2024-2025 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Undergraduate Certificate in Medical and Health Humanities
Medical and health humanities is a multidisciplinary investigation of medical and health-related topics. This certificate program allows students pursuing careers in health or health-related majors, premedicine, nursing, athletic training, child life, and social work to broaden their understanding of medicine and health by incorporating the diverse perspectives of a variety of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences. Completion of courses in the student's plan of study will result in award of the certificate in medical humanities. This shall be noted on the student's official university transcript. Students must apply for an audit for a nonteaching certificate upon completion. Visit gvsu.edu/s/Ml for the certificate request form.
Requirements for a Certificate in Medical and Health Humanities
The medical and humanities certificate requires 11 to 12 credits from the courses listed as follows. No more than two courses can have the same department prefix. Students can only apply two courses from the certificate toward a major and another two to a minor.
Core Course
Elective Courses
The additional eight to nine credits are to be completed by taking one course from each of the following three categories:
- Perspectives on Human Health and Development
- Perspectives Related to End of Life
- Ethics in Health and Medicine
Many of these courses meet general education requirements:
I = Issues courses: I-H = Humanities, I-I = Identity, I-HR = Human Rights, I-S = Sustainability, PL = Philosophy and Literature, SBS = Social and Behavioral Sciences, US = US Diversity, HNR = Issues for Honors
Perspectives on Human Health and Development
- AHS 352 - Introduction to Holistic Health Care (3 credits) (I-H)
- ANT 320 - Culture and Disease (3 credits) (I-H)
- CLA 231 - Health and Science in Antiquity (3 credits) (PL)
- COM 209 - Health Communication Systems (3 credits)
- INT 325 - LGBTQ Identities (3 credits) Identity (I-I)
- HPE 207 - Personal Health and Wellness (3 credits) (SBS)
- PSY 364 - Life Span Developmental Psychology (3 credits)
- PSY 367 - Health Psychology (3 credits) Health (I-H)
- SOC 286 - Health and Society (3 credits) (SBS, US)
- WGS 335 - Women, Health and Environment (3 credits) Sustainability (I-S)
Perspectives Related to End of Life
- ENG 386 - Literary Responses to Death and Dying (3 credits) (I-H)
- HNR 280 - Honors Special Topics (1 to 3 credits) Evaluated case-by-case; HNR 280 may only be used once in the certificate program.
- INT 314 - Life Journeys (3 credits) Identity (I-I)
- NUR 344 - Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Journey (3 credits) (I-H)
- NUR 354 - Living with Life-limiting Illness (3 credits) Health (I-H)
- PHI 341 - Philosophy of Death and Dying (3 credits)
- SOC 386 - Death and Dying (3 credits)
- SOC 388 - Middle Age and Aging (3 credits)
- SW 344 - Responding to Loss, Death, and Grief (3 credits) (I-H)
Ethics in Health and Medicine
- AHS 321 - Ethical and Legal Responsibilities in Health Care (3 credits)
- BIO 328 - Biomedical Ethics (3 credits) Health (I-H)
- COM 438 - Communication Ethics (3 credits) Identity (I-I)
- HNR 280 - Honors Special Topics (1 to 3 credits) Evaluated case-by-case; HNR 280 may only be used once in the certificate program.
- HNR 312 - Honors Junior Seminar (3 credits) (HNR)
- One of the following two courses:
- PHI 202 - Philosophy and Ethics of Health (3 credits) (PL)
- PHI 325 - Ethics in Professional Life (3 credits) Human Rights (I-HR)
- PLS 310 - Politics and Health Policy (3 credits)
With permission, additional special topics courses can be counted toward the certificate in medical and health humanities.
Transfer Students
A maximum of two courses can be credited by transfer toward completion of the medical humanities certificate. Students must complete at least two of the courses for the certificate at GVSU.
Honors Students
Some HNR 280 courses can be used to fulfill the certificate requirements. Sign-off will be handled on a case-by-case basis. HNR 280 can only be used to fulfill one of the elective categories.
Examples:
Ethics: HNR 280 - Food for Thought (semester 2)
End-of-Life Perspectives: HNR 280 - Live, Learn, Lead: Saging and Aging
Certificate Checklist
Track the 11 to 12 credit requirements using the following list:
______ Core Course: HST 370 - History of Medicine and Health
______ Perspectives on Human Health and Development course: _____________
______ Perspectives Related to End-of-Life course: _____________
______ Ethics in Health and Medicine course: _____________