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Program Description
One Health is an integrated approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. It emphasizes that the health of each of these domains affects the others, and addressing issues in one area can lead to better outcomes for all. This holistic perspective is essential for tackling global health challenges like pandemics, zoonotic diseases, and environmental degradation.
The minor in One Health will consist of three core courses (9 credits), three colloquiums (3 credits), one Capstone Experience (3 credits), and three (3) credits from an interdisciplinary additional course. This minor is open to all majors across One Health Disciplines and anyone with a One Health Interest. The One Health Approach encourages the engagement of multiple disciplines to address shared problems spanning human, animal, and ecosystem health.
While completing of core coursework, students take courses enhancing their knowledge in occupation health, environmental health, sustainability, climate change, zoonotic diseases, pre- and post-harvest food safety and international food security, human and animal disease reporting, therapy animal use and animal welfare, epidemiologic investigations, infection control, emergency preparedness, criminology and terrorism, and global health. Ethics and philosophy, biorenewable resources, and environmental and resource economics are also included. Some background in the natural sciences is recommended and introductory biology and 200-level statistics are required prerequisites.
Minor students will participate in three one semester 1-credit VBSC 341: Wicked Problems in One Health colloquiums throughout the minor to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and review current One Health topics. These classes will be shared with students in the One Health Undergraduate Certificate Programs to allow for interdisciplinary collaboration. The experiential learning Capstone requires coordinator approval and culminates in poster presentations and collaborative interaction with faculty and peers.
Substitution of elective courses must be pre-determined by the minor coordinator and Capstone Projects must have coordinator approval.
What is One Health?
One Health is a multidisciplinary approach integrating human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science to optimize the health of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems. Its holistic methodology recognizes that these three areas of study are intimately intertwined. One Health training allows students to think dynamically and globally about how health is affected, diseases are transmitted, and environment plays a role in disease.
You Might Like this Program If...
- You are dedicated to improving the lives of humans and animals
- You are interested in the interdependencies that shape our health and the environment
- You find passion promoting health on a local, national, or global scale
- You value interdisciplinary thinking in solving the world’s big problems
Program Requirements
| Requirement | Credits |
|---|---|
| Requirements for the Minor | 18 |
Requirements for the Minor
A grade of C or better is required for all courses in the minor, as specified by Senate Policy 59-10. In addition, at least six credits of the minor must be unique from the prescribed courses required by a student's major(s).
Some courses have prerequisites which need to be completed before taking the course.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Prescribed Courses | ||
| Prescribed Courses: Require a grade of C or better | ||
| VBSC 340N | Introduction to One Health  | 3 |
| VBSC 341 | Wicked Problems in One Health (1-credit course that students repeat for a total of 3 credits) | 3 |
| VBSC 444 | Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases | 3 |
| VBSC 455 | One Health | 3 |
| Additional Courses | ||
| Additional Courses: Require a grade of C or better | ||
| With faculty guidance and coordinator approval, select one of the following to complete the Capstone Project: | 3 | |
| Internship | ||
| Honors Thesis | ||
| Independent Studies | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Foreign Studies | ||
| Supporting Courses and Related Areas | ||
| Supporting Courses and Related Areas: Require a grade of C or better | ||
| Choose from one of the following categories (this course should be outside of the student's area of study): | 3 | |
Environment and Climate (see department list) | ||
Human Health (see department list) | ||
Animal Health (see department list) | ||
Social Science (see department list) | ||
Academic Advising
The objectives of the university's academic advising program are to help advisees identify and achieve their academic goals, to promote their intellectual discovery, and to encourage students to take advantage of both in-and out-of class educational opportunities in order that they become self-directed learners and decision makers.
Both advisers and advisees share responsibility for making the advising relationship succeed. By encouraging their advisees to become engaged in their education, to meet their educational goals, and to develop the habit of learning, advisers assume a significant educational role. The advisee's unit of enrollment will provide each advisee with a primary academic adviser, the information needed to plan the chosen program of study, and referrals to other specialized resources.
READ SENATE POLICY 32-00: ADVISING POLICY
University Park
Jennifer Koehl, Ph.D., MPS
Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Undergraduate Program Coordinator, One Health Minor Coordinator, Assistant Teaching Professor
108E Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building
University Park, PA 16802
jzk335@psu.edu
Careers Paths
The One Health minor offers a new perspective to approach your other fields of study. With this minor, you can build a career that supports the interdependent relationships between humans and animals. You can pursue jobs in fields such as animal science, biology, environmental studies, food science, nursing, nutrition, pandemic prevention and response, public health, toxicology, and veterinary and biomedical sciences.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL CAREER OPTIONS FOR GRADUATES WITH A MINOR IN ONE HEALTH
Opportunities for Graduate Study
The One Health approach is adopted throughout veterinary, human, and environmental graduate curricula. Many graduate opportunities exist: Biomedical and comparative medicine research, veterinary science and medicine, public health, emergency management, public health preparedness, sustainability, and global food security. In addition, Penn State has the One Health Microbiome Center which offers multiple graduate degrees. The Center fosters long-term working relationships while simultaneously providing infrastructure and resources to support transformative, interdisciplinary microbiome scholarship locally, nationally, and worldwide.
Contact
University Park
DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES
Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building
University Park, PA 16802
vetbiomedsci@psu.edu