Public Health FAQs

Get all the information you need before you kick-start your dream career in health – as a public health professional!

UTS students gatherednear the UTS Alumni Green

Check out some of our most frequently asked questions about the UTS Bachelor of Public Health, asked by future university students just like you.

If you have a question about undergraduate study at UTS, get in touch.

The course

Why study Public Health? What is it?

Public Health is a non-clinical field in the area of health, which provides a wide variety of career options and pathways.

Hear more from our previous course director Dr Daniel Demant from the UTS School of Public Health:

So Health Science is a non-clinical field in the area of health more generally, and it gives you a really broad range of things you can do with it later on.

You can go into health promotion, you can go into Indigenous health you can go into research, you can go into the administration of hospital and healthcare systems in epidemiology or infectious disease epidemiology tracking. So there's so many different things you can do with this, you're not just stuck on one thing you can do and you can change the course of your career later on various different times plus there's a large number of post-career things you can do with it as well.
 

Why study public health at UTS?

  • Make a difference across diverse health contexts: public health is a non-clinical field that aims to improve the health of individuals and populations. A public health degree is a flexible, transdisciplinary qualification that prepares you to drive meaningful change across a wide range of health settings, and it can be used as preparation for various graduate entry master’s degrees in health.
  • Tailor subject choices to suit your interests or career aspirations: choose from five majors including Global Health, Health Promotion, Indigenous Health, Population Health or Human Structure and Function, or tailor the course to suit your interests (no specified major).
  • Hands-on practice: complete a professional industry placement in third year, to apply the knowledge and skills you have learnt in a real-world environment.

At UTS we are offering real-world applications  when it comes to the teaching part, that means we are having a lot of industry experts within our course who are giving guest lectures who are participating in teaching, and we are giving you the option to do a professional placement and we already had a few people who actually found employment through this professional placement plus we are offering a range of majors that are relevant to the industry and to what is needed in Australia at the moment.

How long is the course?

This course is offered on a three-year (full-time), or six-year (part-time) basis.

What are the majors? What’s the difference?

You can choose from five majors, or select no specified major. These are:

  • Global Health: learn about the health of individuals and populations in a global context. You’ll develop an understanding of the health of different groups, how these are interrelated and which factors we have to tackle on a global stage to ensure a healthy future for all.
  • Health Promotion: learn and understand why people perform negative health behaviours, and how we can help individuals and populations to gain control over and improve their health.
  • Indigenous Health: learn about gaining an in-depth understanding of the physical, social and mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians and how public health can assist in closing the gap.
  • Population Health: this major focuses on the art of public health as an organised effort to preventing disease and ill-health by the means of research and policy.
  • Human Structure and Function: gain an in-depth understanding of the human body and the interaction between physiology, anatomy and neuroscience.

What can I expect from the professional placement?

As a public health student, you’ll undertake a professional placement of at least 140 hours in the final year of your degree. A dedicated UTS Internship Officer will support your application for a placement within an organisation that matches your career interests.

Here are some of the past placements UTS Public Health students have been on:

  • Cerebral Palsy Alliance
  • Heart Foundation
  • Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network
  • Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA)
  • WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development
  • UTS-based research centres and projects

Admissions

What is the selection rank for entry?

Visit the course webpages for the lowest selection ranks for entry in our previous intake:

What if I don’t get the selection rank?

If you do not achieve the required selection rank to get into your preferred course, there are various options available to help you find your path to UTS.

UTS has a range of admission schemes. These include:

  • Year 12 subject scheme – this scheme awards adjustment points to your selection rank, based on performance in selected high school subjects that are relevant to the course you have applied for. You can check which courses offer adjustment points via the Year 12 adjustment factor calculator.
  • inPUTS – UTS’ Education Access Scheme for Year 12 and mature age applicants who’ve experienced long term disadvantage during study (illness, family problems, financial hardship). You can receive 10 adjustment points. This is done through UAC.
  • Schools Recommendation Scheme – for Year 12 students who come from disadvantaged or low-socioeconomic status schools, or experience financial hardship. This is done through UAC.
  • Elite athlete or performers – applicants whose studies were impacted by their high level sporting or performance commitment can receive 5 points. This is done through UAC.
  • Jumbunna Unistart – direct entry for persons of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent.

