Eckerd College launches graduate school pathway for public health with USF – News

“The liberal arts education is grounded in looking at the big problem from multiple perspectives with equity and curiosity at the center, and that provides such a great foundation for going into public health,” says Robinson.

The COVID-19 pandemic, Robinson adds, has added fuel to students’ interest in how health intersects with policy, culture and society.

Naomi Herbst, a senior from Chicago, Illinois, is studying psychology and minoring in public health and human development. When she took an introductory public health course at Eckerd, her career goals changed trajectory. She gained hands-on experience during a Winter Term trip to Puerto Rico and a nonprofit fellowship in Uganda.

Now, Naomi is interested in being a social worker in a hospital. The automatic admission into the USF master’s program is relieving, she says, because she has a guaranteed place to continue her studies.

Bella Cotter, a senior from Clinton, Massachusetts, studying international and global affairs and Spanish in addition to public health and economic minors, is interested in the pathway to USF. Bella is interested in international human rights, access to food, housing and resources, and human health. Public health was the missing piece in what she wants to do, Bella says.

“Public health has always been woven through the Eckerd mission in its commitment to service, social responsibility, sustainability, global learning, and improving the human condition,” Corvin says. “Now students have a formal way to name that commitment, study it, and carry it forward.”