How can students better prepare for a career in healthcare? The minor in Medicine and Society is intended to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to:

• Understanding contemporary complexities of accessing, delivering, and receiving healthcare. 
• Understanding how issues related to medicine, health, healing and illness impact individuals and communities.

The minor includes courses in the social science fields as well as humanities disciplines. For students planning a career in healthcare, understanding the ethical, anthropological, social, and psychological issues related to medicine can help you become a more effective and compassionate provider. For students with academic or professional interests in the intersections between health and society, the minor offers a collection of perspectives that can inform future studies and careers. The minor will engage students from all majors who want to better understand the institution and practice of medicine and its position in, effects on, and responses to society.

Students can earn the Medicine and Society minor by completing the two required courses and three additional courses from the approved course list. 

Requirements

Courses

• ANT 336: Topics in Medical Anthropology, 3 sem. hrs.
• SWK or SOC 380: Health and Inequality, 3 sem. hrs.

Choose three from the following courses

• CMM 372: Communication for Health Professionals, 3 sem. hrs
• CMM 411: Health Communication, 3 sem. hrs.
• ENG 366: Health Literacy and Social Justice, 3 sem. hrs
• ENG 373: Writing in the Health Professions, 3 sem. hrs.
• PHL 315: Medical Ethics, 3 sem. hrs.
• PSY 366: Health Psychology, 3 sem. hrs.
• SWK 330: Perspectives on Aging, 3 sem. hrs.
• SWK 331: Death, Dying and Suicide, 3 sem. hrs.
• REL 367: Christian Ethics and Health Care Issues, 3 sem. hrs.
• VAF 230: Anatomy Drawing for Non-Majors, 3 sem. hrs.

Additional courses may be approved by the program director

The Quality Assurance in Life Science Industries minor is an interdisciplinary minor that represents a collaboration with an independent organization called Pathway for Patient Health (PPH). The curriculum, created at PPH was developed by life science industry and government leaders, with the intention to prepare students to enter the profession with the skills necessary to increase the assurance of product quality, safety and efficacy. Upon completion of the Quality Assurance in Life Science minor students will: 

• Gain a strong foundational knowledge of quality assurance as it applies to product development, product validation and risk analysis in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.
• Understand the role of quality assurance in directly impacting patient health.
• Have an opportunity to gain work experience and develop skills that are directly applicable to real-world work experiences in the fields of biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.

How to Complete the Minor

The Quality Assurance in the Life Sciences minor can be taken by any science or engineering major provided they satisfy the courses’ prerequisites.  Students can earn the Quality Assurance in the Life Sciences minor by completing the three MED courses (MED 401, 402, and 403) developed and co-taught by PPH industry experts, a course in microbiology (BIO 411 & 411L) and a course in business acumen (BIZ 200 or IET 317) for a total of 16 credit hours. Students in the minor also have access to paid internship opportunities.

Core requirements

• MED 401: Global Regulatory and Legal Requirements of Quality (3 sem. hrs.)
• MED 402: Product Development, Specifications, Process and Validation (3 sem. hrs.)
• MED 403: Risk and Failure Analysis in Quality Science (3 sem. hrs.)

Microbiology requirements

• BIO 411: General Microbiology (3 sem. hrs.)
• BIO 411L: General Microbiology Lab (1 sem. hrs.)

Business Acumen requirements (choose one)

• IET 317: Industrial Economic & Financial Analysis (3 sem. hrs.)
• BIZ 200: Survey of Business (3 sem. hrs.)