Health Communication Minor

Summary

Health Communication is an interdisciplinary program designed to provide writing and speaking skills for use in health and medical settings. Students prepare clear, ethical, and culturally competent messages in a variety of written, visual, and oral communication formats.

The minor is beneficial for students majoring in health or biomedical sciences who wish to communicate in patient-centered ways. The minor is also useful to communication-related majors who wish to further specialize their training.

Catalog Year

2023-2024

Degree

Minor

Total Credits

16

Locations

Mankato

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Program Requirements

Core

Communication impacts every facet of our experience of health and well-being. This course introduces students to the subdiscipline of health communication, its key concepts, and important theories and research in the field.

Prerequisites: none

Special interest courses devoted to specific topics within health communication. Topics vary, and course may be retaken for credit under different topic headings.

Prerequisites: none

Introduction to learning the written and oral communication of technical information. Assignments include writing and presenting proposals, reports, and documentation. Emphasis on use of rhetorical analysis, computer applications, collaborative writing, and usability testing to complete technical communication tasks in the workplace.

Prerequisites: ENG 101

Goal Areas: GE-02, GE-13

This course addresses the skills required for technical communication within the context of health and medicine. Students will discuss typical audiences, purposes, and genres of health and medical communication. Students will adapt complex health and medical information for audiences with varying levels of knowledge, demonstrating awareness of audience analysis, visual design, plain language, and ethics.

Prerequisites: none