Bachelor of Public Health

Why study Bachelor of Public Health?

The IIE Bachelor of Public Health is a multidisciplinary and flexible degree that provides students with the opportunity to learn and apply key principles of Public Health leading to a wide range of careers. On completion of the degree future opportunities include application for studies in related fields including for example the Honours in Public Health and the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health.

International cross-campus collaborations, placements and internships expose you to a variety of international staff, students and stakeholders, and mean you gain a global perspective on public health. We also take advantage of local opportunities for collaboration between IIE MSA and partners within the South African community.

In the first year, students will investigate the biological basis of health and disease, health and social care systems and global health. In the second year students will learn for example how to analyse patterns of health and disease. Fieldwork in the third year provides a broad exposure to the public health field that underpin an understanding of health and illness prevention in both individuals and populations.

Successful completion of this programme leads to an IIE qualification.

Career Opportunities

Job market growth in the health, local government, and workplace and education sectors continues unabated. There is a strong demand for multi-skilled programme managers and for prevention promotion workers, particularly to work with vulnerable groups and ageing populations.

Government directions for health programmes in most African countries are now geared for jobs in community settings rather than hospitals, to deal with rising rates of chronic conditions and disease, as the shift from hospital to community based programmes continues. Government and non-government organisations are constantly in need of health policy analysts and policy makers especially as health, social and other policy sectors are expected to develop partnerships and cross-sector partnerships and policies (i.e. transport and health, environments and health).

Careers in the public, private, or non-profit sectors might include:

• Disease prevention and control
• Biostatistics (at entry level)
• Community health work
• Education and teaching (Health Promotion)
• Epidemiology (at entry level)
• Health administration
• Health awareness, policy and promotion
• Nutrition, dietetics and exercise
• Public health project management (including planning, monitoring and evaluation)
• Research