Cornell University Registrar

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented health challenge on a global scale. A novel virus jumped from an animal to a person, and within a matter of weeks, people were infected around the world. Public health and healthcare systems were not prepared, and neither those frameworks nor our bodies were ready to detect, prevent, and respond. Countless lives were lost, as were jobs and financial security, food access, housing, and access to education. Now, we need to build back, and build back better, together.

Public health is a field of work made up of many different types of people working in many different roles at community, state, national, and international levels. Its purpose is to develop and implement programs and policies to create the conditions where people can achieve health.

This certificate program is designed for people who work — or want to work — to improve the health and wellbeing of communities. You will study fundamental public health principles and practices to enable you to be part of a push for health equity for all. You will examine how to review and interpret data so you can focus your efforts, and you will practice critical communication skills so you can support your community in making choices that prevent infection and illness. Using COVID-19 as one of many case studies, you will explore how, in public health, we learn from the past to improve the future. You will be positioned to use the knowledge and skills you gain to support the long-term goal of maximizing good health for all.