News

The Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine is one step closer to offering a new curriculum after the Auburn University Board of Trustees approved a proposal to establish the college’s first undergraduate degree program leading to a Bachelor of Science in Public and One Health, or PAOH. Pending review and endorsement by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, the program will be offered beginning fall 2024 and will require 120 credit hours delivered across eight colleges on the Auburn campus.

The mission of the Public and One Health degree program is to prepare undergraduate students for success in introductory public health positions or graduate and professional programs. By highlighting the One Health concept throughout the curriculum, undergraduate students in the PAOH curriculum will obtain a comprehensive public health education that emphasizes the interconnectedness and mutual interdependency of humans, animals and the environment.

The need for such a program was first highlighted at the 2017 College of Veterinary Medicine faculty retreat and several of the college’s faculty members have been part of the multi-year effort to refine the proposal. PAOH leadership includes Dr. Andrea Perkins, clinical lecturer in the Department of Clinical Sciences; Dr. Kelley Steury, lecturer in the Department of Pathobiology; Dr. Paul Walz, head of the Department of Pathobiology; and Dr. Skip Bartol, associate dean for research and graduate studies.

“This new program capitalizes on our considerable faculty expertise in public and one health as well as a highly successful minor in public health,” said Dr. Calvin Johnson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “The curriculum, which will prepare students for successful careers in public and one health-related fields as well as post-graduate programs, is the culmination of the efforts of many contributors over the years.”

Diverse faculty from multiple scientific fields will provide expert instruction to foster deeper insight into the health of organisms and the environment and how different systems coexist and change together. The PAOH curriculum will support the missions of Auburn University and the College of Veterinary Medicine by endeavoring to improve lives locally and globally through enhancing the health of animals, people and the environment.

For more information, visit the Public and One Health web page.

SEE: https://ocm.auburn.edu/newsroom/campus_notices/2023/02/071300-onehealth.php