Health Communication, Certificate (Post-Baccalaureate)

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Purdue University
Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Health Communication
Department of Communication
College of Arts and Sciences

Neff Hall 230 ~ 260-481-6825

Michelle Kelsey, Chair
Steven Carr, Graduate Program Director

The post-baccalaureate certificate in Health Communication is designed to educate students to become better communicators with the healthcare sector. Students will learn about epidemiology, health communication, and organizational leadership. Students will have the opportunity to focus their education in family health, public health, health policy and health organizations. This post-baccalaureate certificate prepares students to work in various sectors of health care and will enhance current health care employees’ communication skills.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Work with individuals of various cultural backgrounds to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values.
Use the knowledge of one’s own role to aid medical professionals in appropriate assessing and addressing the health care needs of patients and promoting and advancing the health of populations.
Communicate with patients, families, communities, and professionals in health and other fields in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the promotion and maintenance of health and the prevention and treatment of disease.
Apply relationship-building values and the principles of team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan, deliver, and evaluate patient/population-centered care, and population health programs.
Understand, develop, and effectively communicate policies that are safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.

Declaring this Certificate:

Declare this certificate within the Department of Communication

Program Requirements:

A minimum overall GPA of 3.0 or higher is required for successful completion
A grade of B- or higher in each course is required
At least 9 credit hours must be earned as resident credit
Only 9 hours from a Master of Arts (MA) or a Master of Science (MS) degree can overlap with credits taken for this certificate

Required Courses: Credits 12

COM 58200 - Descriptive/Experimental Research in Communication Cr. 3. or
COM 58500 - Qualitative Methods in Communication Research Cr. 3. *
* (or another approved research methods course)
COM 57600 - Health Communication Cr. 3.
PPOL 51700 - Managerial Epidemiology Cr. 3.
COM 69800 - Research MA or MS Thesis Cr. 1-18. or
PPOL 60000 - Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs Cr. 3.

Elective Courses: Credits 6

An additional 6 hours taken from the following list:

COM 51200 - Theories of Interpersonal Communication Cr. 3.
COM 51800 - Theories of Persuasion Cr. 3.
COM 52000 - Small Group Communication Cr. 3.
COM 52100 - Theories of Rhetoric Cr. 3.
COM 57400 - Organizational Communication Cr. 3.
PPOL 54300 - Health Services Management Cr. 3.
PPOL 54500 - The U.S. Healthcare System Cr. 3.
PPOL 54600 - Health Services Utilization Cr. 3.
PPOL 55000 - Topics in Public Affairs Cr. 1-3.

Total Credits: 18

Student Responsibility

You are responsible for satisfying the graduation requirements specified for your selected program. Thus, it is essential that you develop a thorough understanding of the required courses, academic policies and procedures governing your academic career. All requests for exceptions to specific requirements must be made in writing and may be granted only by written approval from the appropriate chair or dean.