The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Exam changed in April 2015. In addition to content in the natural sciences, the exam now requires students to demonstrate competencies in “scientific inquiry and reasoning, research methods, and statistics skills as applied to the social and behavioral sciences.” The change is in acknowledgement of the important role of “socio-cultural and behavioral determinants of health and health outcomes.” A “critical analysis and reasoning skill” section includes “content from ethics, philosophy, cultural studies, population health, and a wide range of social sciences and humanities disciplines.”
The following School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) subjects offer a broad perspective on humanities and social science subjects. These classes may be of particular interest to students planning to pursue health-related careers, as they may provide undergraduates with additional breadth and depth in preparation for medical school. The subjects in this list are neither required nor exhaustive but rather, should be viewed as one of many resources available to MIT students during their academic career.
Anthropology
21A.00: Introduction to Anthropology: Comparing Human Cultures (A. Moran-Thomas)
21A.156: Introduction to Sociology (L. Tso)
21A.300: Practicum in Global Health and Development (E. C. James)
21A.301: Disease and Health: Culture, Society, and Ethics (A. Moran-Thomas)
21A.302J/WGS.271J: Dilemmas in Biomedical Ethics: Playing God or Doing Good? (E. C. James)
21A.303J/STS.060J: The Anthropology of Biology (S. Helmreich) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
21A.305J/STS.062J: Drugs, Politics, and Culture (A. Moran-Thomas) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
21A.306: Culture, Embodiment, and the Senses (E. C. James) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
21A.308 (CI-H): Global Mental Health (E. C. James) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
21A.310/WGS.155: Global Sexualities (L. Tso) New!
21A.331J/7.331J/HST.431J: Infections and Inequalities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Global Health (E. C. James, D. Kim, A. Chakraborty) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
Economics
14.21: Health Economics (J. E. Harris)
Linguistics and Philosophy
24.236: Topics in Social Theory and Practice (A. Prescott-Couch)
Political Science
17.30J/11.002J (CI-H): Making Public Policy (Staff)
17.309J/ESD.082J/STS.082J (CI-H): Science, Technology, and Public Policy (K. Oye)
17.315: Health Policy (A. Campbell) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
17.317: US Social Policy (A. Campbell) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2017 – 2018 academic year.
Science, Technology, and Society
STS.006J/24.06J (CI-H): Bioethics (R. W. Scheffler)
STS.012: Science in Action: Technologies and Controversies in Everyday Life (D. Banerjee) New!
STS.049 (CI-H): The Long War Against Cancer (R. W. Scheffler) Note: This subject is not offered during the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
STS 450 (G): The Global History of Medicine and Public Health (R. W. Scheffler) New! Note: This subject is not offered during the 2017 – 2018 academic year.
Women’s and Gender Studies
WGS.151: Gender, Health, and Society (B. Charlton)
WGS.225J/21A.103J/STS.046J: The Science of Race, Sex, and Gender (A. Sur)
WGS.228: Psychology of Gender and Race (C. Kapungu)