The Degrees We Offer

The mission of the Bachelor of Health Promotion Degree is to prepare qualified and dedicated undergraduate students who can work with individuals, groups and communities in a variety of settings, to prevent disease and achieve healthier lifestyles. The degree encourages students and faculty to engage in community service, to seek creative ways to eliminate health disparities, and to be advocates for social justice.

The Health Promotion Department aims to:

• - Give students an in-depth understanding of the field of public health and the role of prevention in promoting healthier communities, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups.
  
  
• - Provide knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world as it relates to individual and population health.
  
  
• - Equip students with essential tools to develop tailored health education and health promotion strategies for a variety of community settings.
  
  
• - Offer opportunities to develop skills in inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, information literacy, media tools, teamwork and problem-solving.
  
  
• - Provide hands-on experiences for students to demonstrate know-how and to practice competencies through experiential learning, community service, health campaigns, and engagement with community partners.
  
  
• - Integrate professionalism and ethical values in education, research, and community service.
  
  
• - Develop and expand research capacities in health promotion.
  
  
• - Provide a stimulating environment for students, faculty and staff that enables continuous growth and development.
  
  
• - Promote a culture of civic engagement and advocacy for social justice and health as a human right.

Upon graduation, graduates will be able to:

• - Define what health promotion is and discuss its role in public health.
  
  
• - Identify the related roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders and agents of health promotion and understand the role of a multi-sectoral approach in promoting health.
  
  
• - 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.
  
  
• - Assess the values and perspectives of diverse individuals, communities, and cultures and their influence on health behaviors, choices, and practices.
  
  
• - Be familiar with the methods of epidemiology, including disease surveillance, and discuss their application to safeguard the population’s health.
  
  
• - Be familiar with and be able to explain the principles and components of the community needs assessment.
  
  
• - Outline the steps required to undertake and develop community interventions including health awareness campaigns through proper planning, implementation, and evaluation.
  
  
• - Use creative strategies and engage in collaborative teamwork to help empower individuals, families, communities, and vulnerable groups to become healthier.
  
  
• - Search for and identify relevant sources of data and information, and critically evaluate their quality.
  
  
• - Identify and discuss human rights issues, ethical concerns, and conflicts of interest that arise in health promotion practice.
  
  
• - Develop health promotion materials and effectively communicate them to the public.
  
  
• - Demonstrate acquired knowledge and competencies, and develop capacities in leadership and teamwork, through practice.
  
  
• - Be familiar with and discuss research methods to address health promotion concerns.
  
  
• - Demonstrate the attitudes, competencies, and abilities to become active agents for change.

The Degrees We Offer

Minors We Offer

The Minor in Public Health is intended to introduce students from all degree backgrounds to the scope and concerns of the Public Health field, to contribute to their general education, and to encourage them to become informed and proactive in disease prevention and community development.

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.

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.

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.

Students who consider the option of a medical career can choose to enroll in a Pre-Medical Track. This gives students the opportunity to complete premedical courses in three years (109 credits), train for the MCAT, and be eligible to apply to Medical School, along with obtaining a BS degree in Public Health and Development Sciences.


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 fullfill 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.


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.


Our Graduates have the capacity and skills necessary for professional practice in organizations, such as; International Organizations for Global health interventions, research, education, advocacy and policy generation, Private & Non-Governmental Organizations in community projects and capacity building, health interventions, awareness and health promotion campaigns, administration and research, occupational health and hygiene, etc., or Governmental Bodies at the municipal, regional or national level for preventing, monitoring, and maintaining health and wellbeing .

Graduates can also seek an academic degree which orients them more towards teaching and research (MS, PhD). Many continue their studies in a related field, such as development; education; environmental studies; health information systems; disaster management;law; media and communication studies; medicine; nursing; psychology; toxicology; epidemiology; urban studies; among others. There are many graduate degree programs available internationally. At UOB, a degree in Master of Public Health is offered (MPH).

The Degrees We Offer

The mission of the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program at the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) is to prepare graduates for effective engagement and leadership in promoting the health of communities, eliminating social and health disparities, and achieving health-sustaining environments in Lebanon and across the Middle East. The Program will embrace the rapidly evolving nature in the field of public health, particularly the emergence of new challenges to population health brought about by the interplay of local, regional, and global determinants.

The Master of Public Health will meet the following objectives to accomplish its mission:

• - Contribute to the University’s mission and vision in teaching, research, and community service with a focus on public health in Lebanon and the Middle East.
  
  
• - Build the capacity of the public health workforce in Lebanon and the Middle East by providing graduates with the requisite knowledge base, practical and research skills, and leadership capabilities.
  
  
• - Inspire graduates to undertake ethical public health practice and research.
  
  
• - Build students’ capacity to design public health studies and interventions, and to collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate public health data to inform evidence-based practice.
  
  
• - Build the research capacities of faculty members and strengthen the participation of students in research.
  
  
• - Promote interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral dialogue on critical public health issues.
  
  
• - Advocate for public health by expanding understandings of the role of public health workers in creating healthier communities.
  
  

Upon graduation, graduates will be able to:

• - Recognize the multidisciplinary nature of public health and the contributions different disciplines make to understanding health-related issues and developing effective responses to them.
  
  
• - Understand the complex interplay between individual, local, regional, and global factors in determining the health status of populations.
  
  
• - Demonstrate knowledge of the theories that have governed the practice of public health and be able to relate this knowledge to the analysis of public health issues.
  
  
• - Develop and expand research knowledge and skills in both qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry to address public health research questions.
  
  
• - Demonstrate knowledge of and ability to interpret and critically appraise research literature to develop evidence-based policy and program responses to public health concerns.
  
  
• - Build capacity to communicate research findings to the concerned stakeholders including the scientific community, the general public, and policy and decision makers.
  
  
• - Implement and monitor public health initiatives and programs, and evaluate their impact on the short and the long terms.
  
  
• - Identify and analyze the underlying causes of inequity in health, and work to address them.
  
  
• - Describe and explain patterns of health and disease in the Lebanese community and identify groups at high risk for disease
  
  
• - Develop population-wide and targeted interventions for disease prevention and control in Lebanon and the region with specific attention to vulnerable and marginalized groups.
  
  
• - Show knowledge of how regional factors have shaped the health of populations in Lebanon and the Middle East.
  
  
• - Demonstrate cultural competency in designing and evaluating public health interventions.
  
  
• - Use traditional and contemporary media to advocate for policy change and promote health in Lebanon and the Middle East.
  
  
• - Demonstrate a good knowledge of the history, achievements and role of public health in Lebanon and the Middle East.
  
  
• - Commit to ethical principles and high standards of professionalism in public health practice and research.
  
  
• - Manage resources efficiently and apply them effectively to achieve the desired public health outcomes and maximize the impact of programs and strategies within an often limited resource base.
  
  
• - Display competence and confidence in working with a wide range of social groups, including those who have been marginalized.
  
  
• - Demonstrate teamwork and leadership skills.