY 325 Health Psychology
  • PSY 404 Alcohol and Health
  • PSY 323 Community Psychology
  • PSY 412 Psychology of Aggression and Violence
  • SOC 322 Introduction to Medical Sociology
  • SOC 378 Social Inequalities & Health
  • SOC 385 Neighborhoods and Health
  • SOC 422 Advanced Topics in Health & Society
  • SOC 477 Sociology of Health Care
  • SOC 394 Medicine and Health
  • SSC 407 Health Care and the Elderly
  • SSC 413 Addictions Treatment
  • SSC 414 Grant Writing for Non-Profits
  • SSC 420 Child Mental Health
  • SSC 428 Health Law
  • STA 403 Regression Analysis
  • STA 404 Analysis of Variance
Elective Course Petition

For both the lower division and upper division elective courses, a student may petition the program director for permission to count a course not on the approved electives list.

Completing Minor Requirements

The public health minor is a supplement to a major degree and cannot be completed by itself. You must complete the minor before or at the same time as your major. If you do not complete all of the requirements, you will need to drop the minor in order to graduate or postpone graduation to finish the minor.

All requirements must be met to be awarded the public health minor. You are responsible for keeping track of your courses and are encouraged to contact the Office for Academic and Student Affairs (OASA) at sphhp-oasa@buffalo.edu or (716) 829-5000 approximately one year prior to your planned graduation to ensure you are on track to finish all requirements. 

Using Electives to Satisfy both Major and Minor Requirements

Elective courses can be used to satisfy both your major and minor requirements. For example, if you completed PSY 325 Health Psychology to satisfy your psychology major requirement, it will also count towards your public health minor requirement. Additionally, if you have completed a course that satisfies the minor before you were accepted, we will count the course as completed once you have been accepted into the public health minor.