Health Communication Certificate
Introduction
Please click here to see Communication Department information.
The Undergraduate Certificate in Health Communication (CHC) offers learners the opportunity to acquire and demonstrate expertise in health communication. The certificate program will provide students with a theoretically rich and practically relevant education in how health messages are generated, negotiated, assessed, and understood across a wide range of communication contexts, spanning intrapersonal communication to digital and mass media.
The Undergraduate Certificate in Health Communication serves as a gateway for internships and careers related to health, wellness, and medicine, and further the Communication Department's mission to guide students toward developing the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to use communication to create a more civil and humane world.
These requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- This is an on-campus and online program.
Declaring This Certificate
- Students should declare interest in completing the Undergraduate Certificate in Health Communication by emailing Dr. Tamara Powell at tamara.powell@ucdenver.edu.
- Before the end of their final semester, students must send a completed certificate application to Dr. Tamara Powell at tamara.powell@ucdenver.edu.
- The approved certificate will be mailed to the student, and recorded on their transcript, after final grades are posted for the semester.
- Students who are not already enrolled at CU Denver must also complete an online Application for Non-Degree Admission prior to registering for courses.
- Additional information about the undergraduate certificate in Health Communication may be obtained from Dr. Tamara Powell, Student Commons Building 3311, 303-315-0310, or tamara.powell@ucdenver.edu.
General Requirements
Students must satisfy all requirements as outlined below and by the department offering the certificate.
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Certificate Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours from approved courses.
- Students must complete a minimum of 12 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours from approved courses.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of B (3.0) in all certificate courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative certificate GPA of 3.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the certificate GPA. Students cannot complete certificate or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
- Students must complete all credit hours for the certificate with CU Denver faculty.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Courses may not count for more than two graduation requirements.
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| To build on a shared set of foundational theories, norms, and skills, all CHC-seeking students take the following: | 9 | |
| COMM 2500 | Introduction to Health Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4500 | Health Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4575 | Designing Health Messages | 3 |
Interdisciplinary Health Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHC-seeking students will then broaden their perspective on health communication by taking an interdisciplinary health elective. Students must complete at least one from the following courses: 1 | 3 | |
| ANTH 4600 | Medical Anthropology | 3 |
| COMM 4282 | Environmental Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4525 | Health Communication and Community | 3 |
| COMM 4550 | Rhetorics of Medicine & Health | 3 |
| COMM 4558 | Digital Health Narratives | 3 |
| COMM 4601 | You Are What You Eat: Food as Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4611 | Rhetoric of Global Food Policy | 3 |
| COMM 4620 | Health Risk Communication | 3 |
| ENGL 4290 | Rhetoric and the Body | 3 |
| ENGL 4745 | Humanistic Writing About Medicine and Biology | 3 |
| ETST 3002 | Ethnicity, Health and Social Justice | 3 |
| GEOG 3501 | Geography of Health | 3 |
| PBHL 3030 | Health Policy | 3 |
| PBHL 3041 | Health, Culture and Society | 3 |
| PBHL 3070 | Perspectives in Global Health | 3 |
| PBHL 4040 | Social Determinants of Health | 3 |
| PHIL 4242 | Bioethics | 3 |
| PSCI 4330 | U.S. Health Policy | 3 |
| PSYC 3262 | Health Psychology | 3 |
| SOCY 3440 | Medical Sociology | 3 |
| SOCY 3570 | Death & Dying: Social & Medical Perspectives | 3 |
| SOCY 4050 | Health Disparities | 3 |
| SOCY 4110 | Sociology of Health Care | 3 |
| SOCY 4220 | Population Change and Analysis | 3 |
| SOCY 4270 | Social Meanings of Reproduction | 3 |
| 1 | Another elective with a health communication focus may be approved for the CHC in consultation with certificate advisor. |
Required Capstone Project
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CHC-seeking students will complete their certificate by undertaking a semester-long capstone using experiential learning or high impact practices. Select one of the following: 2 | 3 | |
| COMM 3660 | Social Media for Social Change | 3 |
| COMM 3939 | Internship | 1-6 |
| COMM 4051 | Advanced Strategic Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4525 | Health Communication and Community | 3 |
| COMM 4550 | Rhetorics of Medicine & Health | 3 |
| COMM 4558 | Digital Health Narratives | 3 |
| COMM 4620 | Health Risk Communication | 3 |
| PBHL 4099 | Capstone Experience in Public Health | 3 |
| 2 | Additional discipline-specific health methods courses may be approved by the certificate advisor. |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.