EIU Humanities Center

Why HMH ?

EIU is one of only a handful of universities in our region to offer a minor in the Health & Medical Humanities, and the only state university in Illinois to do so! Our team of experts (link: Affiliate Faculty) brings together a diversity of disciplines to educate students about the varying ways that the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts enhance our health and medical practice.

The minor is becoming an attractive option for both science-oriented students (such as pre-med, pre-health, and biological science majors) and students in the social sciences and the humanities.

BIO and HEALTH students:

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recently noted that “the health humanities trend dovetails with recent changes in the MCAT® exam [and] the need for more humanistic criteria in the admissions process” (2015). For Biology and Health students, our HMH minor offers an opportunity to learn about the connections between health, medicine, and humanities— offering a solid background in the more “humanistic criteria” that Medical Schools, Nursing Schools, and health-sector employers are now looking for. Want to get a leg up on the competition? Get an HMH minor!

SOC SCI and HUMANITIES students:

In 2018, the healthcare sector became the biggest employer in the United States. More people are employed in healthcare than in retail or manufacturing. The trends are going nowhere but up. Your degree in the Social Sciences or the Humanities already makes you a viable candidate in many different fields, and the skills and content acquired with an HMH minor will increase your diversity beyond the healthcare sector. You may not have considered some of the more creative and emerging jobs that combine the social sciences and the humanities with health and medicine. In addition, there are new career options that have yet to be imagined. Want to leverage your creativity and your social engagement in health and medicine to make a better world? Get an HMH minor!