Public Health and Wellness

Program of Study

University Core Curriculum Requirements (40 credits)

All University of Portland students, regardless of major, progress through a set of shared course options as part of the University’s liberal arts Core Curriculum. This curriculum offers a foundation of multiple lenses to address enduring questions of human concern, integrating the liberal arts, the University mission, and the knowledge, skills, and values needed in a diverse society and in the workplace.

See University Core Curriculum Requirements.

Please note the following:

• BS-PHW students must complete BIO 205: Foundations of Biology (3 credit hours) with BIO 005: BIO 205 Workshop (0 credit hours) or BIO 207: Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology (3 credit hours) with BIO 277: Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology Lab (1 credit hour) as Foundation Level courses fulfilling the natural science Core Curriculum requirement within the Habit of “Scientific and Quantitative Literacy and Problem Solving.”
• BS-PHW students must complete MTH 161: Elementary Statistics as a Foundation Level course fulfilling the mathematics Core Curriculum requirement within the Habit of “Scientific and Quantitative Literacy and Problem Solving.”
• All University of Portland students must complete at least one 3-credit History course at either the Foundation or Exploration Level of the University Core Curriculum. This requirement may be fulfilled by HST 210, HST 211, or HST 220 (as part of the “Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion, and the Common Good” Foundation Level Habit), HST 221, HST 251, HST 254, or HST 256 (as part of the “Global and Historical Consciousness” Foundation Level Habit), or by a HST course at the Exploration Level.

Major Requirements (80 credits)

Because PHW is a dynamic field, the curriculum is subject to change at the School of Nursing & Health Innovations' discretion.

PHW Major Core Requirements (30 credits)
PHW 101 - Integrative Health & Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 204 - Anatomy of Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 214 - Physiology of Wellness & Strategies for Healthy Living (3 credit hours)
PHW 224 - Integrative Public Health (3 credit hours)
PHW 303 - Human Health and Disease (3 credit hours)
PHW 304 - Environmental Health (3 credit hours)
PHW 306 - Epidemiology (3 credit hours)
PHW 308 - Health Systems and Policy (3 credit hours)
PHW 310 - Foundations of Health Education and Health Promotion (3 credit hours)
PHW 312 - Research Methods for Public Health Practice (3 credit hours)

PHW Practicum Requirements (6 credits)
PHW 417 - Project Design and Management in Integrative Health and Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 427 - Integrative Health & Wellness Practicum (3 credit hours; 135 practicum hours)

Upper-Division PHW Elective Requirements (12 credits)
Choose 4 of the following:
PHW 301 - Mind/Body/Energy Perspectives (3 credit hours)
PHW 307* - Integrative Health Coaching I: Concepts of Individual Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 316 - Nature's Pharmacy: Food, Herbs & Supplements that Support Health (3 credit hours)
PHW 317 - Restorative Nutrition (3 credit hours)
PHW 325 - Community Health Promotion I (3 credit hours)
PHW 326 - Community Health Promotion II (3 credit hours)
PHW 350 - Navigating Uncertainty: Stress, Creativity, and Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 401 - Sleep, Health, and Society (3 credit hours)
PHW 402 - The Science of Art & Well-Being (3 credit hours)
PHW 407* - Integrative Health Coaching II: Supporting Individual Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 411 - Technology in Health (3 credit hours)
PHW 418 - Leadership in Integrative  Health and Wellness (3 credit hours)

General Elective Requirements (any additional credit hours required to complete a minimum of 120 total credit hours)

*Note: Students who wish to pursue national health and wellness coaching certification may choose to complete the following Integrative Health Coaching Program requirements as electives:
PHW 307 - Integrative Health Coaching I: Concepts of Individual Wellness (3 credit hours)
PHW 407 - Integrative Health Coaching II: Supporting Individual Wellness (3 credit hours)

 Total credit hours required for the BS-PHW degree: 120

Program Outcomes

1. Integrative Health Promotion
Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of integrative health as a perspective through which to support individuals, organizations and communities to optimize their highest expression of health and well-being. 

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of spirituality to promote integrative spiritual health within person-centered relationships.

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of mental wellness to promote integrative mental health and well-being within themselves and others.

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of physical wellness, to promote the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for supporting integrative physical health through a balance of nourishment, movement, and rest.

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding and application of the impact of social relationships (society and social groups) for promoting individual and population social health and well-being.

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of multisector policies, population health promotion concepts, and evolving health care systems to promote integrative population health.

Students will demonstrate personal and professional understanding of foundational knowledge in integrative health education/promotion program planning, implementation and evaluation.