Global Public Health Education Takes the Fast Track at NYU

The Global Public Health 4+1 Degree Program empowers you to decide how you approach your undergraduate degree. For instance, NYU alumnus Ben Wagner knew he wanted to become a doctor and human rights advocate. With GPH 4+1, he found the freedom to pursue a wide range of interests. “In order to be the best physician, you have to be well-rounded,” he remarks. “So I took courses in architecture, ethics, history, literature, and more. I even had the opportunity to study away at NYU London while staying on track with my prehealth track requirements.”

If you start…

At the College of Arts and Science, you can choose from more than 60 majors for your bachelor’s degree. Then, you can add an MA in Bioethics (program details).

At the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, you can earn your BA in a concentration you develop yourself. Then, you can get an MS in Biostatistics (program details) or a Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration of your choice.

Through Liberal Studies, you can earn a BA in Global Liberal Studies. Then, you can choose an MA in Bioethics (program details) or an MPH (program details).

Finally, at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, you can earn a BS in Global Public Health/Nutrition and Dietetics. Then, you can get an MPH with a concentration in public health nutrition (program details).

The Global Public Health 4+1 Degree Program is only available to current NYU students. As a result, you’ll apply after starting your NYU undergraduate career. All interested students must submit their application by the beginning of the spring semester of their sophomore year. After being admitted, they take graduate courses alongside their undergraduate ones throughout their junior and senior years. After graduating from the undergraduate program, participants take one more year of GPH graduate classes before earning their master’s degree. Note that each of the 4+1 programs introduced above has different requirements. So be sure to bookmark the links provided for future reference.

Through the Global Public Health 4+1 Program, Nina Robins combined her interest in the Middle East with the idea of health care as diplomacy. “I want to be part of the teams that build the research that reduces health-care disparities,” she explains. “I’m interested in health as a path toward political nonviolence and self-determination.” As an undergrad at Gallatin, Nina concentrated in medical anthropology. Now she is finishing her MPH with a concentration in social and behavioral sciences at GPH. “I’m grateful to have had a diverse academic background,” she shares. “The GPH 4+1 Program opened the door for me to understand how interdisciplinary public health can be.”

Ben, now a medical student at Dartmouth College, paired a concentration in global health and human rights at NYU Gallatin with an MPH concentration in public health policy at GPH. Having worked with people seeking asylum and survivors of torture, he says, “Health and human rights are central to everything I’ve done and plan to do in the future.” Ultimately, Ben credits professors like Allen Keller and Vasuki Nesiah and his program adviser, Julie Avina, for helping shape his path. “NYU offered me tremendous resources, support, and role models,” he concludes.