ALBION, Mich. — As COVID-19 continues to shape the way we do things, Albion College has recognized an increase need for health professions. Starting this fall, Albion is offering a new public health concentration.
Albion recognizes that young people are looking for new ways to impact the future of Michigan's public health. They say Biology (pre-med), Chemistry and Organic Chemistry majors are all in demand right now.
In the wake of the current Pandemic, Albion is working to evolve their pre-med coursework to address the needs that COVID-19 has created, including enhanced focus on epidemiology and a new Public Health program.
The new Public Health program will help prepare for careers in vaccine development and chemistry, as well as careers in community/public health and administration.
"Once we made our transition to online teaching in March, a group of faculty began discussing 'how can we address this from the curricular side?'" says Dr. Bradley Rabquer, Director of the Wilson Institute for Medicine and Associate Professor, Biology Department at Albion College. "They {students} can expect to get rolling right away. This is launching right now. We were able to craft the program and get it launched starting this fall... We know we have passionate students and we know we have incoming passionate students who want to make a difference in the world and want to go out there and do this work now."
Students will be returning to campus come fall, and will be met with increased safety procedures. 60 Albion students will be certified in contract tracing and will assist the health department.
"Following the CDC's and the state's recommendations of social distancing and hygiene is extremely important, and that will be ever more important as students return to campus," said Dr. Rabquer. "Some of the other things we're also doing at Albion is developing a program for all returning students and all faculty and staff to learn more about public health procedures and why it's important."
Starting in July, Albion will be offering a free online course to educate all students about the coronavirus and public health measures to help returning students understand how it will keep them safe.
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