Major & Minor
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Major | Minor | Major/Minor Declaration
Medicine, Health, and Society Major
The major in medicine, health, and society investigates the cultural, economic, demographic, and biological factors that impact health. Drawing on courses in the medical sciences, humanities, and social sciences, this innovative interdisciplinary field of study transcends the traditional biomedical approach to understanding health and illness.
Requirements
MHS majors craft a plan of study that includes core MHS classes, electives that meets their particular interests, and an area of concentration. It requires 36 credit hours of course work, distributed as detailed below.
1. CORE COURSES
One of the following core courses (3 credit hours):
- MHS 1920: Politics of Health
- MHS 1930: Social Dimensions of Health and Illness
- MHS 1940: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
- MHS 1950: Theories of the Body
- MHS 2110: American Medicine in the World
- MHS 2230: Masculinity and Men’s Health
- MHS 3890 (HUM 1610): COVID and Society
- ANTH 2342: Biology of Inequality
2. CONCENTRATION
Four courses (12 credit hours) not used to satisfy the core course or elective requirements in one of the concentrations areas below:
- Global health: emphasizes social and political determinants of global health disparities, history of global public health concepts and practices, relationship between culture and health, various health systems.
- Health policies and economies: emphasizes the economic, legal, and political dimensions of health.
- Health behaviors and health sciences: emphasizes biological and social foundations of health.
- Inequality, intersectionality, and health justice: emphasizes how diverse structures of inequality intersect and shape health disparities; and considers the role of social justice movements in reducing inequities.
- Medicine, humanities, and the arts: emphasizes critical inquiry of our most basic ideas about health and medicine.
- Critical health studies: Students choosing this concentration must propose a set of four courses (12 credit hours) that form a coherent program of study related to critical health studies and receive approval from the director of undergraduate studies.
Lists of approved courses for respective concentrations can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog.
3. ELECTIVES
Seven courses (21 credit hours) not used to satisfy the core course or concentration requirements chosen from the Undergraduate Catalog. All MHS and MHS-approved courses may count as electives (except MHS 3830/3831; 3880/3881; and 4998/4999).
Up to 12 hours from the following list may be counted for the major:
- BSCI 1510-1511
- BSCI 2101 (formally MHS 3101)
- BSCI 2520
- BSCI 3101 (formally MHS 3102)
- BSCI 3234 (formally MHS 1500)
- CHEM 2221-2222 or 2211-2212
- MHS 1600
Your grade in all of these courses will count toward your MHS GPA.
4. DISCIPLINARY REQUIREMENT
One course (3 credit hours) from the following courses must be used to satisfy the concentration requirement or electives requirement.
- ANTH 2213W: Food, Identity, and Culture
- ANTH 3143: Medical Anthropology
- ANTH 3141: Anthropology of Healing
- ANTH 3345: Genetics in Society
- CSET 2500: Science for Everyone
- CSET 2550: Genetic Breakthroughs: The Promise and the Problems
- ECON 2350: Health Care Policy
- ECON 3350: Economics of Health
- GSS 3305: Gender and Sexuality in Times of Pandemic
- HIST 2780: Superhuman Civilization
- HIST 2800: Modern Medicine
- MHS 1960: Health Humanities
- MHS 2140: Health Care in the United States: Policy and Politics
- MHS 3050W: Medicine and Literature
- MHS 3120: Medicine, Science, and Technology
- MUSL 3235: Music, Pandemics, and History
- PHIL 1008, 1008W: Introduction to Medical Ethics
- PHIL 3608: Ethics and Medicine
- PSY 3635: Health Psychology
- RSLT 4834: Post-Freudian Theories and Religion
- SOC 3301: Society and Medicine
- SOC 3304: Race, Gender, and Health
- SOC 3306: Gender and Medical Work
Minor in Medicine, Health, and Society
The minor in medicine, health, and society is an excellent addition to any student considering a career in health care, government, biological science, and related fields. Gaining an understanding of the social foundations of health through the MHS minor, students get an in-depth education on health care, health policy, economics, racial, gender and disability disparities, and other related perspectives to help them achieve their long-term career goals.
Requirements
The minor requires 18 credit hours of coursework, distributed as follows.
1. CORE COURSE
One of the following core courses (3 credit hours):
- MHS 1920: Politics of Health
- MHS 1930: Social Dimensions of Health and Illness
- MHS 1940: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
- MHS 1950: Theories of the Body
- MHS 2110: American Medicine in the World
- MHS 2230: Masculinity and Men’s Health
- MHS 3890 (HUM 1610): COVID and Society
- ANTH 2342: Biology of Inequality
2. CONCENTRATION
Three courses (9 credit hours) not used to satisfy the core course or elective requirements in one of the concentrations areas below:
- Global health: emphasizes social and political determinants of global health disparities, history of global public health concepts and practices, relationship between culture and health, various health systems.
- Health policies and economies: emphasizes the economic, legal, and political dimensions of health.
- Health behaviors and health sciences: emphasizes biological and social foundations of health.
- Inequality, intersectionality, and health justice: emphasizes how diverse structures of inequality intersect and shape health disparities; and considers the role of social justice movements in reducing inequities.
- Medicine, humanities, and the arts: emphasizes critical inquiry of our most basic ideas about health and medicine.
Lists of approved courses for respective concentrations can be found in the undergraduate catalog.
3. ELECTIVES
Two additional courses (6 credit hours) not used to satisfy the core course or concentration requirements chosen from the undergraduate catalog. All MHS courses may count as electives (except MHS 3830/3831; 3880/3881; and 4998/4999).
4. DISCIPLINARY REQUIREMENT
One course (3 credit hours) from the following courses must be used to satisfy the concentration requirement or electives requirement:
- ANTH 2213W: Food, Identity, and Culture
- ANTH 3143: Medical Anthropology
- ANTH 3141: Anthropology of Healing
- ANTH 3345: Genetics in Society
- CSET 2500: Science for Everyone
- CSET 2550: Genetic Breakthroughs: The Promise and the Problems
- ECON 2350: Health Care Policy
- ECON 3350: Economics of Health
- GSS 3305: Gender and Sexuality in Times of Pandemic
- HIST 2780: Superhuman Civilization
- HIST 2800: Modern Medicine
- MHS 1960: Health Humanities
- MHS 2140: Health Care in the United States: Policy and Politics
- MHS 3050W: Medicine and Literature
- MHS 3120: Medicine, Science, and Technology
- MUSL 3235: Music, Pandemics, and History
- PHIL 1008, 1008W: Introduction to Medical Ethics
- PHIL 3608: Ethics and Medicine
- PSY 3635: Health Psychology
- RSLT 4834: Post-Freudian Theories and Religion
- SOC 3301: Society and Medicine
- SOC 3304: Race, Gender, and Health
- SOC 3306: Gender and Medical Work
Declaring a Major or Minor
Students may declare a major or minor in MHS, after completing their first year, using this link. Please consult the student user guide. Please fill out the form and email it to mhs@vanderbilt.edu . You will be assigned an adviser and the adviser’s signature will be provided. You will then be instructed to turn the signed form into your school’s academic services office for processing.