Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education

The Department is excited to announce that in Fall 2023 we will become the Department of Health Sciences and Public Health.  Our degree programs have been revised to offer students greater flexibility in pursuing their degree. The B.S. degree in Health Sciences offers two concentrations: premedical concentration or a planned clinical concentration.  The health science majors are an excellent pathway to further study in medical school or in physician assistant program. Our B.S. degree in Public and Community  Health offers students greater opportunities to explore the many diverse areas in the field.  We look forward to continuing our tradition of closely working with students to meet their professional goals.

Our department will prepare you to take an active role in the field of medicine, clinical practice in the health sciences, and the promotion of public health in community settings. Throughout your four years at Ithaca College, we will support your development in five key areas:  critical thinking, valuing human difference, ethical reasoning, analyzing and disseminating information, and civic engagement. Our emphasis on health science and medicine, education, practice and advocacy prepares you to play a critical role in transforming healthcare.

Since our approach emphasizes theory into practice and performance, you will also apply what you learn in the classroom to fieldwork, internships, and research experiences. You will develop the critical theoretical foundation and skills to be job ready for professional practice or prepared for graduate school entry.

Your classroom experiences will be enriched through opportunities in and outside the classroom via labs and professional clubs. Our labs offer you a chance for hands-on practice and our professional student clubs help you learn more about your field, interact with your peers and faculty outside of the classroom, practice leadership skills, and network.

A welcome addition to the Department is the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute. This includes the Ithaca College/Longview Partnership, the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center (FLGEC), and the Aging Studies academic minor. Knowledge about aging, older adults, and our rapidly aging society is relevant to almost every major area of study.

We offer two majors for undergraduates, responsive to the wide range of interests that students have in the health professions field. The health science major offers three concentrations: premedical focus, planned clinical focus, and food and nutrition focus. These concentrations will position you for future success in areas such as clinical research or direct patient care (chiropractor, nurse practitioner, physician, physician assistant, dietician, nutrition educator, occupational therapy or physical therapy). 

The public health major offers two curricular directions: planned interdisciplinary combination which allows flexibility to choose areas of specialization within this field (maternal and child health, epidemiology, wellness, community outreach) and the restricted health electives offering students that opportunity to select health courses that correspond to their area of interest. This major prepares you to provide population-based interventions or policy development that impact the lives of people within the community.

Minors in our department are open to all students across campus.  Our minors include aging studies, coaching, health, and nutrition promotion.