An in-depth look at the new ‘Foundations in Public Health’ course
Last fall, undergraduate students enrolled in the first course offered by Arts & Sciences’ Program in Public Health & Society, which now includes an undergraduate major and minor. Avanel Mallon, Justin Xu, and Parth Oza took “Foundations in Public Health” (PubHlthSoc 1000), which takes an equity-driven, social justice approach to the topic, emphasizing the connection between population and individual health.
The course also features numerous guest speakers — many working in the St. Louis community — to help students learn about career paths in public health.
We asked three students to share their experiences studying public health.
Avanel Mallon
Mallon, a rising junior planning to major in Public Health & Society, had hands-on experience working in community health before she ever set foot in the classroom. Last summer, she worked to address food insecurity at Rustic Roots Sanctuary, a community farm in Spanish Lake, an area the USDA classified as a “food desert.” Getting to learn more about local public health initiatives — including Rustic Roots Sanctuary — during the course was especially meaningful for the St. Louis native.
Justin Xu
Xu, AB ’25, understands the challenges of accessing health care as an outsider. He immigrated to the United States from China at age 5 and saw his parents struggle with the health care system because of language barriers. Even after 20 years in the U.S., his parents sometimes delay medical procedures until they visit China. To help others facing similar challenges, Xu volunteered as a medical interpreter at a monthly clinic at the University City Public Library. “I remember a day they were doing EKGs,” Xu said. “One patient saw I was Chinese and, when he saw me, his face shifted from uncertainty to relaxation.” Xu, who majored in biology, took the Foundations course during his senior year to complete a Public Health & Society minor before heading to medical school.
Parth Oza
Oza, a rising junior studying biology and Public Health & Society, was inspired to take the “Foundations of Public Health” course to dive deeper into the factors that shape health outcomes outside the clinical setting. Beyond his studies, he is involved with Campus Y, doing clinical volunteering and working with underserved communities. This summer, he’s conducting full-time research at WashU’s medical campus while studying for the MCAT. Oza, who is a member of the inaugural cohort of WashU’s Public Health & Society student ambassadors, “hopes to continue to explore the ways that public health intersects with medicine and policy.”
Who was your favorite guest speaker and why?
Mallon: We had a speaker from Barnes Jewish Medical Center working on health disparity by ZIP code. They told us a story about the difficulty of getting men in North County to get colonoscopies. When they dug deeper into the reasons, it turned out that transportation was an obstacle. It’s hard to get to BJC from North County, and if you don’t have time off work and have to take a bus to get there, why would you go the trouble for preventative measures in systems that haven’t necessarily served you? It’s easy to assume that it’s an individual choice but all these things are wrapped up in systemic dynamics.
Xu: Dr. Angela Brown, a WashU medicine professor and co-director of the Center for Community Health Partnership and Research. She discussed her organization’s innovative outreach to underserved Black men, including partnerships with North St. Louis barbershops to educate barbers about heart health. The barbers share tips on diet and exercise with their clients. I think it’s genius, and it really stuck with me.
Oza: My favorite speaker was Dr. Angela Brown, a cardiologist with significant clinical exposure across the St. Louis region. She shared compelling examples of health disparities and injustice that individuals in our community face, making the impact of health inequity feel personal and urgent.
What was your biggest takeaway from the course?
Mallon: When I heard my former boss from Rustic Roots Sanctuary and other speakers talk about their work, it touched my heart as I sat in the class. St. Louis is a city that I love, but there’s a lot of difficult issues here. The course was full of speakers who show a way forward.
Oza: I realized the profound impact that systemic barriers have on health disparities. One example that stuck with me was learning that life expectancy is 18 years higher for individuals born in Clayton compared to those born in North St. Louis, despite the fact that these cities are only one ZIP code apart. We learned about a wide range of topics, from applications of epidemiology to mechanisms of inequity and systemic barriers. All of the content was highly meaningful and relevant and provided me with a mindset for thinking critically about health on a population level.
What makes the format of the ‘Foundations in Public Health’ course unique from other lecture-style courses?
Mallon: I didn’t realize the nature of the class when I selected it, but the way they structured it with speakers every week was really interesting. It made the lectures relevant and interdisciplinary.
Xu: This course allowed us to learn a lot about real-life scenarios by directly inviting guest speakers who are experts in the fields and subjects we’d learned about in the previous lecture. They would talk about how these things impact real-life public health, which is one of the things that made this class really special.
Oza: The course emphasized guest speakers, which made it much more dynamic and engaging than traditional lecture-based classes. This structure not only kept the material fresh but also gave us diverse perspectives on what public health looks like in practice from experts in the field.
“Public health provides the skills to make a difference, and that’s inspiring.” —Avanel Mallon
Why should a student incorporate public health courses into their undergraduate studies?
Mallon: Sometimes people ask what I am going to do with the degree or how I will make money when they hear I am studying public health. But from the guest speakers, I learned a variety of ways to practice public health. There were so many people who deeply cared — both in our class and among the speakers — and showed us how to turn community care into a career. Public health provides the skills to make a difference, and that’s inspiring.
Xu: It’s exciting that there’s now a major and minor program in public health. Some pre-meds might still go the route of just doing basic research in the lab with pipettes and cultures, but there’s a whole dimension of medicine focused on public health and community health. I’m excited that this program has lowered the barriers that pre-med students face trying to study in the field.
Oza: Studying public health is crucial to students across all disciplines; it adds meaning to nearly any field of study and changes the way you see the world. It pushes you to think critically about how society works and reminds you that your work can serve something bigger than yourself.
Students interested in learning more about Public Health & Society can follow the program on Instagram.
