Flexible and customizable
Requiring only nine credit hours, our undergraduate certificate can be earned in as little as one semester. Select your elective credits from more than 20 humanities courses to tailor the certificate to your needs and interests.
Title
Communication in Healthcare
Our undergraduate certificate is perfect for students considering careers in medicine, veterinary practice, physical therapy, social work, or any other healthcare profession. The Communication in Healthcare certificate will help students learn about and develop skills related to communication in health professions. Such knowledge and skills are important because the very nature of healthcare involves frequent communication with other people, and the success of those encounters often depends on the quality of the communication.
Gain crucial skills to stand out in healthcare professions
This certificate program will:
- better prepare students for a contemporary health environment, including working with patients and other professionals with diverse backgrounds and experiences
- foster an understanding of the larger social context in which health professions work, including inequities related to health and healthcare
- encourage an informed and critical perspective about healthcare and health systems that will allow students to be ethical members of their profession who are equipped to identify and address injustices in the workplace.
Students will be provided with fundamental tools for practicing high-quality health communication and a better understanding of the diversity of people one communicates with in healthcare settings. These skills are widely understood to be crucial in healthcare but are sometimes underemphasized in health or medical training.
Completing this certificate demonstrates that students have developed competencies that are integral to healthcare processes.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
This certificate involves a minimum of 9 hours in the humanities and/or social sciences that are related to aspects of communication and health, either by focusing directly on communication processes or by helping students learn more about the diversity of people and challenges involved in healthcare. Students are required to take one course (CMN 260: Intro to Health Communication), but may choose the remaining coursework from a list of electives.
| Approved Communication in Healthcare Courses |
|---|
REQUIRED COURSE (3 hours) |
| CMN 260: Intro to Health Communication |
ELECTIVE COURSES (at least 6 hours) |
| AFRO 250: Introduction to Health and Wellness in the Black Community |
| ANTH 263: Body, Personhood, and Culture |
| ANTH 379: Medical Anthropology |
| CHLH 304: Foundations of Health Behavior |
| CMN 319: Risk Communication |
| CMN 368: Sexual Communication |
| CMN 396: Communication & Careers in Caregiving |
| CMN 462: Interpersonal Health Communication |
| CMN 464: Health Communication Campaigns |
| CMN 467: Communication & Health Equity |
| ENGL 219: Literature and Medicine |
| HIST 263: History of Medicine in the United States |
| HIST 364: The Science of Human Nature |
| HIST 367: History of Western Medicine |
| HIST 475: Formation of US Public Health |
| LLS 479: Race, Medicine, and Society |
| PHIL 104 or 105: Introduction to Ethics |
| PHIL 214: Biomedical Ethics |
| PSYC 239: Community Psych |
| SOC 162: Intro to Intl Health Policy |
| SOC 180: Stress and Health in African American Communities |
| SOC 274: Health, Illness and Society |
Questions?
The Communication in Healthcare certificate is administered by the Department of Communication undergraduate advising team. For more information and to decide which courses are right for you, please contact our undergraduate advising office.
Request a certificate
While certificates do not appear on your transcript, they may be listed on a resume or graduate school application. Students who complete all requirements should submit a request form by Jan. 16 (fall), June 16 (spring), or Aug. 16 (summer) to receive an official certificate.
View other programs
The Department of Communication also offers an undergraduate minor and major that complement other courses of study and give you the skills you need to be successful in any industry. To learn more, please visit our undergraduate program pages.