Program

The Faculty of Health Sciences offers a variety of academic programs in the Health Sciences. Curricula are community-oriented and multidisciplinary, to equip graduates with the professional literacy, competencies, teamwork, and skills needed to meet challenges in the dynamic work environment of today's health sector.

Undergraduate degree programs lead to a Bachelor of Science degree within a minimum of a three-year framework. Graduate degree programs lead to a Master of Science degree or a Master of Public Health degree.

BS in PUBLIC HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT SCIENCES

Public Health is concerned with population-based efforts to prevent disease and to encourage affordable, accessible, and sustainable interventions that allow individuals and communities to become healthier. Demand for graduates is growing, and there are extensive employment opportunities.

The Public Health and Development Sciences Program offers a three-year Undergraduate program and leads to a Bachelor of Science, along with a Pre-Med Track, and Dual Degrees. The degree is currently offered at the Main Campus (Al Kurah), Dekwaneh Campus (Beirut), and Souk El Gharb Campus (Aley).

The degree gives students a solid foundation with which to begin a career in Public Health, whether to enter the employment sector directly, or to pursue higher academic degrees.

THE DEGREES WE OFFER
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM MISSION
The Bachelor of Public Health and Development Sciences Degree Program is committed to preparing undergraduate students to assume active roles in the health, environment, and development sectors in Lebanon and across the Middle East. The Department creates opportunities for advocacy, community service, applied research, multidisciplinary collaboration, and leadership.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Expose students to an in-depth understanding of the field of public health and its multidisciplinary components and provide knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world as it relates to individual and population health.
2. Equip students with requisite tools to develop strategies and solutions that address public health challenges.
3. Offer opportunities to develop skills in inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative literacy, information literacy, teamwork and problem solving.
4. Provide hands-on experiences to demonstrate know-how and to practice competencies through experiential learning, community service, field trips, and engagement with community partners.
5. Integrate professionalism and ethical values in education, research, and community service.
6. Develop and expand research capacities in public health and development.
7. Promote a culture of responsible citizenship, civic engagement, and advocacy for health and development.
8. Provide a stimulating environment for students, faculty and staff, that enables continuous growth and development.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Discuss what public health is, and explain the inter-related roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders and agents in the sector.
2. Describe the multiple determinants of health, including social, cultural, behavioral, environmental and biological factors and discuss their interplay in local national and global health challenges.
3. Be familiar with the methods of epidemiology, including disease surveillance, and discuss their application to safeguard the population’s health.
4. Identify environmental risks that affect community health and outline approaches for assessing and controlling them.
5. Describe the impact of organizational structures, financing, management, and delivery of personal health care and public health services on population health.
6. Value multicultural perspectives and sensitivities in health and development.
7. Engage in advocacy and collaborative and interdisciplinary teamwork for improving population health.
8. Search for and identify relevant sources of data and information, and critically evaluate their quality.
9. Identify and discuss ethical concerns and conflicts of interest that arise in public health practice and research.
10. Demonstrate acquired knowledge and competencies, and develop leadership and teamwork skills, through practice.
11. Be familiar with and discuss research methods to address public health concerns.
12. Demonstrate the attitudes, competencies, and abilities to become active agents for change.

The Project Residency Internship enables students doing their Health Promotion or Public Health and Development Sciences degree to gain first-hand experience and to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life situations. Students spend two months in a governmental, non-governmental, or private organization in the health or development sectors, working with their host and learning more about the work environment in Lebanon.

The selection of topic and host depends on the student's interest, available opportunities, and consent of the student advisor.

The FHS offers the possibility of a dual degree, permitting students to gain two BS degrees. Dual degree programs exist between Public Health and Development Sciences and Health Promotion, and between Medical Laboratory Sciences and Public Health and Development Sciences. Other possibilities are under development.

Students interested in gaining a broader perspective of the fields of Public Health can choose to take both a degree in Public Health and Development Sciences and a degree in Health Promotion in sequence over four years, in a Dual Degree program. This permits them to graduate with two BS degrees. In order to fulfil requirements for the Dual Degree program, students should complete all credit requirements for the first degree (either Health Promotion or Public Health and Development Sciences). Following completion of the first degree, an additional 36 credits (HP) or 38 credits (PD) are then taken for the second degree.