Humanities in Health and Medicine major
In order to be effective, health care professionals need to understand not only the workings of the body from a scientific perspective, but also to know how people and societies function, and the art and science of caring for people. A caring health professional is assisted by interpretive ability and insight, applies ethical sensitivity and has an awareness of their own values and attitudes. The aim of this major is to prepare individuals working across the health professions for caring for poeple through bringing together the traditions of humanities, inquiry, compassion, and judgment to bear on the management and on the promotion of health and the treatment of illness. Those traditions include the many ways cultures have of representing, narrating, analyzing, knowing, and organizing health, illness, treatment and human interactions.
Outcomes
Students are able to (1) Demonstrate understanding of the historical, cultural, religious and political contexts of theories and practices related to health and medicine
; (2) Demonstrate utility of perspectives derived from the humanities in analyzing approaches and practices related to health and medicine
; (3) Explore and understand connections among health and medicine with the arts including literature, music and visual arts, and the use of the arts as a tool for healing; (4) Review, analyse, consolidate and synthesize knowledge from a variety of sources about what it means to be human and its translation into the optimal care of people; (5) Demonstrate ability to self-reflect on values and unconscious biases that impact on health and health care; and (6) Apply effective communication skills using written, visual and verbal forms in demonstrating understanding of learning outcomes and in the potential care of others.
Broadening guidelines
All students studying towards a Bachelor's Degree at UWA are required to Broaden their studies by completing a minimum of four units (24 points) of study outside their degree specific major. Broadening is your opportunity to explore other areas of interest, investigate new disciplines and knowledge paradigms and to shape your degree to suit your own aspirations and interests. Many of you will be able to undertake more than this minimum amount of broadening study and we encourage you to do so if this suits your aspirations. Over the next few months you will find here some broadening suggestions related to your degree-specific major. While we know that many students value guidance of this sort, these are only suggestions and students should not lose sight of the opportunity to explore that is afforded by your Broadening Choices. Advice can also be sought from your Allocated Student Advising Office.
Prerequisites
Students who have not achieved a scaled mark of at least 50 in ATAR Mathematics Applications or equivalent or higher, will need to successfully complete MATH1720 Mathematics Fundamentals in their first 48 points of study in this course.
Humanities in Health and Medicine can be taken as a degree-specific major in the following degree courses:
BP006 Bachelor of Biomedical Science
BH005 Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours)
Overview of unit sequence
Humanities in Health and Medicine is a degree-specific single major comprising:
- two Level 1 units
- three Level 2 units
- three Level 3 units
| Key to availability of units: |
|---|
| S1 = Semester 1; S2 = Semester 2; SS = summer teaching period; N/A = not available in 2021 |
Note: Units that are indicated as N/A may be available in 2022 or 2023.
Students who do not have ATAR Mathematics Applications or equivalent or higher, are required to successfully complete MATH1720 in their first year.
Level 1
Take units if applicable:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1, S2 | MATH1720 | Mathematics Fundamentals |
|
Level One—take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | ANTH1001 | Being Human: Culture, Identity and Society |
|
| S1 | ENGL1902 | Reading Bodies |
|
| S2 | INDG1150 | Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard |
|
| S1 | LAWS1111 | Law, Conflict and Change | |
| S2 | NEUR1001 | Neuroscience in Society | |
| S1, SS | PHIL1002 | Introduction to Critical Thinking |
|
| S2 | PSYC1102 | Psychology: Behaviour in Context | |
| S1 | PUBH1101 | Health and Illness in Human Populations |
Level 2
Level 2—take the following unit:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S2 | BMED2001 | Humanities in Health and Medicine |
|
Level 2 Options—take unit(s) to the value of 12 points:
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | AHEA2201 | Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing |
|
| S2 | ANTH2405 | Sex, Gender and Social Life |
|
| S2 | ARTF2031 | Living Art | |
| S2 | IMED2200 | Mental Wellbeing for Today's World | |
| S2 | LAWS2220 | Birth, Life, Death and the Law | |
| S1 | PHIL2001 | Bioethics |
|
| N/A | PHIL2006 | Philosophy of Psychology and Psychiatry |
|
| S1 | PUBH2209 | Plagues, Pox and Pandemics: the History of Death and Disease |
Level 3
Take all units (18 points):
| Availability | Unit code | Unit name | unit requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | BMED3001 | Narrative Medicine for research, education and practice |
|
| S1 | BMED3002 | Application of Humanities to Health care |
|
| S2 | BMED3003 | Building the bridge while walking over it: the journey to person centred health care |
Choosing your degree-specific major
Specialised degrees – Bachelor of Advanced Computer Science (Honours), Bachelor of Automation and Robotics, Bachelor of Environmental Design, Bachelor of Music
You must satisfy the requirements of the degree-specific major in your degree before you complete your course. (You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.)
Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics
This comprehensive degree does not require you to choose a degree-specific major.
General degrees
You must satisfy the requirements of a degree-specific major before you complete your course. The flexible structure of an undergraduate course allows you to try out a number of different subjects to see what interests you before nominating your degree-specific major. You have the choice to either nominate your degree-specific major when you first enrol in the course or delay nominating it until your second year.
To plan the first year of your study without nominating a degree-specific major, you are advised to choose units that will pave the way to two or more degree-specific majors that are of interest to you. For examples of the choice of units available in first year, search the first-year study plans .
To fully understand the structure of an undergraduate course, read the course structure information and the Undergraduate Degree Course Rules.
The following example illustrates how the Humanities in Health and Medicine degree-specific major can be included in the Bachelor of Biomedical Science course.
There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .
Choosing a second major
You also have the option to choose a second major from those available in the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Design Only available to re-enrolling students. and Bachelor of Science courses, giving you the opportunity to pursue your interests no matter how different they are.
The following example illustrates how the Humanities in Health and Medicine degree-specific major can be combined with a second major in the Bachelor of Biomedical Science course.
For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .