Making a Difference
Most students enter public health because they want to make a difference and contribute to healthier communities and populations, develop more effective programs and policies, or conduct public health research that can lead to better health. The CUNY School of Public Health offers these opportunities and more. Students complete an interdisciplinary curriculum, designed to provide both theoretical and practical approaches to assessing and monitoring the health of populations at risk for disease; assuring that communities have access to appropriate and effective public health and health care services; and developing policies to promote health and prevent disease. All students learn from their classmates whose diverse academic, professional and personal backgrounds bring New York City and the world into every classroom.
Each student gains a foundation in core public health disciplines, as well as choosing a specialization area. Field placements with more than 100 organizations provide students with an opportunity to work on just about any health problem, with any population, in any setting they seek. Graduates work with diverse populations in a variety of settings in government, non-profit organizations, businesses and communities to create and sustain healthier communities in New York City and beyond.
Why CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College
Mission of the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College
The City University of New York School of Public Health carries out teaching, research and service to create and sustain a healthier New York City and to promote equitable, efficient, evidence-based solutions to pressing health problems facing urban populations around the world.
The school uses the resources of the nation’s largest and most diverse urban university and of New York City, a global city that faces many of the world’s most serious health problems yet also serves as a cradle of public health innovation. The school seeks to create new models of public health education, research and practice. To engage in innovative, interdisciplinary, multi-level work in diverse communities in New York City and elsewhere, the school brings together students and faculty from throughout CUNY’s academic and professional programs with practitioners, researchers, activists, community residents and policymakers from many sectors. Informed by the values of public health, social justice and democracy, the school seeks to become a platform for collaboration to:
To realize its mission, the school works with communities, nonprofit and private organizations and government at all levels to build capacities and create the conditions necessary for people to lead healthier lives. The goal of these activities is to improve the health of communities in New York City and elsewhere.
During its first decade, the school will focus its teaching, research and service to contribute to realizing four broad interrelated goals that reflect major health challenges in the current era:
