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

Bridging units
Take units if applicable:

Students who do not have ATAR Mathematics Applications or equivalent or higher, are required to successfully complete MATH1720 in their first year.

Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1, S2 MATH1720 Mathematics Fundamentals
Prerequisites:
Mathematics Applications ATAR (with a scaled score of less than 50)
or
with permission.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Mathematics Applications ATAR (with a scaled score of 50
or
greater)
or
equivalent
or
higher.
Degree-specific major units
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
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ANTH1101 Being Human: Culture, Identity and Society
S1 ENGL1902 Reading Bodies
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
GEND1902 Reading Bodies
S2 INDG1150 Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
HIST1100 Aboriginal History
S1 LAWS1111 Law, Conflict and Change
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S2 NEUR1001 Neuroscience in Society
Prerequisites:
Nil
Co-requisites:
Nil
Incompatibility:
Nil
S1, SS PHIL1002 Introduction to Critical Thinking
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
PHIL1105 Introduction to Critical Thinking
S2 PSYC1102 Psychology: Behaviour in Context
Prerequisites:
Nil
Co-requisites:
Nil
Incompatibility:
Nil
S1 PUBH1101 Health and Illness in Human Populations
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil

Level 2

Degree-specific major units
Level 2—take the following unit:
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S2 BMED2001 Humanities in Health and Medicine
Prerequisites:
For student enrolled in the Humanities in Health and Medicine Major (MJD-HHMED, MJS-HHMED) (Any two of: ANTH1001 Being Human: Culture, Identity and Society,
OR
PSYC1102 Psychology: Behaviour in Context,
OR
PHIL1002 Introduction to Critical Thinking,
OR
INDG1150 Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard
OR
ENGL1902 Reading Bodies,
OR
NEUR1001 Neuroscience in Society
OR
EITHER (PUBH1101 Health and Illness in Human Populations
OR
IMED1004 Health and Society, but not both) For other students completion of at least 24 points of level 1 units
Co-requisites:
NIL
Incompatibility:
Nil
Degree-specific major units
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
Prerequisites:
for the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major: INDG1150 Aboriginal Encounters: Strangers in our Backyard;
or
INDG1160 Boodjar Moort Katitjin: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage and Knowledge;
for the Population Health major: PUBH1101 Health and Illness in Human Populations;
or
PUBH1102 Health and Globalisation;
for pre-2012 courses: HIST1100 Aboriginal History; for the Women's Health minor: IMED1108 Issues in women's health across the lifespan.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
IMED2293 Aboriginal Health, IMED3393 Aboriginal Health
S2 ANTH2405 Sex, Gender and Social Life
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 ANTH unit
or
GEND1901 Days of our Lives: Gender in Australia
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
ANTH2217 Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality
S2 ARTF2031 Living Art
Prerequisites:
ARTF1052 Fine Arts Studio: Record, Visualise & Imagine (formerly VISA1050 Art of Visualisation and Recording) and/
or
ARTF1053 Fine Arts Studio: Space, Time & Beyond (formerly VISA1053 Video Art: Methods and Means)
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
VISA2214 Aesthetic Crossovers of Art and Science
S2 IMED2200 Mental Wellbeing for Today's World
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S2 LAWS2220 Birth, Life, Death and the Law
Prerequisites:
LAWS1104 Introduction to Law
or
LAWS1111 Law, Conflict and Change (formerly LAWS1111 Legal Systems)
or
LAWS1120 Australian Legal Principles and Institutions
or
LAWS1110 Crime and Society
or
LAWS1112 Adulting: Law for Everyday Lives
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.
S1 PHIL2001 Bioethics
Prerequisites:
any level 1 unit in the Bachelor of Arts,
or
equivalent
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
PHIL2201 Social Ethics: Life and Death
N/A PHIL2006 Philosophy of Psychology and Psychiatry
Prerequisites:
any Level 1 Philosophy unit
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
PHIL2290 Problems in Philosophical Psychology
S1 PUBH2209 Plagues, Pox and Pandemics: the History of Death and Disease
Prerequisites:
Nil.
Co-requisites:
Nil.
Incompatibility:
Nil.

Level 3

Degree-specific major units
Take all units (18 points):
Availability Unit code Unit name unit requirements
S1 BMED3001 Narrative Medicine for research, education and practice
Prerequisites:
BMED2001 Humanities in Health and Medicine
Co-requisites:
nil
Incompatibility:
NIL
S1 BMED3002 Application of Humanities to Health care
Prerequisites:
BMED2001 Humanities in Health and Medicine, and enrolment in Humanities in Health and Medicine major HHMED.
Co-requisites:
nil
Incompatibility:
NIL
S2 BMED3003 Building the bridge while walking over it: the journey to person centred health care
Prerequisites:
BMED3001 Narrative Medicine for clinical practice, research and education,
and
BMED3002 Application of Humanities to Health care, and enrolment in Humanities in Health and Medicine Major HHMED
Co-requisites:
NIL
Incompatibility:
NIL

Choosing your 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.

Example: Course Study Plan: CSP006-HHMED

There are more choices open to you. For more examples, search the study plans .

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.

Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

This comprehensive degree does not require you to choose a degree-specific major.

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.

Example: Course Study Plan: CSP006-HHMED-Generic

For more examples of combinations of majors, search the study plans .