Curriculum

The Minor requires a total of 20 units to complete.

Programme Requirements

Students will have to complete all years of their respective undergraduate programme.

Minor in Integrative Health (MIH) programme will be offered on a full-time basis to be completed as part of their non-NUSMed undergraduate degree. All students are required to obtain a total of 20 units offered by MIH programme. A total of five courses are included in MIH programme.

They are
(1) MIH1101: What Impacts Health?
(2) MIH1102: Improving Health: Beyond Medicine
(3) MIH2201: Barriers to Health
(4) MIH2202: The Landscape of Health: Evolving Spaces and Technology
(5) MIH3201: Integrative Health Capstone

Students are encouraged to complete these courses in sequence as stated in the table below, with MIH1101 and MIH1102 serving as optimal entry points for interested undergraduates to embark on their journey in the MIH programme. Based on this projected timeline, students may need approximately 1.5 to 2 years to complete all courses within the MIH programme.

After their inaugural launch, MIH1101 and MIH2202 would be available in Semester 1 of the academic year, while MIH1102, MIH2201 and MIH3201 would be available in Semester 2 of the academic year.

*Students may read another course within this Minor as stated in the above table concurrently if intended.
^Students must read the course concurrently in the same semester if no pre-requisite is fulfilled. Students are also advised to check NUSMods if the course they wish to concurrently enroll is available in the given semester.

MIH1101 What Impacts Health?

Course Coordinator: Dr Ivan Low Cherh Chiet & Dr Amanda Wong

Health, as defined by WHO, is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease. This course provides an evidence-based platform for the critical evaluation and discussion on topics pertaining to the immediate determinants of health. Students will gain deeper insights on the complex interplay of factors that may influence one’s health or access to health determinants, including but not limited to factors of physiological, environmental, lifestyles, socioeconomics, and cultural origins. 

MIH1102 Improving Health: Beyond Medicine

Course Coordinator: Dr Long Yun Chau 

The human body is a remarkable system which adapts to different environments efficiently. How does the body achieve this? What happens when its adaptation is impaired? This course examines how the body adapts in a healthy state, and how internal and external factors disrupt its function leading to medical conditions. Students will learn how knowledge of body systems can be applied in different disciplines to promote and manage healthfulness . Team-based learning will allow students from different fields to propose a multi-modality approach (such as technology, devices, design, behavioural or psychosocial interventions) in the prevention or management of medical conditions.

MIH2201 Barriers to Health

Course Coordinator: Dr Inthrani Raja Indran & Dr Serena Seah

This course is designed to increase awareness of the social, financial and structural barriers to health using different population/demographic groups-of-interest (e.g. ageing population) as case studies to learn about these barriers. Acknowledging these challenges will be imperative for students to contribute meaningfully in paving the way toward more equitable and inclusive health measures for our society. In this course, students will engage in conversations with facilitators from community groups and other relevant stakeholders to critically analyse how they can utilise their discipline background to explore the barriers to health to enable solutions.

MIH2202 The Landscape of Health: Evolving Spaces and Technology

Course Coordinators: Dr Ch’ng Jun Hong & Dr Png Chin Wen 

This course will introduce the critical contributions of design and environment, and technological applications for healthcare innovations. Students will engage in various projects to critically identify gaps and solutions for real-life healthcare related issues. Key concepts and application exercises are arranged into topics including, (1) the role and application of design and technology in health, (2) role of environmental and human microbes in health, and the (3) changes in health during growth and aging. At the end of this course, students will be able to communicate and integrate information in an interdisciplinary manner to provide healthcare solutions for the community.

MIH3201 Integrative Health Capstone

Course Coordinators: A/Prof Chen Zhi Xiong & Dr Inthrani Raja Indran

 

Students in teams will work on projects that tackle novel, significant or unmet needs in health or healthcare setting. Projects can be self-generated or proposed by industry partners, community groups and government agencies. Students will be guided with feedback by principal lecturers, faculty from SOC and CDE, or external advisors where applicable. Solutions designed, recommendations made or hidden issues surfaced should be based on evidence and deep understanding of complexity. The report and presentation should also articulate the impact expected and its significance. The capstone will be interspersed with relevant seminars or workshops to support the students in their projects.