The Minor in Public Health supports students interested in health-related careers or those seeking a health dimension within other career choices. Students in the minor come from biological, social, and behavioral sciences, as well as from health-related academic majors. The minor extends students’ working knowledge of health applications that prepares them to be competitive in the job market and to make advanced degree choices.

Students seeking entry-level positions in health services or non-clinical health agencies and organizations after graduation will find this minor helpful in broadening their understanding of contemporary public health issues. Students in the minor are well positioned for graduate work in specific disciplines like psychology, sociology, social work, public health, health communication, or adult development and aging. The program also provides applied health content and added value to academic degrees of students seeking admission to dental, nursing, medical, pharmacy, physical therapy and other professional schools.

The Minor in Public Health fosters an interdisciplinary perspective of individual and population health. National health priorities in the first decade of the 21st century emphasize interdisciplinary training. As students develop specific healthcare competencies, undergraduate interdisciplinary experiences provide students better flexibility in working across disciplines as well as within their own major.

The Minor in Public Health is awarded only to students completing an undergraduate major at UNC Charlotte. The minor consists of 22 credit hours: 13 hours must come from a set of required courses and nine hours must come from the set of unrestricted electives. Students must have completed the Required Science and Lab course from the University’s General Education Requirements in order to declare the Minor in Public Health. To qualify for the Minor in Public Health upon graduation, students must have a GPA of at least 2.0 in courses applied to the minor. Students are encouraged to take electives outside their major department and college to gain a broader health perspective. Because additions and deletions of courses may be made to correspond to current University offerings, students are encouraged to consult with the Program Coordinator as they plan their schedules.