Undergraduate Program

Academic Program Requirements

Joint Requirements: Options I, II, and III.
All students in the HMHV program must fulfill the Core Curriculum and Group Requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences as well as all of the requirements for their selected major and concentration. In addition, all HMHV students must complete 15 credit hours of special seminars designed specifically for participants in the program, and 6 credit hours of summer community health practica. The combined 21 credit hours of special seminars and community health practica promote cohort building among the HMHV students and constitute the interdisciplinary and experiential core of the program.

Health, Medicine and Human Values Seminars (15 credit hours)
The Health, Medicine and Human Values seminars are interdisciplinary courses that provide opportunities for experiential and problem-based learning, applied writing and speaking, and small-group problem solving. The seminars involve collaborative teaching with faculty from the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences. The seminar titles are as follows:

• I.  Contours of Health in New Mexico
• II.  Literature, Fine Arts, and Medicine
• III.  Health, Economics, Politics, and Policy
• IV.  Health and Cultural Diversity
• V.  Ethics, Medicine, and Health

Note: A&S Group Requirements – Seminars I, III, and IV each may be counted as 3 credit hours toward the Social/Behavioral Sciences Group Requirement; Seminars II and V, each as 3 credit hours toward the Humanities Group Requirement.

Community Health Practica (6 credit hours, summer program)
The Community Health practica, taken in the summer after the second or third year in the program, are designed to allow students to engage in experiential learning projects involved in community and clinical health. The practica enable students to put into practice some of the problem-solving skills and information acquired in the seminars and other parts of the HMHV curriculum. Each practica involves a writing and research component, as well as the experiential component.

• Community Health Practicum I (3 credit hours)
• Community Health Practicum II (3 credit hours)

Detailed descriptions of the additional requirements for each option are described below.

Option I: Arts and Sciences Major

(B.A. or B.S.)
The Arts and Sciences option enables HMHV students to choose a major from one of the College of Arts and Sciences degree-granting programs, while completing the structured set of courses designed for the HMHV program to prepare students for medical school. In addition to completing all departmental requirements for the selected major, students must complete the Health, Medicine and Human Values Seminars; the Community Health Practica; and a 45 credit hour Pre-Medical Sciences Core, described below.

Option II: Health, Medicine and Human Values Major: Health, Humanities and Society Concentration

(B.A.)
This option offers students a structured set of distributed requirements emphasizing the humanities and social sciences, while providing them with a pre-medicine core in mathematics and the physical/natural sciences. Students must complete up to 33 credit hours of distributed course work for the Health, Humanities and Society Concentration (below), and also complete the Health, Medicine and Human Values seminars; the Community Health Practica; and a 45 credit hour Pre-Medical Sciences Core.

Option III: Health, Medicine and Human Values Major: Biomedical Sciences Concentration

(B.A.)
This option emphasizes intensive study in the mathematics and physical/ natural sciences. Students in Option III must complete the Health, Medicine and Human Values seminars; the Community Health Practica; a 61 credit hour Pre-Medical Sciences Core; and 18 upper-division credit hours of distributed group requirements and electives, as described below.

Minor in Health, Medicine and Human Values (21 credit hours)

A. Minor Requirements for students in the B.A./M.D. Program

B.A./M.D. students enrolled in Option I who complete all requirements for the HMHV curriculum—the five seminars (HMHV 101-401), the Community Health Practica (HMHV 350 and 450, which are open only to students in the B.A./M.D. Program), receive an official minor in Health, Medicine and Human Values.    

B.A./M.D. students enrolled in Options II and III who complete all requirements for those options receive a major in Health, Medicine and Human Values; there is no minor requirement for either Option II or III.

B.  Minor Requirements for students who withdraw or are released from the B.A./M.D. Program

B.A./M.D. students enrolled in Options I, II or III who leave the program after completing 12 credit hours of HMHV seminars plus 6 credit hours of the Community Health Practica (HMHV 350 and 450) may receive a minor in Health, Medicine and Human Values by completing another 3 credit hours of distribution requirements from the list of courses below.  Students must achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above in all 21 credit hours submitted for the HMHV minor. 15 of the 21 credit hours for the minor must be upper-division.

B.A./M.D. students enrolled in Options I, II or III who leave the program after completing 12 credit hours of HMHV seminars may receive a minor in Health, Medicine and Human Values by completing another 9 credit hours of distribution requirements from the list of courses below.  Students must achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above in all 21 credit hours submitted for the HMHV minor. 15 of the 21 credit hours for the minor must be upper-division.

C.  Minor Requirements for students outside the B.A./M.D. Program

Students who complete 12 credit hours of HMHV seminars may receive a minor in Health, Medicine and Human Values by completing another 9 credit hours of distribution requirements from the list of courses below.  Students must achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above in all 21 credit hours submitted for the HMHV minor. 15 of the 21 credit hours for the minor must be upper-division.

Twenty-one credit hours as follows:

Twelve credit hours of the following HMHV seminars:

Plus nine credit hours taken from the list of distribution requirements below.  At least three credit hours of the distribution requirements must be from a 400-level course. Note: No substitutions are allowed, except in the case of a 400-level special topics course with a clear emphasis in health/medicine. Consult the BA/MD academic advisor. Some of the courses below require pre-requisites, so students must plan accordingly.