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Bachelor of Health in Community Health

Why do the poor die young?  What links exist between immigration and health?  Why is infectious disease making a comeback?  Why is ill health and disability increasing among the aged?  What appropriate health care service delivery models need to be developed for an ageing population?  How do the media handle health issues?  What is health promotion and what role does it play in countries like Australia?  What links exist between the biophysical environment and health, and between climate change and disease? 

These are the kinds of questions that concern scholars of human health and are addressed by the Bachelor of Health in Community Health degree at Macquarie University.  Established in 2002, the degree program focuses on the links between geography, environment, social, economic, and political processes and health outcomes.  It is designed to provide students with an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary view of health and an integrated awareness of the determinants and consequences of health and ill health in contemporary societies.  The degree can lead to further studies in the field of Health Studies. 

Career opportunities

The Bachelor of Health in Community Health degree is designed to provide graduates with a flexible range of skills and knowledge relevant to a number of health-related occupations in government, business, the community sector, education and research.  Health-care planning, social planning, community development, aged care planning, urban planning, health surveillance and market research, health advocacy and environmental health are all areas of possible employment.

Award of the Degree

The Bachelor of Health in Community Health requires three years of full-time study (longer for part-time students).  The number of credit points required for the degree is 68, of which 38 are required at 200-level or above, with a minimum of 18 credit points at 300-level. 

All students are required to complete a compulsory core of 13 units and to select a number of additional units from a specified set of electives. Details of the units can be viewed from the Macquarie University Handbook, Bachelor of Health in Community Health (opens a new window).

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Bachelor of Health in International Health

The increasingly globalised nature of the world in which we live poses new challenges and issues for public health.  The advent of the 21st century has seen wide-ranging changes in demographic patterns, disease burdens, and health policies.  A large proportion of the world’s population faces the spectre of malnutrition, parasitic diseases, periodic famines, bacterial and viral diseases.  Other parts of the world face health problems related to ageing populations, escalating health care costs, and chronic degenerative diseases.  But as nations become more permeable to the movement of goods and people between them, should we expect their health and disease profiles to increasingly resemble each other?  While a viral infection like HIV/AIDS offers a pertinent example of how health issues can quickly become international concerns, the quite different experience and ‘treatment’ of the HIV/AIDS pandemic by different countries has reminded us of the complexity and specificity of geographic and cultural conditions across the world.

Established in 2004, the new Bachelor of Health in International Health degree at Macquarie University challenges students to critically reflect on such issues.  The degree program explores the social, political, economic, cultural and environmental determinants and outcomes of health-related issues in developing and developed countries from an interdisciplinary perspective.  It will give students an appreciation of the underlying causes of ill-health, introduce them to the principles of public health and alternative modalities of health care, and foster a sensitivity to the ethical aspects of health research and practice in poor and otherwise marginalized populations.  The degree can lead to further studies in the field of Health Studies. 

Career opportunities

The Bachelor of Health in International Health degree is designed to provide graduates with a flexible range of skills and knowledge relevant to a number of occupations in the fields of international health, welfare, development, and aid.  Government organisations at international, regional, and national levels; community-based and other non-government organisations; private sector and not-for-profit consultancy firms; and education and research institutions working in such fields are all potential employers.  By fostering capacities in the areas of health analysis and planning, the degree will have appeal to both Australian and international students seeking to raise the health profile of their respective countries.

Award of the Degree

The Bachelor of Health in International Health requires three years of full-time study (longer for part-time students).  The number of credit points required for the degree is 68, of which 38 are required at 200-level or above, with a minimum of 18 credit points at 300-level.  All students are required to complete a compulsory core of 12 units, and to select at least one other unit from a specified list  In addition, students will need to take other units to ensure they meet the full credit point requirements for the degree. Ideally students will use the flexibility of this latter requirements to develop a coherent semi-specialisation in a complementary subject area, e.g. Development Studies, Economics, Politics and International Relations, Environmental and Cultural Geography, Women's Studies etc or a foreign language. Details of the units can be viewed from the Macquarie University Handbook, Bachelor of Health in International Health (opens a new window).

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Double Degrees in Health

Bachelor of Arts - Psychology and Bachelor of Health
Bachelor of Science - Psychology and Bachelor of Health

Health issues are becoming an increasingly important part of our daily lives, and of the broader social and political fabric. So too is the health sector a very significant source of graduate jobs. With these developments in mind, Macquarie University is offering, from 2005, a new double degree program which will equip students with the skills and knowledge needed in a variety of health-related occupations: in health promotion, policy, planning, and research to name just a few. As well as following a coherent pattern of study in a health science in which Macquarie’s leadership is widely acknowledged, students will also gain an appreciation of the broader social context of health – and of the value of bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to this area of growing individual and community concern.

The Bachelor of Arts-Psychology (or Bachelor of Science-Psychology) with Bachelor of Health is a four-year double degree which includes a major in psychology accredited by the Australian Psychological Society and a Bachelor of Health. (Students wishing to become registered psychologists in NSW will need to undertake a year of further undergraduate study – e.g. through the Psychology Honours program or the Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology – plus two years of supervised experience or a two-year postgraduate degree.)


Program structure

The number of credit points required for the double degree is 96, of which 66 are required at 200-level or above, with a minimum of 30 credit points at 300-level. All students are required to complete a compulsory core of units, and to select a small number of additional units from a specified set.

Details of the units can be viewed from the Macquarie University Handbook, BA-Psychology BHealth, and BSc-Psychology BHealth