Health Equity, Minor
The Health Equity minor prepares students to understand the social, environmental, and structural factors that influence health and health outcomes. The interdisciplinary curriculum combines experiential learning with perspectives from the social sciences and humanities.
Why Study Health Equity?
Health inequity in the United States remains severe, particularly among racial and ethnic minority populations, marginalized populations, and rural populations. While some clinical outcomes have improved overall, structural and economic gaps persist, and disparities in areas such as maternal health and life expectancy remain critical issues for health systems and economic stability.
Who Can Enroll in the Health Equity Minor?
The Health Equity minor is currently limited to undergraduate students in the School of Nursing and Health Professions.
Health Equity Minor Curriculum
The Health Equity minor requires a minimum of 20 credits for completion. Students must take two required courses based on their major, nursing or non-nursing, and three elective courses.
The curriculum is relevant to both direct patient and client care and non-science health-related fields. Courses prepare students for a variety of fields, including nursing, medicine, dentistry, clinical psychology, public and community health, health care policy, advocacy and law, social work, health care consulting, biomedical marketing and communications, health care analytics, patient advocacy, and health care administration.
What You’ll Learn in the Health Equity Minor
The interdisciplinary Health Equity minor is designed for students who want to understand how the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age affect health, functioning, quality of life, and health risks.
Students explore these topics through a uniquely Ignatian lens and develop an understanding of the relationship between human health, social justice, and ethics in health promotion, disease prevention, treatment, and research.