Advising the newest faces of public health: a perspective on the undergraduate student.

Abstract

In the 20th century, public health education in the United States existed as a professional degree program, with training at the masters (MPH) and doctoral (PhD, DrPH, and ScD) levels. Today, the system is rapidly evolving as undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations are establishing themselves around the country. This new focus of public health education, rooted in a liberal arts environment, is distinct from the professional training of graduate school. As such, undergraduate public health students have unique characteristics and needs that should be considered as part of the advisors' responsibility to provide meaningful, relevant advising. The perspective and comments presented here are largely based on the authors' nearly 30 years of combined experience in undergraduate public health education.