Health Studies

Students who major in Health Studies are equipped to pursue work and graduate studies in public health, health policy, healthcare management and administration, and other areas related to health and social services. In addition to completing the General Education curriculum, all students in the major complete courses in the three core areas of undergraduate public health education: health policy, global health, and epidemiology. Additional health-related courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities are selected, in consultation with faculty advisors, to align with personal interests and goals.

The Health Studies minor enhances preparation for clinical and professional practice by examining the foundations of social medicine. Courses in health policy, healthcare in social context, and healthcare ethics complement the science courses required for admission to graduate programs in medicine, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other clinical professions. The minor also prepares rising leaders in business and politics to navigate the intricacies of the healthcare sector.

  • Major

    The Health Studies Major

    Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the major must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade less than C- (1.7).

    10 units, including:

    • HS100 Health Systems and Policy

    • HS101 Global Health

    • HS250 Epidemiology and Health Research Methods

    • HS400 Capstone

    • Statistical analysis, 1 course chosen from

      • BUAD202 Statistics for Business and Economics

      • DSST189 Introduction to Statistical Modeling

      • DSST289 Introduction to Data Science

      • ECON170 Statistical Analysis for Business and Economics

    • Humanities perspectives on health, 1 course chosen from

      • ANTH271 Covid-19 in International Perspective

      • ANTH272 Global Womens Reproductive Health

      • ANTH302 Health Inequities in International Perspective

      • ANTH303 Biopolitics in Medical Anthropology

      • ANTH305 Health and Migration

      • CLSC210 History of Early Medicine

      • HIST291 Histories of Public Health and Biomedicine in the Global South

      • HS200 The Medical Humanities

      • HS303 Health Ethics

      • HS340 Law and Medicine

      • LAIS367 Stories Matter: Telling and Listening in Medicine

      • LDST377 Ethical Decision Making-Health Care

      • LLC281 Literature and Medicine

      • PHIL265 Bioethics

    • Social science perspectives, 1 course chosen from

      • HS302 Patients and Providers

      • HS341 Comparative Health Systems

      • LAIS307 Medical Spanish: Health and Medicine in the Community

      • MGMT355 Health Sector Analysis

      • PLSC365 U.S. Healthcare Policy and Politics

      • PSYC323/HS323 Health Psychology

      • SOC340 Sociology of Health and Illness

    • Natural science perspectives on health, 1 course chosen from

    • HS397 plus any courses from the Humanities, Social Science, Natural Science categories above; no more than two courses with the same non-HS prefix can be applied to the major.

  • Minor

    The Health Studies Minor

    Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the minor must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade less than C- (1.7).

    5 units, including:

    • HS100 Health Systems and Policy

    • HS101 Global Health

    • 3 units, at least 2 with HS prefixes, selected from

      • ANTH271 Covid-19 in International Perspective

      • ANTH272 Global Women's Reproductive Health

      • ANTH302 Health Inequities in International Perspective

      • ANTH303 Biopolitics in Medical Anthropology

      • ANTH305 Health and Migration

      • CLSC210 History of Early Medicine

      • HIST291 Histories of Public Health and Biomedicine in the Global South

      • HS200 The Medical Humanities

      • HS250 Epidemiology and Health Research Methods

      • HS302 Patients and Providers

      • HS303 Health Ethics

      • HS305 Human Nutrition

      • HS331 Planetary Health

      • HS340 Law and Medicine

      • HS341 Comparative Health Systems

      • HS397 Special Topics

      • LAIS307 Medical Spanish: Health and Medicine in the Community

      • LAIS367 Stories Matter: Telling and Listening in Medicine

      • LDST377 Ethical Decision Making-Health Care

      • MGMT355 Health Sector Analysis

      • PHIL265 Bioethics

      • PLSC365 U.S. Healthcare Policy and Politics

      • PSYC323/HS323 Health Psychology

      • SOC340 Sociology of Health and Illness