Director:
Edith D. Balbach, Community Health
Policy board:
Carol Baffi-Dugan, Director of Health Professions Advising
Professor Donald Wertlieb, Child Development
Associate Professor Harry Bernheim, Biology
Associate Professor David Gute, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Associate Professor Joanne Phillips, Classics
Associate Professor Rosemary C. R. Taylor, Sociology/Community Health
Assistant Professor Richard Glickman-Simon, Tufts University School of
Medicine
Assistant Professor Raymond Hyatt, Friedman School of Nutrition, Science,
and Policy Research
Assistant Professor Gary McKissick, Political Science/Community
Health
Lecturer Linda Sprague Martinez, Internship
Coordinator
Pamela Schoenberg Reider, Program administrator
The Community Health Program, (CHP), established
in 1975, is one of the oldest multidisciplinary programs within the university.
CHP touches on diverse aspects of health and society and encourages students to
explore health issues from a variety of perspectives.
Courses approved to satisfy the CHP major span
many disciplines, including anthropology, nutrition, medicine, classics,
sociology, biology, psychology, history, economics, engineering, philosophy,
political science, and public health. Through courses and fieldwork, CHP
students analyze: 1) the factors that determine health and illness, 2) how
communities define and try to resolve health-related problems, 3) the formation
of health care policy in the United States with a comparative look at other
countries, and 4) the institutions that plan, regulate, and deliver health care
services.
Undergraduate Concentration Requirements
Second Major in Community Health
The major in Community Health offers undergraduates an opportunity to explore
issues surrounding health, health care, community and society. In addition to a
broad academic experience encompassing nine courses, students complete an
180-hour internship for which they receive one academic credit. The major in
Community Health is a second major, which means students complete it in addition
to completing their primary major.
All courses submitted for credit in the major must
be passed with a C- or better, with the exception of the internship. The
internship (Community Health 180) must be passed with a B- or better. In
completing an internship, a Tufts student is representing
Core Requirements
To pursue a second major in community health,
students complete ten courses that encourage a breadth and depth of learning.
There are five required courses:
Community Health 1 Introduction to Community Health
Community Health 2 Health Care in
Community Health/Civil Engineering 54 Fundamentals of Epidemiology
Community Health 180 Internship
Community Health 181 Internship Seminar
The five remaining electives are selected from a
diverse mix of courses. All CHP majors are required to take five electives
across three clusters: science of health, frameworks for understanding health,
and health/health care policy. Students must at least complete one course in
each cluster (see below). At least one of these five courses must be approved as
a research course and at least one must be approved as a comparative or
cross-cultural course. Courses approved for the research and/or cross-cultural
requirements are listed following the description of the clusters.
1. SCIENCE OF HEALTH
One course in the science of health cluster. The sciences
have a particular lens for looking at health issues that focuses on the
biological or technological causes and cures for disease. Although health and
health care result from a complex mix of biological, social, political, and
cultural phenomena, anyone claiming a thorough knowledge of health issues must
have some basic knowledge of the scientific/technological framework for looking
at them. Courses currently approved for CHP credit included in this cluster are:
Anthropology 126 Food, Nutrition and Culture
2. FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING HEALTH
One course in the frameworks for understanding health cluster. In Community
Health 1 and 2 students are introduced to a broad range of health concepts and
health areas. By taking at least one course in this cluster students will have
an opportunity to explore one area in greater depth. Courses currently approved
for CHP credit included in this cluster are:
Anthropology 148 Medical Anthropology
Community Health 183 Religion, Health and Healing
3. HEALTH / HEALTH CARE POLICY
One course in the health/health care policy cluster. The policy environment
controls how resources are distributed and helps to determine how communities
perceive their options. Students need to understand current
Biology 107 Humanitarian Policy and Public Health
CROSS-CULTURAL OR COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF HEALTH
CHP majors are required to take at least one course with a cross-cultural or
comparative focus that encourages understanding health in different cultures or
communities. Courses approved for this requirement fall into two broad
categories: within the
Community Health 55 Race, Ethnicity and Health
International:
Anthropology 126 Food, Nutrition and
Culture
RESEARCH
All CHP majors must complete a major research paper or project. This requirement
can be satisfied by taking a course with a research component, by completing a
research-based fieldwork or independent study focused on health, or by
completing a thesis focused on health issues. The approved courses are:
Anthropology 185 Health, Power and Society in
Students may also petition to have an independent study (conducted under
Community Health 193) or a fieldwork experience (conducted under Community
Health 199) count toward the research requirement if the student's project has a
substantial research component. Such a course will be assigned to a cluster
depending on the topic. Work completed in Sociology 102, Civil and Environmental
Engineering 164, or Community Health 197/198 will similarly be assigned to a
cluster based on the topic of the research.
Students may also petition to have honors theses
or independent studies from their primary major count toward the research
requirement if the project involves research in a health area and a member of
the CHP faculty is on the student's committee. Permission to count such a course
must be obtained in advance. In accordance with university rules, students may
not double count more than half of their primary major credits with their second
major.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: INTERNSHIP
The internship is an integral part of the CHP. For many students, the 180-hour
internship proves to be one of the most valuable learning experiences in the
program, establishing a link between theory and practice. CHP assists students
in finding an internship, and students have considerable latitude in selecting a
placement. Placements have included the Greater Boston Elderly Legal Services,
the Boston Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute, the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health,
Children's Hospital, neighborhood health centers, Public Health AIDS Services,
and the Five City Tobacco Collaborative. In addition to evaluating the progress
of students, site supervisors maintain contact with the CHP internship
coordinator. During the same semester of the internship, students enroll in a
seminar with the Community Health Internship Coordinator. This seminar meets on
the
Combined-Degrees Program
The Community Health Program also offers a combined bachelor's/MPH degrees
program with the Graduate Program in Public Health at Tufts University School of
Medicine. Students who are planning to pursue a career in public health have the
opportunity to complete a portion of their required course work as
undergraduates, leaving them with only eight more courses to complete the MPH
program. Interested students may apply after spring break of their sophomore
year, if they have completed Community Health 1 and 2. This program is only
available to CHP students.
More information may be obtained from the program
office at