Pandemic provides path for IWU students to enter public health careers

BLOOMINGTON (25News Now) - Illinois Wesleyan University on Tuesday announced it is launching three new majors this fall, including a program for students wanting to enter the public health field.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a heightened interest in public health, said Assistant Professor of Public Health David Remmert in a news release.

“The pandemic underscored the vital importance of the work and the dire need for more public health professionals in a time of crisis,” Remmert said in a prepared statement.

The public health offering combines courses in English, economics, chemistry, environmental studies, health, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology.

The news release said public health works across many fields of study, such as the science behind the development of vaccines, health policies that provided legal authority for the widespread distribution of vaccines worldwide, and the coordination of mass vaccination campaigns.

Two other majors introduced next fall are degrees in quantitative finance and professional sales.