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Medical Decision Making, Minor

The Minor in Medical Decision Making

Peter Schwardmann, Faculty Director
Location: Porter Hall 319F
schwardmann@cmu.edu

Connie Angermeier, Senior Academic Program Manager and Advisor
Location: Porter Hall 208H
cla2@andrew.cmu.edu
Schedule an appointment:  https://go.oncehub.com/ConnieAngermeier

https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/sds/undergraduate/index.html

Overview

Some of the most difficult decisions people ever face involve their health. Imagine being asked to choose between treatments that could extend your life, carry serious side effects, or fail altogether. Patients and healthcare professionals routinely face choices involving uncertainty, competing risks, incomplete information, and deeply personal values. The Medical Decision Making minor explores how people make these decisions and how better evidence, communication, and decision support can improve health outcomes.

Students examine topics including medical decision making, health behavior, risk communication, healthcare policy, and the organization of healthcare systems. They learn how patients understand risk, how clinicians make diagnostic and treatment decisions, how health policies influence behavior, and how behavioral science can improve medical care. The minor provides an excellent foundation for students interested in medicine, nursing, public health, healthcare administration, biomedical research, health policy, and many other health-related professions.

Double Counting

Students may double-count two courses with another major or minor.

Curriculum

Minor in Medical Decision Making54 units

Foundation Courses45 units
Required Units
88-130Behavioral Economics for Life9
or 88-140 Introduction to Sociology
or 85-100 Introduction to Psychology
or 85-150 Social Psychology
88-120Reason, Passion and Cognition9
88-261Health Policy and Decision Making9
88-262Rationality and Irrationality in Medicine9
88-302Behavioral Decision Making9
Electives (choose one)9 units
88-365Behavioral Economics and Public Policy9
73-328Health Economics12
80-245Medical Ethics9
85-108Mind and Body: Pathways to Health9
85-409Crosscultural9
85-454Health Psychology9
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