PHS 3050

Not a hard class at all! Lectures are fairly interesting, if basic. If you have a surface-level awareness of current developments in health, the environment, and disease, not a lot in this class will be new for you. Textbook is helpful, but not necessary. Grading is quite lenient, with much of your grade coming from weekly writing assignments; quizzes make up 30% and are easy and another chunk comes from a group project that is leniently graded. Overall, a great elective for any student looking to get into public health, who needs it for the bioethics minor, or wants to boost their pre-health resume.

This class piqued my interest in public health and it was pretty interesting. The homework was kind of boring at times, but lectures were pretty interesting. You could get by in the class without reading the textbook because Dr. Hornsby covered the same info in lectures. Before taking the class, I heard that it was an easy A class, but I don't think that is the case. You really do have to pay attention in lectures and understand the information. The quizzes and final were open-note, but if you had pages of notes and didn't understand any of it, you probably would not do well. There were prep questions to complete before every class and those were easy to do well on. The Prof and TA were sometimes picky with the prep questions grading and the grading with the final small group project and infographic. The class isn't super hard, but you still need to do the work and understand what you are learning. If you are wondering whether or not public health is a good fit for you, this would be a good class to take.

#tCFF23

Professor Hornsby is a great professor, and the class isn't demanding at all. There are once weekly responses to readings, but they don't need to be long and the readings are always a reasonable length. Definitely doesn't take more than an hour at most to complete. There are three quizzes throughout the semester in addition to the final, all of which are open note, which is super helpful. You really don't need to study for them, but make sure to write down every word she says in class-- some of the questions are word for word quotes from her. I would take notes directly on the slideshows and easily got an A in the class. There's also a final group project, but she gives you a lot of time throughout the semester to work on it in class. Most of the topics covered are honestly pretty basic and leave you wanting to go more in depth, but still interesting nonetheless. However, if you're a global public health major, I wouldn't recommend taking this course. PHS 3825 is a required course for the major, and covers pretty much the exact same topics. But if you're just exploring interests, I would definitely recommend this class!!

Professor Hornsby is one of the nicest and most accommodating professors at UVA. She truly does everything she can to help you succeed in her class. She is super approachable and really fair (for example, if you are unhappy with the grading on a quiz question, she will go over it with you and even give you partial credit if she agrees with your thought process). Also, all of the quizzes are online and open notes so you just need to make sure that you consistently go to class, take good notes, and have a basic understanding of the material and you will be fine. The class gives you an overview of all the fundamentals of public health, so while you don't get to delve too deeply into a specific topic, I learned a lot about public health. Recommend if you are interested in majoring in public health.

This class is a waste of time. Only take it if you absolutely have to for the Global Public Health major.. It's not a very difficult class, but you won't get much out of it and Prof Hornsby is nice but boring to listen to.

The class is really easy, and Professor Hornsby is nice. It's a little disappointing if you're hoping to learn a lot of novel information about public health though.

This has been one of my favorite classes yet at UVA. The material is very easy to digest and requires little outside work. The readings got a little heavy at times, but Professor Hornsby always made the lectures relevant and interesting. You learn at lot in this course, and Hornsby's teachings are supplemented by guest lectures from specialists within the PHS department. That being said, this is a wonderful class if you are interested in Public Health and are able to get in.