PITTSBURGH -- The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare worrisome gaps and inequities in how the nation protects its population from public health threats, but it's also sparking interest among younger Americans who see a career path stepping into that breach.
That's the thinking behind a University of Pittsburgh decision, announced Thursday, to formally debut an undergraduate public health program for this coming fall. The bachelor of science in public health is a new arrival on the sprawling research university campus with a vast medical and health sciences complex — one linked to the generations of discovery from organ transplantation and cancer treatment to the polio vaccine.
The inaugural class will matriculate in fall 2022, Pitt officials said. Applications have far exceeded expectations, they said.
