About Public Health Selective

The Public Health Selective is a course designed to give students an overview of how public health research, policy, and intervention function and interact to impact the health of a community. Each year, a different public health topic is used as a case study to illustrate these concepts. The course includes lectures from experts from the St. Louis and Washington University communities, site visits, and opportunities for students to plan, present, and implement their own intervention. In past years, public health topics have included maternal health, infant mortality, sexually-transmitted infections, and youth violence.

The Public Health Selective strives to provide a foundation in community engagement, research, policy, and public health for students to begin their own sustainable efforts. Students have taken their knowledge of the PRECEDE-PROCEED community research and engagement model and executed their own interventions in the St. Louis community. PHIG gives students the opportunity to implement these and any of other ideas in the community through its Community Needs Assessment and Resolution program.