Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
Program Learning Outcomes for the Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
Upon completing the minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience, students will be able to:
- Explain psychological, biological, and social mechanisms linking stress, behavior, social processes, and context to health, disease, and resilience across the life course. (Mechanisms and Biobehavioral Processes)
- Apply quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed methods to design, analyze, and interpret behavioral and population health data. (Methods and Data)
- Describe and compare health disparities and determinants at individual, interpersonal, organizational, and structural levels, and explain how these contexts influence vulnerability and resilience across populations and life stages. (Disparities, Determinants, and Resilience Contexts)
- Synthesize evidence across mechanisms, methods, and social context in a supervised, health-related research experience that culminates in a research product. (Research Integration)
Requirements for the Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
Students pursuing the minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience must complete:
- A minimum of 8 courses (24-28 credit hours, depending on course selection) to satisfy minor requirements.
- A minimum of 4 courses (12 credit hours) taken at the 300-level or above.
- A maximum of 2 courses (6 credit hours) from study abroad or transfer credit. For additional guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab.
The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this minor. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the minor’s academic advisor or, where applicable, the Program Director. (Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the minor's Official Certifier). Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.
Summary
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Total Credit Hours Required for the Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience | 24-28 | |
Minor Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| Introductory Course | ||
| PSYC 101 | INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY | 3 |
| or PSYC 100 | AP/OTH CREDIT IN PSYCHOLOGY | |
| Core Coursework | ||
| PSYC 345 | HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY | 3 |
| PSYC 346 | STRESS AND HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN | 3 |
| Methods or Measurement | ||
| Select 1 from the following: | 3-4 | |
| STATISTICAL METHODS-PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| RESEARCH METHODS - PSYCHOLOGY | ||
| RESEARCH METHODS | ||
| QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES | ||
| QUALITATIVE METHODS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES | ||
| ELEMENTARY APPLIED STATISTICS | ||
or STAT 180 | AP/OTH CREDIT IN STATISTICS | |
| Elective Requirements | ||
| Select 3 elective courses from the following categories (see course lists below): | 9 | |
Mechanisms and Processes: Individual, Neural, Biobehavioral | ||
Populations and Systems: Social, Organizational, Structural | ||
| Capstone: Health-Related Research Experience 1, 2 | ||
| PSYC 485 | UNDERGRADUATE SUPERVISED RESEARCH (minimum of 3 credit hours) | 3-6 |
| Total Credit Hours | 24-28 | |
Footnotes and Additional Information
| 1 | PSYC 485 UNDERGRADUATE SUPERVISED RESEARCH is a variable credit hour course. Students must enroll for a minimum of 3 credit hours (and may enroll for a maximum of 6 credit hours) of PSYC 485 in order to fulfill minor requirements. |
| 2 | Students must enroll in the section of PSYC 485 UNDERGRADUATE SUPERVISOR RESEARCH designated as the Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience (BMHR) minor Capstone section. Instructor permission is required to enroll. Additionally, students must be placed with an approved faculty mentor. If a specific instance of PSYC 485 is approved to fulfill minor requirements, the approval must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the minor's Official Certifier. |
Course Lists to Satisfy Requirements
Elective Requirements
To fulfill the remaining Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience minor requirements, students must complete a total of 3 elective courses (9 credit hours) from the following two categories as listed below. At least 1 course (3 credit hours) must be selected from the Mechanisms and Processes: Individual, Neural, Biobehavioral category, and at least 1 course (3 credit hours) must be selected from the Populations and Systems: Social, Organizational, Structural category. The remaining 1 course (3 credit hours) can be selected from either category.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanisms and Processes: Individual, Neural, Biobehavioral | ||
| PSYC 310 | PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING | 3 |
| PSYC 332 | PSYCHOPATHOLOGY | 3 |
| PSYC 354 | INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE | 3 |
| PSYC 445 | ADVANCED SEMINAR IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY | 3 |
| PSYC 452 | EMOTION REGULATION | 3 |
| PSYC 463 | MEDICAL HUMAN FACTORS | 3 |
| PSYC 480 | ADVANCED TOPICS 1 | 3 |
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Populations and Systems: Social, Organizational, Structural | ||
| ANTH 380 | GLOBAL HEALTH JUSTICE: HEALTHCARE INEQUALITIES IN CONFLICTS | 3 |
| ANTH 381 | MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY | 3 |
| ECON 210 | BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS | 3 |
| ECON 481 | HEALTH ECONOMICS | 3 |
| SOCI 335 | RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND HEALTH: A SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH | 3 |
| SOCI 344 | SOCIOLOGY OF MENTAL HEALTH | 3 |
| SOCI 345 | MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY | 3 |
| SOCI 351 | REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND SOCIETY | 3 |
| SOCI 377 | HEALTH DISPARITIES IN THE UNITED STATES | 3 |
Footnotes and Additional Information
| 1 | PSYC 480 ADVANCED TOPICS is an advanced topics course. Therefore, this course only counts toward the Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience minor when the topic of the course is health-relevant. If a specific instance of this course is approved to fulfill minor requirements, the approval must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the minor's Official Certifier. |
Policies for the Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
Program Restrictions and Exclusions
Students pursuing the minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience should be aware of the following program restriction:
- As noted in Majors, Minors, and Certificates, i.) students may declare their intent to pursue a minor only after they have first declared a major, and ii.) students may not major and minor in the same subject.
Transfer Credit
For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. Requests for transfer credit must be approved for Rice equivalency by the designated transfer credit advisor for the appropriate academic department offering the Rice equivalent course (corresponding to the subject code of the course content). The Office of Academic Advising maintains the university’s official list of transfer credit advisors on their website: https://oaa.rice.edu. Students are encouraged to meet with the applicable transfer credit advisor as well as their academic program director when considering transfer credit possibilities.
Program Transfer Credit Guidelines
Students pursuing the minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience should be aware of the following program transfer credit guideline:
- No more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) of transfer credit from U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards the minor.
Additional Information
For additional information, please see the Psychological Sciences website: https://psychology.rice.edu/.
Opportunities for the Minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
Academic Honors
The university recognizes academic excellence achieved over an undergraduate’s academic history at Rice. For information on university honors, please see Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) and Distinction in Research and Creative Work. Some departments have department-specific Honors awards or designations.
Opportunities in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience
The minor in Behavioral Medicine and Health Resilience connects students with faculty research groups in Psychological Sciences, Sociology, Anthropology, and Economics, with the Institute of Health Resilience and Innovation (IHRI), and with partners across the Texas Medical Center and greater Houston. Opportunities are supervised, skills building, and aligned with each student’s goals. Representative opportunities include:
- IHRI speaker series and podcast, including attendance, hosting responsibilities, andpreparation of brief written or audio materials.
- Community engaged projects such as the annual Fifth Ward health fair, where studentsassist with planning, data collection, and evaluation briefs under faculty supervision.
- Health-related research teams that use surveys, experiments, qualitative interviews, biomarkers, human factors observations, or program evaluation, often with training in research ethics, data handling, and dissemination of results.
These experiences support the minor’s emphasis on behavioral mechanisms, health resilience, and health equity, and often serve as the setting for students’ Capstone: Health-Related Research Experience
Additional Information
For additional information, please see the Psychological Sciences website: https://psychology.rice.edu/.