Curriculum

The Peace Corps Health Preparatory minor will prepare you for Peace Corps service or other international development fieldwork. To accomplish this, you’ll build four core competencies through interrelated coursework, hands-on experience, and professional development support.

Minor Info   HOW TO APPLY

Coursework and Development

1. Required Core Courses

  • PH 2320: Global and Environmental Health Issues
  • HSV/NUR 3550: Perspectives in Women’s Health
  • HSV 4450: Service-Learning in Community Healthcare Settings

2. Field Experience (50 hours total)

As a part of HSV 4450, students must accumulate at least 50 hours of practical field experience in a health related environment. Examples of this type of work include:

  • HIV/AIDS outreach, hospice, family planning counseling, emergency medical technician (EMT) or CPR teaching/certification, maternal health, and hands-on caregiving in a hospital, clinic, or lab technician setting
  • Counseling or teaching in health subjects
  • Working as a sexually transmitted infections peer educator/counselor

3. Foreign Language Skills (up to two courses)

Working across cultures often entails verbal and nonverbal languages distinct from your own. Building foreign language skills is thus a key component of the Peace Corps Health Preparatory curriculum. Where would you like to serve? Peace Corps Health Preparatory minimum course requirements align with those needed by applicants to the Peace Corps itself, which vary by linguistic region.

  • Latin America: Individuals wanting to serve in Spanish-speaking countries must apply with strong intermediate proficiency. This typically means completing two 2000-level courses. WMU courses at this level include:
    • SPAN 2000: Intermediate Spanish I (4 credit hours)
    • SPAN 2010: Intermediate Spanish II (4 credit hours)
    • SPAN 3180: Spanish for the Professions (3 credit hours) is also recommended
  • West Africa: Individuals wanting to serve in French-speaking African countries should be proficient in French (or, in some cases, any Romance Language), usually through one 2000-level course. WMU courses at this level include:
    • FREN 2000: Intermediate French I
    • FREN 2010: Intermediate French II
  • Everywhere else: The Peace Corps has no explicit language requirements for individuals applying to serve in most other countries. However, you will still likely learn and utilize another language during service, so it is only helpful to have taken at least one foreign language class. Minimal requirement for the WMU minor is HSV 1050: Spanish for Healthcare Professionals and one other language course (this can be taken as part of your general education requirements)

4. Intercultural Competence (3 courses)

Engaging thoughtfully and fluidly across cultures begins with one’s own self-awareness. With this learning objective, you will deepen your cultural agility through a mix of three introspective courses. The goal is to build your capacity to shift perspective and behavior around relevant cultural differences.

First course in this cluster

  • HSV 4400: Diversity and Inclusion in Health and Human Services (3 credit hours)

Second course in this cluster
Select one course relevant to your planned Peace Corps service
(country, culture, religion, economic circumstances, etc.)

  • ANTH 1200: Peoples of the World (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 1500: Race, Biology, and Culture (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 2400: Principles of Cultural Anthropology (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 2600: Sex, Gender, Culture (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 2800: Language in a Global World (4 credit hours)
  • ANTH 3390: Cultures of Latin America (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 3400: Cultures of Asia (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 3410: Global Africa Past and Present (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 3470: Ethnicity/Multiculturalism (3 credit hours)
  • ANTH 3580: The African Diaspora: Across the Americas (3 credit hours)
  • ARAB 2750: Life and Culture of the Arabs (3 credit hours)
  • CHIN 2750: Chinese Life and Culture (3 credit hours)
  • ENGR 3400: Engineering Global Practices in Non-Western Countries (study abroad) (3 credit hours)
  • ENGR 3700: Engineering Global Practices in Western Countries (study abroad) (3 credit hours)
  • ENGL 2110: Folklore and Mythology (4 credit hours)
  • ENGL 3130: Asian Literature (3 credit hours)
  • ENGL 3140: African Literature (3 credit hours)
  • ENGL 3160: Storytellers (3 credit hours)
  • FCS 3150: Global Ecology of the Family (3 credit hours)
  • FREN 2750: Francophone Culture (3 credit hours)
  • GRN 1000: Introduction to Aging Studies (3 credit hours)
  • GWS 3200: Women, Globalization and Social Change (3 credit hours)
  • GWS 3400: Race, Gender, and Science (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3660: Russia: Yesterday and Tomorrow (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3760: Modern East Asia (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3850: Modern Middle East (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3880: Introduction to African Civilization (3 credit hours)
  • HOL 2000: Choices in Global Living (3 credit hours)
  • GIST 2000: Introduction to Global and International Studies (3 credit hours)
  • IPE 3050: Study Abroad and Global Learning in Health and Human Services
    or Alternative study abroad programs (variable credit)
  • MUS 3120: Explorations in World Music (3 credit hours)
  • PHIL 3150: Race and Gender Issues (3 credit hours)
  • PSCI 2400: Comparative Politics (3 credit hours)
  • PSCI 2500: International Relations (4 credit hours)
  • PSCI 3410: The Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa (4 credit hours)
  • PSCI 3440: Russian and Central Asian Politics (4 credit hours)
  • PSCI 3450: Latin American Politics (4 credit hours)
  • PSCI 3460: Women in Developing Countries (4 credit hours)
  • PSCI 3500: American Foreign Policy (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2010: Buddhism (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2020: Religion in China (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2040: Religion in India (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2050: Christianity (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2070: Judaism (4 credit hours)
  • REL 2100: Religions of the World (3 credit hours)
  • REL 2786: The Qur’an (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3155: Religion & Conflict (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3165: Religion and Globalization (3 credit hours)
  • REL 3170: Religion & Gender (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3180: Death, Dying, and Beyond (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3190: Religion and Health (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3320: Religion and Social Ethics (4 credit hours)
  • REL 3325: Muslim Cultures and Societies (4 credit hours)
  • SOC 3040: Nonwestern World (4 credit hours)
  • SOC 3340: East Asia and the World (3 credit hours)
  • SOC 3350: Sociology of Contemporary Latin America (3 credit hours)
  • SWRK 3500: Human Behavior and the Social Environment (3 credit hours)
  • SWRK 3510: Social Work Concepts in Group, Community and Organizational Behavior (3 credit hours)
  • SWRK 4600: Social Work with Communities (3 credit hours)

Third choice in this cluster
Choose one of the following OR choose a second course from the list above

  • BUS 2200: Introduction to Global Business (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 1000: World Ecological Problems and Man (4 credit hours)
  • GEOG 1020: World Geography through Media and Maps (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 2050: Human Geography (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 2440: Economic Geography (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 3810: South America (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 3820: Mexico and the Caribbean (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 3860: Geography of Africa (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 3890: Monsoon Asia (3 credit hours)
  • GEOG 3900: China, Japan, and Korea: Lands and Cultures (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 2020: World History to 1500 (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 2030: World History since 1500 (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3325: History of Healthcare in the World (3 credit hours)
  • HIST 3330: The World since 1945 (3 credit hours)

5. Professional and leadership development

International development is highly competitive. It is difficult to break into and demands great initiative and leadership to advance in the field. Peace Corps Health Preparatory requires you to complete three specific activities to strengthen your candidacy for the Peace Corps (or any other professional endeavor):

  • Have your resume critiqued by someone in Career and Student Employment Services.
  • Attend a workshop or class on interview skills at Career and Student Employment Services.
  • Develop at least one significant leadership experience and be prepared to discuss it thoughtfully. For example, organizing a campus event, leading a work or volunteer project, or serving on the executive board of a student organization.