Overview
Health Studies allows students the opportunity to engage with health from biological, behavioural, social, environmental, ethical, historical, cultural and population perspectives.
At a Glance
Curriculum
Why study health studies at Mount Allison?
At Mount Allison, Health Studies draws on concepts from across the life sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
Students develop the critical thinking, analytic, and communication skills needed to engage in complex and nuanced issues such as:
- health care for an aging population
- confronting global pandemics
- building healthy communities
- working for justice in health-care delivery and outcomes.
Interdisciplinary Health Studies is available as:
- BASc major (87 credits)
- BASc honours (93 credits)
- Minor (24 credits)
Not sure about the difference between a major, a minor, and an honours?
As an Interdisciplinary Health Studies major, you’ll take courses in:
- health and life sciences (biology, biochemistry, psychology)
- ethics and philosophy
- social issues and culture
Students also pursue specialized studies through a concentration in one of three innovative topic areas:
Health equity and diversity
In the health equity and diversity concentration, students will explore ways that health is socially and culturally constructed from a critical studies perspective.
Students will analyze the ways in which oppression, marginalization, and health interact in society by considering how gender and sexism, colonialism, racism, sexual orientation, ageism, and dis/ableism, and the combination of these, impact the health of various social groups.
Options in this concentration includes courses in the areas of:
Health analysis
In the health analysis concentration, students will develop the skills to analyze data on health in the population.
Students will build an analytic toolkit including qualitative and quantitative analysis, statistical coding, geographic and spatial data analysis.
Options in this concentration includes courses in the areas of:
Environment and health
In the environment and health concentration, students will explore the interdependence between human health, animal health, and the environment.
Students will consider the ways in which the natural and built environment can shape health, such as exploring how the design of our cities impacts obesity rates, to the ways that climate change affects global patterns of infectious disease.
Options in this concentration includes courses in the areas of:
A minor in Interdisciplinary Health Studies is also available to students to engage with key health topics including the social determinants of health, health communications, cultural dimensions of health, and the Canadian health-care system.
HLTH 1001 — Health and Society
This course introduces the concepts of health, illness, and well-being and how different framings of health have been socially constructed. The course also introduces the social determinants of health and concepts of health equity, and discuss how cultural, environmental, socioeconomic, demographic, biological, behavioural, historical, religious, and political factors influence individual and population health.
HLTH 1011 — Foundations of Health Inquiry
This course focuses on how health, illness, and disease are defined and measured while giving students a broad overview of diverse qualitative and quantitative research methods for health. The course also introduces concepts of correlation, causality, and the hierarchy of evidence. Emphasis is placed on building health literacy and information literacy (e.g. finding research in scientific/medical databases), developing written and oral communication skills and an understanding of health ethics.
HLTH 2001 — The Canadian Health Care System
This course provides an overview of the Canadian health-care system including the roles of federal, provincial/territorial and municipal health authorities, health financing and resourcing, service utilization, health care planning, and health promotion strategies. The course examines current societal and political issues which affect the health system.
HLTH 2011 — Health Research and Analysis
This course introduces data analysis, the principles of experimental and observational design and the formulating and testing of hypotheses with a specific focus on health applications. It covers quantitative approaches, and introduce graphical and statistical analyses of various forms of data using computer software, and their appropriate use in health analysis. Students also gain exposure to multiple relevant data platforms in this course.
HLTH 3001 — Health Communications
This course provides an overview of theories of health communication, health literacy, public health campaigns, risk communication, and the role of traditional and social media. It will also consider the importance of cultural literacy in adapting health communication to different contexts.
HLTH 3011 — Epidemiology and Public Health
This course introduces concepts in epidemiology including the prevalence, incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health in a population. It engages with principles specific to health research for establishing cause and effect relationships, estimating outcome measures, and the effectiveness of interventions to prevent and cure diseases.
HLTH 4000 — Capstone Project in Health Studies
This capstone course gives upper-year students the opportunity to work in teams and apply their health knowledge and skills to address a real-world health problem. The course allows students to cultivate a transferable skill set, work in a collaborative environment, and explore interdisciplinary approaches to different applications and perspectives on health. Students will regularly present their works in progress and discuss advanced topics in health that are relevant both to broad experiential applications, and to their specific projects.
Explore all health studies courses
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Emily Drake
Assistant Professor, Health Studies
What can I do with a health studies degree?
In Health Studies, students develop a broad skill set that includes health analysis and research, health communications, and critical thinking which prepares you for a wide range of health-related roles or professional programs in health care and allied health care.
If you're looking for a career in medicine, law, or interested in working in policy, community development, or in the nonprofit sector, Health Studies will give you the tools and training you need to be a leader on issues of health and well-being in your community.
Health Studies graduates are competitive for work and graduate studies in:
- medicine
- health promotion
- public health and policy-related positions
- health law
- advocacy and non-profit social justice work
- global health and international development
- occupational therapy
- social work
- counselling
What is it like to study at Mount Allison?
Because the program is interdisciplinary, students have a range of interests across many subjects and can develop their own course plans to fit their goals. Often, professors would ask us what health issues we were interested in and would integrate these ideas into the course concepts they were teaching, as well as offer related experiential learning opportunities.
Through my coursework, I developed the ability to analyze complex health issues from multiple perspectives and apply evidence-based approaches to real-world problems. The program has also strengthened my interest in public health and clarified the kind of impact I want to make in my future career.
/current-students/health-studies-program
What are my admission requirements?
What other programs are related to health studies?
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of living things — their form, function, origin, and behaviour.
Biopsychology
Biopsychology is the scientific study of the brain and nervous system and how they influence human behaviour — combining studies in biology and psychology.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of people as they interact with one another in specific social, cultural, and historical contexts.