Johns Hopkins launches online master's, certificate programs in History of Medicine

The Department of the History of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the oldest academic department of its kind in the English-speaking world, will offer a new suite of graduate-level online courses beginning in the fall of 2015. The new courses make it possible for students who are unable to take a year off to come to Baltimore to develop their interests in the field.

Students in the new online program can sign up for individual courses or pursue a certificate or master's degree in the History of Medicine. As with in-person graduate seminars, the core of the department's online courses will be held in small groups (no more than 15 per section) in which lectures will be paired with extensive discussion through online media. Progress through the online program will be personalized: those interested in obtaining a broad overview in the field and sharpening their skills in historical analysis may consider individual courses or the certificate program, while students interested in developing a substantial work of original scholarship—such as a masters' thesis—are encouraged to pursue the masters' degree, in which they can work one on one with an academic advisor.

Also see: Online Studies at Johns Hopkins

The first suite of courses is already underway, and registration for the second term of courses will be open until Oct. 19. Offerings for Fall 2015 include a thematic seminar (Introduction to the History of Medicine), the first two courses in a four-course chronological survey (Classical Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages and Black Death to the Scientific Revolution), and an elective in History of Public Health. In Spring 2015, the third and fourth courses in the chronological survey (Science and the Practice of Medicine and Biomedicine and its Consequences) will be available, with further seminars in methods in the history of medicine, the history of disease, the history of global health, the history of medical technology, and a medical history research practicum actively being developed.

The Department of the History of Medicine, founded in 1929 by William Welch, is located in the William H. Welch Medical Library. The department trains PhDs in the history of medicine, teaches in JHU's schools of Medicine and Public Health in East Baltimore, and also offers courses at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences on the university's Homewood campus.

Students from all backgrounds interested in learning more about online options can contact ihmonline@jhmi.edu for more information.