The School of Allied Health Sciences’ Department of Community and Environmental Health will soon offer a Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) degree beginning fall 2016. The university’s Board of Trustees, the Idaho State Board of Education, approved the new degree program in Sept. 2015.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is shifting the national focus of health care from treatment to prevention and the demand for prevention-focused occupations is rising throughout the healthcare community. The new public health program will focus on individual and population-based prevention factors that impact optimal health.
The BSPH program will seek accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health, an independent accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education. This nationally recognized accreditation will ensure the public health program is of high quality, recognizable, and relevant to Boise State graduates.
The curriculum of the new BSPH program takes advantage of existing academic courses within several disciplines throughout the university, but primarily within the Departments of Kinesiology and Community and Environmental Health in the School of Allied Health Sciences. This integration among programs and academic disciplines will maximize resources and increase capacity in this new degree.
“Accreditation of the BSPH degree will enhance the learning outcomes of the program and better equip graduates for their careers or for graduate school” says Nichole Lasich, a public health faculty member in the Department of Community and Environmental Health. Contact the Department of Community and Environmental Health with questions regarding this new degree.