Medical and Health Humanities, Bachelor of Arts

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Arts in Medical and Health Humanities is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on understanding health, and the medical field, analyzing human behavior within a global and multi-lingual framework, and developing ethical intelligence. The major is appropriate for students considering careers in the medical field, public health, patient advocacy, and other health-related professions. The program includes 15 hours of required coursework including 6 hours of major specific core curriculum courses, 6 hours of medical humanities courses, and 3 hours in health/healthcare communication. In addition, students complete 21 hours of prescribed electives from humanities and health-related disciplines. Students may use the remaining 48 hours of free electives to pursue a double major, pursue one or more minors, or complete prerequisites for their planned health career.

Core Curriculum - 42 hours

The Core Curriculum serves as a broad foundation for the undergraduate degree. All candidates for a bachelor’s degree must achieve core student learning outcomes, including communication, critical thinking, empirical and quantitative skills, teamwork, personal responsibility and social responsibility, by completing courses within each category or component area of the Core Curriculum as outlined below.

The University has approved specific courses that satisfy Core Curriculum Requirements. Approved courses can be found on the Core Curriculum Page. Students seeking the most efficient way to complete the core curriculum and major or minor requirements are advised to take approved courses that can fulfill both requirements. Although core curriculum courses can also be used to fulfill major or minor requirements, earned credits hours are only applied once.

The courses listed below fulfill core curriculum and major requirements. Students who have completed a core curriculum category with courses other than those listed below will still be required to take the listed course(s) to meet major requirements.

040 Language Philosophy and Culture - 3 hours

PHIL 2322Ethics, Health, and Culture

3

090 Integrative & Experiential Learning - 3 hours

ANTH 2311Global Health and Social Justice: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Illness and Inequality

3

Major Requirements - 30 hours

Required Courses - 9 hours

MEDH 2311Introduction to Medical and Health Humanities

3

MEDH 4301Medical Humanities: Critical Perspectives

3

COMM 3346Health Communication

3

Or

COMM 3354Healthcare Provider Communication

3

Prescribed Electives - 21 hours

Humanities - 12 hours

ANTH 4303Forensic Anthropology

3

ANTH 4311Medical Anthropology

3

ANTH 4350Mexican American Folk Medicine

3

ANTH 4351Global Health: Critical Perspectives

3

ENGL 4320Literature and Psychoanalysis

3

GWSP 1301Introduction to Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies

3

GWSP 2301Concepts in Gender and Sexuality

3

HIST 4303Public Health in the Americas

3

PHIL 1366Philosophy and History of Science and Technology

3

PHIL 4316Philosophy of Science

3

PSYC 2301General Psychology

3

PSYC 2314Developmental Psychology: Lifespan

3

PSYC 4356Health Psychology

3

SOCI 1301Introduction to Sociology

3

SOCI 3312Environmental Sociology

3

SOCI 3324Sociology of Health

3

Health - 9 hours

ADST 2321Introduction to Addiction Studies

3

BMED 3103Human Behavior

1

EEMS 4360Food Science

3

HLTH 2352Personal Health

3

HLTH 3325Latino Health

3

HLTH 3360Environmental Health

3

HPRS 3301Introduction to the Evolving Healthcare System

3

HPRS 3313Physical and Mental Health Throughout the Lifespan

3

HPRS 3320Patient Education in Health Sciences

3

HPRS 4305Public Health Concepts

3

HPRS 4315Health Disparities

3

HPRS 4320Border Health Issues

3

NUTR 2351Introduction to Clinical Nutrition

3

NUTR 3350Integrative Nutrition and Nutrigenomics

3

NUTR 3452Culinary Nutrition

4

NUTR 4310Nutritional Education and Counseling

3

NUTR 4359Community Nutrition

3

REHS 3311Disability Policy and Advocacy

3

REHS 3320Family and Disability

3

SOCW 3342Substance Abuse and the Family

3

SOCW 3361Child Maltreatment

3

SOCW 3395The Natural Environment and Human Well-Being

3

SOCW 4321Domestic Violence in Society

3

SPAN 2317Spanish for Healthcare Professionals I

3

SPAN 2318Spanish for Healthcare Professionals II

3

SPAN 3348Advanced Spanish for Healthcare Professionals

3

SPAN 4341Advanced Spanish Composition for the Health Professions

3

SPAN 4348Spanish for Healthcare Professionals and Latino Health

3

Students may need special approval to enroll in one or more of the courses listed above.

Free electives - 48 hours

Free electives credit hours required may vary to achieve the institutional minimum of 120 hours for a degree.

Free elective credit hours at the advanced level may be needed to achieve the institutional minimum of 42 advanced hours.

Total Credit Hours: 42

Total Credit Hours: 120

View this program’s recommended roadmap to graduation.

UTRGV Roadmaps are a suggested sequence of courses designed to assist students in completing their undergraduate degree requirements. This is a term-by-term sample roadmap of courses required to complete the degree. Students must satisfy all requirements in their catalog including, but not limited to course prerequisites, grade point average and course grade benchmarks, progression requirements, and graduation requirements.

Students should meet with their academic advisor every semester to discuss their individualized path toward completion. Degree progress within this roadmap depends upon such factors as course availability, individual student academic preparation and readiness, student time management, work and personal responsibilities, and financial considerations. Students may choose to take courses during summer terms to reduce course loads during long semesters.