You may also consider alternative admissions pathways. For example:

  • You could apply for a course with a lower entry requirement. After one year of study, you can reapply to study your preferred course at UTS via UAC. The results from your undergraduate studies will be considered in your application and may give you a higher selection rank to make your application more competitive.
  • You could gain entry to UTS by completing a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or the Tertiary Preparation Certificate (TPC) through TAFE.

I’m mature age, so I don’t have a selection rank. How do I get into public health?

Selection is based on academic merit, measured by your previous ATAR (or interstate equivalent) and/or other post school studies you have already completed. You may also be eligible for entry via a UTS admission scheme.

For applicants over 20 years of age by 1 March (in the year prior to commencement) without a previous qualification, you can do the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT) [opens external site]. It’s held throughout the year and is a multiple choice general knowledge test. We recommend downloading the practice booklet to prepare.

Do I need to have completed any prerequisite subjects to study public health?

No, the assumed knowledge for public health is any two units of English. 

Does UTS offer early entry into public health courses?

Yes - eligible applicants can apply for early entry into all public health programs. Find out more

Can I do a double degree if I study public health?

Yes you can! You can combine the Bachelor of Public Health with the following courses:

Careers

What advice would you give a future Public Health student?

Hear from our previous course director Dr Daniel Demant about the best path to take when navigating the world of public health:

Really think what you really want to do later in life, and if you think that this is really what you want to do, then really just go for it.

Don't have a look at what the employment numbers are going to be although they are really good when it comes to public health always be guided by what you really want to do, what is your interest and if something such as health promotion or indigenous health is your interest, then go for it.

What are my career options after completing a Bachelor of Public Health?

Depending on your major and subject selection, career options can include positions in health promotion, advocacy, health education, e-health, health data and information management systems, planning and policy, project management and evaluation, community development, research and consultancy across both public and private health sectors, and physiotherapy (pathway).

Hear more from previous course director Dr Daniel Demant:

About a third of our students are going into the NGL sector. For example Cancer Councils or Ace Councils a third of them will go into the administration side of things, which might be NSW Health or federal equivalent of that and the final third will go into either Postgraduate studies or will go into the for-profit sectors for example pharmaceutical companies but also go into regular companies and take care of health promotion efforts in there.
 

I want to use public health as a stepping-stone to a PhD, Physiotherapy or another Graduate-Entry Master degree. Is this a good pathway?

Yes – Public Health provides a good level of understanding of health and health systems holistically. With the appropriate subject selection, it can be suitable preparation for graduate health programs, such as in physiotherapy, orthoptics, speech pathology, or health services management.

With a Bachelor of Public Health at UTS, you will be well-equipped to take on advanced study by research or coursework. Hear more from previous course director Dr Daniel Demant:

There are quite a few different graduate pathways you can do with this. One, is going to be the research option for example you can do a PhD or a Masters by Research, and the others are further qualifications in the coursework area. That goes from physiotherapy over to Pharmacy, all the way up to Medicine.

Physiotherapy pathway: choose the Human Structure and Function major to study the required electives in your second and third year and gain the required prerequisite knowledge to apply for the Master of Physiotherapy at UTS. Please note that eligibility to apply does not guarantee entry; you must have a competitive application.

Event and brochures

Is there an upcoming info session I can attend?

Visit our information sessions webpage for details on upcoming undergraduate info sessions.

Is there a course brochure available?

Visit our course guides page to download a brochure.

Videos

Past info sessions

All virtual info session resources are available online. Visit our discover sessions webpage for info session recordings and virtual tours.

 

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.