The Health, Medicine, and Society (HMS) major offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding health, healthcare, medicine, and illness.
Drawing on the humanities and social sciences, the program examines the ethical, cultural, historical, political, and social forces that shape healthcare systems and health outcomes. Students learn to analyze complex health challenges from multiple perspectives while developing strong research, communication, and critical thinking skills.
The curriculum combines coursework from across the College of Arts & Sciences with hands-on learning experiences that prepare students for careers in healthcare administration, health policy, research, communications, advocacy, and related fields. Research methods training and experiential learning are built into the major, ensuring graduates gain both academic knowledge and practical experience.
HMS 101: Introduction to Health, Medicine, and Society
Your HMS journey begins with an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of health, medicine, and healthcare. In this foundational course, you’ll explore key questions surrounding ethics, health policy, healthcare systems, research methods, and the human experience of health and illness. The course introduces the major’s core themes and demonstrates how multiple disciplines contribute to understanding contemporary health challenges.
HMS 410: Capstone Seminar in Health, Medicine, and Society
In your final year, the capstone seminar brings together everything you’ve learned throughout the program. Working across disciplinary perspectives, you’ll analyze complex healthcare issues, integrate research and applied learning experiences, and demonstrate your ability to think critically about health and medicine from both humanistic and social scientific viewpoints.
Curriculum Areas
The HMS curriculum is organized around five areas of study that provide a comprehensive understanding of health, medicine, and society. Students take courses in each area, allowing them to explore healthcare from multiple perspectives while tailoring the degree to their interests.
Healthcare decisions often involve complex ethical questions. Through coursework in ethics and philosophy, you’ll examine topics such as medical decision-making, patient rights, environmental ethics, healthcare access, and emerging issues in medicine and technology. You’ll learn to evaluate competing perspectives and apply ethical reasoning to real-world healthcare challenges.
Questions You Might Explore:
How should healthcare resources be allocated?
What ethical responsibilities do healthcare providers have?
How should society respond to emerging medical technologies?
What role should ethics play in public health policy?
Understanding health requires understanding evidence. Coursework in research methods teaches you how to gather, interpret, evaluate, and communicate information about health and healthcare. Students develop practical skills in data analysis, critical inquiry, and social science research that are valuable across a variety of professions.
Skills You’ll Develop:
Data analysis
Research design
Critical evaluation of evidence
Qualitative and quantitative research techniques
Professional communication of findings
Health is shaped by more than biology. This area explores how social institutions, culture, economics, and public systems influence health outcomes and healthcare delivery. You’ll examine how factors such as race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, and environment affect the experience of health and illness.
Topics May Include:
Health disparities
Aging and society
Culture and healthcare
Environmental health
Gender and health
The social determinants of health
Behind every healthcare issue are real people and lived experiences. This area focuses on how individuals and communities experience health, illness, wellness, disability, aging, and care. Drawing from disciplines across the humanities and sciences, students explore the personal and cultural dimensions of health and medicine.
Areas of Exploration:
Health communication
Mental health and well-being
Food, culture, and identity
Human development
Disability and aging
The patient experience
Healthcare is shaped by public policy, legislation, regulations, and institutions. In this area, you’ll study how governments, organizations, and healthcare systems influence healthcare delivery, access to care, insurance, and public health outcomes. You’ll learn how policies are developed and how they affect individuals, communities, and healthcare providers.
