Public Health and Microbiology

The Public Health and Microbiology concentration includes studies in:

Microbial pathogenesis
Principles of public health
Epidemiology
Molecular genetics
Virology
Environmental and industrial microbial processes.

This concentration prepares students for technical work or graduate school in microbial disease systems using polymerase chain reaction, other molecular diagnostic tools, as well as environmental and industrial applications of microbial systems.

Points of Pride

Nearly 20 percent of students do research with a faculty member and many go on to publish papers and travel to conferences.
Faculty currently have grants from National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Alabama State Department of Education.
Many students find local employment with the State Health Lab.
The Department has a number of scholarships (link) specifically set aside for our majors.
All students work with a professional and faculty advisor to ensure they graduate on time.

Put Your Degree to Work

Note: While salaries vary depending on several factors including your level of experience, education and training, geography and industry, here is a sample of the future job growth and salaries in this area.
This program prepares you to go on to professional school, which leads to careers in medicine or health related fields. It is important to remember however, that even with a Bachelor of Science in Biology, many jobs are still available to you.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sample
Jobs	Median Pay	Job Growth through 2028
Microbiologists	$71,650	5% (1,100 more jobs)
Biology Technicians	$44,500	7% (5,700 more jobs)
Epidemiologist	$69,660	5% (500 new jobs)
Health Educators	$46, 080	11% (14,100 more jobs)
Medical and Health Service Managers	$99,730	18% (71,600 more jobs)
Dietician/Nutritionist	$60,370	11% (8,000 more jobs)

For More Information

Biology Department
Auburn University at Montgomery
Goodwyn Hall 301
334-244-3316
biology@aum.edu

Soaring Warhawks

Eva Maria Chambers works at the State Health Lab.
Chris Swann is chief scribe at Scribe America.
Holly Ann Swann (Gobbel) is the Lab Manager at TrackRx.
Shelby Nunnlee is an EMT in Montgomery.

Program Overview

The course listings below are a representation of what this academic program requires and the available electives. For a full review of this program in detail check the program sheet online catalog AND consult with an academic advisor.

Sample courses for the Biology Health Sciences program include:

Course Name	Course Description
Cells, Molecules, and Life	Our freshman biology is unique. First year biology students have the opportunity to design their own experiment, perform it, analyze the data and then present their work to their peers. A how to for scientists.
Immunology	A tour of both the adaptive and innate immune systems focusing on current thinking and examples. Lab involves designing your own research project and then carrying out the research agenda on a novel system, a toad.
Vertebrate Physiology	A complete tour of all vertebrate systems. This course fulfills the Auburn Pharmacy school pre-requisite and includes a live tissue lab where students get to perform surgeries.
Medical Microbiology	Investigation of the pathogens common to the human body.
Epidemiology	An online course looking at disease progression in populations. The courses is built around classic epidemic case studies.
Virology	Viruses, their biology, history, and behavior.
Genetics	Our genetics labs allows students to discover genes in a nematodes. Students perform their own crosses and maintain their own nematode colonies.
Cell Biology	A study of cells and their function. Lab includes designing an experiment on cancer cell lines to look for compounds that promote or deter cancerous cell growth.

Call Today

Public Health and Microbiology