Undergraduate Education

The UK College of Medicine Department of Behavioral Science offers an undergraduate certificate in medical behavioral science. The programs is designed to serve a diverse population of pre-medicine learners with an in-depth, interdisciplinary learning experience in the behavioral sciences that prepares them for managing the intellectual and interpersonal demands of medical training and affecting positive structural change in healthcare.

Upon completion of the program’s core courses, students will be able to answer the following questions: What is health? How does stress get under our skin? Is your zip code a better predictor of health than genetics? How are we treated differently by doctors depending on our gender, race, or age? Why is it so hard to change our individual behavior? How do social structures guide our actions, behaviors, and responses to health and illness? What is the “culture of medicine,” and how do we become accustomed to it? 

Core Courses in Medical Behavioral Science

The Undergraduate Certificate in Medical Behavioral Science:

• Is open to undergraduate students throughout the University of Kentucky                   
• Requires an elective course in addition to the three core courses
• Will appear on your undergraduate transcript