
Make a positive difference to people's lives by learning how to measure, plan, manage and evaluate health programs and services to prevent illness and promote good health in communities.
Public health is founded on a multidisciplinary understanding of health that allows you to explore and examine the basis of disease and wellbeing by considering human behaviour, physical environments, socio-economic and cultural factors, and systems of healthcare management.
The Public Health major provides a broad overview of public health and the critical issues it confronts. To establish core understanding of this field, you will examine the foundational disciplines of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, health systems, environmental health and social sciences.
Studying public health can lead to a variety of roles within public and global health, health research or public health policy.
This major is delivered at Herston and St Lucia.
Career possibilities
Our programs prepare you for your first job and beyond. Here are some of the careers you could be on your way to:
- Public health researcher
- Health promotion officer
- Environmental health officer
- Policy and research officer
- Economic consultant
- Health costing consultant
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UQ people
Meet Yutong, an engineering student from China

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Sustainability and the sharing economy: how we can all contribute
Stories
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UQ people
Meet Yutong, an engineering student from China

Careers
Sustainability and the sharing economy: how we can all contribute
How you'll learn
In 2023, we'll be teaching on campus, with online options (for most programs and plans) for students who can't attend in person. See the list of programs and plans you can't commence online.
Course delivery modes may change in future semesters.
Your learning experiences are designed to best suit the learning outcomes of the courses you choose.
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Work placements
- Online study
- Research experience
- Laboratory work
- Workshops
What you'll study
At UQ, subjects are called 'courses'. Here's a sample of the courses you could study:
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health
- Introduction to Public Health
- Understanding Health Behaviours
- Nutrition in the Lifespan
- Community & Public Health Nutrition
Keep up to date
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