In 2008, Dean Linda Fried launched a School-wide effort to develop an oath for public health that would articulate the professional commitment of our students, graduates, and faculty, and provide guiding principles and inspiration to incoming students and graduates.
A truly collaborative effort involving faculty, staff, and students, the oath is recited at both orientation and graduation, thus establishing a tradition as students begin their educational experience and as they embark on their public health careers.
The Public Health Oath
Health is a human right. The public health community exists to safeguard that right. I believe it is a defining element of a civil society. Public health represents the collective actions necessary to protect the health of all people. Through prevention science and practice we can accomplish this goal. As a public health professional, guided by these principles, I declare the following:
I will work to ensure that people have the chance to live full and productive lives, free from avoidable disease, injury, and disability and supported in their pursuit of physical, mental, and social well-being. I will hold myself to the highest ethics, standards, values, and responsibilities as I move forward the science and practice of public health. |
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Watch the Class of 2020 Recite the Public Health Oath