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Faculty and students examine health, healing and health care in this innovative new program.
Health and Society (HSOC) is an interdisciplinary cross-college program offering a B.A. and a minor that brings together an array of social science approaches to address critical questions concerning health, healing, and health care in human populations. Program faculty and students examine the many ways in which human health, healing, and health care are defined, perceived, and enacted, and in which access to health and health care are distributed, within and across populations.
Injecting Global Health Perspectives into the Medical School Curriculum
Megan Holt ‘22 and Lauren Maus ’20 completed their Anthropology 174 Culture, Health and Healing class in the fall of 2019. Following winter break, they were called back for an encore—an opportunity to present their class research project to an interested audience of Larner Medical School faculty and students. The result of their project was an executive summary for Larner’s Global Health Program (LCOM) emphasizing the importance of injecting the traditional medical school curriculum with global health perspectives.“There’s a lot of hard science students have to do in med school,” notes Holt, a biology major who is planning on a medical career herself. “We found that global health—actually experiencing what it means to deliver medical care in developing countries—gives students a more wholistic view of medicine.” Anthropology 174 represents an increasing number of classes in the College of Arts and Sciences that integrate service learning with traditional classroom study and research.
One major, many perspectives
Take a close look at course offerings in UVM's health and society major and you'll notice classes in anthropology, sociology, economics, psychology, political science, philosophy, health sciences, environmental studies, and more. A truly broad academic experience that crosses the boundaries of many different disciplines is part of what makes our program so distinctive. You'll learn about issues in health and society from multiple viewpoints and perspectives. We believe this approach exposes you to many different avenues of exploration during your UVM career and after you graduate.
Developing a skill set in high demand
A degree in health and society can take you many places. Our students go into a variety of fields because a liberal arts degree equips them to do research, write and read critically and analytically so they can be trained for many different kinds of work. Students enrolled in the major or minor may go on to pursue careers in public health, global health, health care management, research, education, policy, advocacy, law, nonprofits, social entrepreneurship, industry, or other career areas. Faculty mentors provide expert guidance to help you find your niche in this promising field.
Beyond the classroom
The education you pursue here has real purpose. Close collaboration with faculty on research projects and presentations is a big part of the health and society experience. We help students find ways to apply their skills in service learning projects, internships and study abroad opportunities.