The Bachelor of Arts in Health, Medicine and Society requires a minimum of 30-36 credits completed in the following categories. Please note that the description of the Health, Medicine and Society major provided below is only for students under a 2024-2025 or later catalog year. For students under an older catalog year, information about major requirements are outlined here. Please use your Lehigh email to access this document.
Foundational Core Courses (14-16 credits)
Students choose one course from each of the four core categories.
- Core course in Health Humanities (Choose 1 of the following):
- HMS 116: Bioethics
- HMS 170: Medical Humanities
- Core course in Behavior, Culture & Society (Choose 1 of the following):
- HMS 130: Introduction to Health Psychology
- HMS 160: Medicine and Society
- Core course in Public Health & Policy (Choose 1 of the following):
- POPH 001: Introduction to Population and Public Health
- CGH 001: Community Health
- CGH 004: Introduction to Global Health
- Health Research Methods Core Course (Choose 1 of the following):
- POPH 002: Population Health Research Methods & Application
- BSTA 101: Population Health Data Science I
- BSTA 005: Statistical Literacy in Health
- CGH 106: Qualitative Methods in Health Research
Depth Concentration (9-12 credits)
Students must take a minimum of 3 courses within one of the following concentrations:
- Health Humanities Concentration: Students choosing a Health Humanities concentration take HMS courses that within the College of Arts and Sciences typically have a Human Experience (HE) or Arts & Language (AL) designation. Possible courses that fit this concentration are found in departments such as English, History, Modern Languages & Literatures, Philosophy, and Religion, Culture & Society.
- Behavior, Culture, & Society Concentration: Students choosing a Behavior, Culture, & Society concentration take HMS courses that within the College of Arts and Sciences typically have a Social World (SW) designation. Possible courses that fit this concentration are found in departments such as Economics, Journalism, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology/Anthropology.
- Public Health & Policy: Students choosing a Public Health & Policy concentration take HMS courses in the College of Health that evaluate the social determinants of health, the organization and financing of the public health and health care systems in the U.S. and other countries, and train students to use qualitative and quantitative methods used in public health and policy research. Possible courses that fit this concentration are offered by the departments of Community & Global Health, Population Health, and Biostatistics and Health Data Science.
Additional HMS Coursework (6-8 credits)
Students must take 2 additional HMS courses (at least one of which must be outside of their selected concentration).
Ready to Declare?
Students who wish to major in Health, Medicine, and Society should fill out the Major Declaration Form based on their home college.