Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health

16059 Center for Health Sciences
Box 951772
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772

Public Health
310-825-5524

The profession of public health is responsible for the protection, preservation, and promotion of the health of communities and populations. Although the health problems of today differ from those of the past and of the future, the professionals who make up the field need to be trained to respond to broad community problems utilizing the basic ideas of prevention of disease and promotion of well-being. This goal can be achieved only with an understanding of the health status of the population through data gathering and analysis, as well as knowledge of the complex relationships between disease process in the social and biological environment of the community.

The field of public health today needs practitioners from many disciplines. Candidates for graduate study may come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds, training, or experience, including both the natural and social sciences.