Certificate in the History of Medicine

The Online History of Medicine Program offers a Certificate for those students who wish to explore the history of medicine in depth. Prior to application, please be sure to first review the information below.

The Certificate provides a rich overview of the field and develops basic skills in historical analysis in a set of six courses. Courses are 3 credits each, for a total of 18 credits required for the Certificate. Students who successfully complete the requirements of the Certificate can have their credits applied to the MA Degree in the History of Medicine, if they are admitted to that program. Students may also apply directly to the MA Program.

Admission Requirements
  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university
  • Demonstrated proficiency in written and spoken English, for non-native speakers
  • Successful completion of the Introduction to the History of Medicine course
Certificate Requirements
  • Introduction to the History of Medicine
  • Methods in the History of Medicine
  • Any two of our four Survey courses
  • Two electives (which may include the other 2 Survey courses)

Current online students (any students who have taken a course before Feb. 1 2020) count time to completion from acceptance into the Certificate program.  Certificate students have 3 years from acceptance to completion. Should a student switch from Cerificate to Master’s, or vice-versa, they will complete according to the timeline of the new program.

Going forward, students who have taken their first course after Feb. 1 2020 will count time to completion from the very first course they do in the program, before acceptance to the Certificate program. Certificate students have 5 years to complete their program. Should a student switch from one program to the other, they will complete according to the timeline of the new program.

Students are allowed to repeat any failed course only once. Failure in two courses will result in dismissal from the program. Certificate students must complete a free, no-credit, online course on Academic and Research Ethics. All Certificate students must complete a free, no credit, online course on research ethics (the Responsible Conduct of Research). Registration is available through the myLearning JHU portal. This online course, developed by the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), is comprised of 7 sections. Completion of all sections is required.