Veterinary Public Health

Overview


This 15-credit Public Health Certificate contains courses that will build a foundation in public health with a focus on its application in the field of veterinary medicine. This certificate can expand your job opportunities, or enhance your current degree program.

This program is designed for:

  • Practicing Veterinarians
  • Students seeking their Veterinary degree
  • Professionals working in animal care

Successful completion of this certificate will be denoted on a student’s transcript by “Completed Graduate Certificate in Public Health.” A paper certificate with the same notation will be mailed to the students home 8-12 weeks after final grades are posted.

Features of the Graduate Certificate in Public Health

  • can be completed in 3-5 semesters
  • consists of 5 courses of 3 credits each
  • requires students to maintain a 3.0 GPA and have no grades lower than a “C”
  • requires a final exam covering the 10 Essential Services of Public Health
  • courses in this certificate program may be transferred into the University of Florida’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program upon admission with a B or better grade, provided that the courses were completed less than 7 years prior.

Courses


Applicants will choose their specific plan of study and course schedule when completing the departmental application. Schedules can be found on our Course Schedule page

Course Descriptions and Syllabi


PHC 6313 Environmental Health Concepts in Public Health

Description: This course is a survey of major topic areas of Environmental Health. It will examine sources, routes, media, and health outcomes associated with biological, chemical and physical agents in the environment.

PHC 6001 Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health

Description: This course is an introduction to epidemiology for students majoring in any aspect of the health sciences. The purpose of this course is to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to explain the place of epidemiology in the general health thinking and to communicate and apply the basic principles of epidemiology.

PHC 6519 Zoonotic Diseases in Humans and Animals

Description: The purpose of this online course is to introduce graduate and professional students to major zoonotic diseases. We will discuss both the human and animal presentations, epidemiology, means of prevention and control, available diagnostics, available treatments, and associated human and animal regulations for each disease. The diseases presented in class will be chosen based on their significance to public health practitioners.

Pick 2 of the following courses:

PHC 6002 Epidemiology of Infectious Disease

Description: Epidemiology, prevention, and control of infectious diseases impacting local, national, and global community health; epidemiology methods used in disease surveillance and measures used in slowing or preventing spread of disease. Prerequisites: PHC 6001 and PHC 6050.

PHC 6195 Health Information for Diverse Populations: Theory & Methods

Description: This is an introductory course; as such, we will be examining basic concepts and social scientific research in persuasive communication to gain an understanding of how individuals process and respond to public health information.

PHC 6183 Public Health Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response

Description: Introduction to the basics of disaster preparedness and responding to disasters, while developing a foundation for further development in responder training. Topics include the Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS), support of animal owners, livestock farmers, and care providers as well as guidance for emergency management personnel in preparing community disaster plans that include animals.

PHC 6052 Introduction to Biostatistical Methods

Description: Introduction to the concepts and methods of biostatistical data analysis. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, standard probability distributions, sampling distributions, point and confidence interval estimation, hypothesis testing, power and sample size estimation, one- and two-sample parametric and non-parametric methods for analyzing continuous or discrete data, and simple linear regression. SAS statistical software for data management, statistical analysis and power calculations. Required core course for students in biostatistics, environmental health, and epidemiology concentrations.

PHC 6050 Statistical Methods for Health Science I

Description: Statistical methods for description and analysis provide investigators with useful tools for making sense of data. The pervasiveness of statistics in public health as well as other fields has led to increased recognition that statistical literacy – familiarity with the goals and methods of statistics – should be a basic component of a well-rounded educational program. In this course, students will develop statistical vocabulary, learn methods for descriptive data analysis, study the fundamentals of probability and sampling distributions, learn methods for statistical inference and hypothesis testing will be based on one or two samples, and become familiar with categorical data analysis and linear regression. Data analysis will be conducted in SPSS.


  • Admission to the Graduate Certificate in Public Health is not an admission to the UF Graduate School.
  • Credits from other universities cannot be transferred into this certificate program.

For more information, please check out our FAQs or specific program contacts below.

For information about certificate eligibility, admission, or the application process, please contact Brittany Gibson.

For information about registration, courses, designing a plan of study, or transitioning from the Certificate in Public Health to the UF MPH program, please contact Telisha Martin.