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Student ID:__________________________ Student Name:_______________________ Adviser Name:_______________________ Bulletin: 2026-2027 Undergraduate Bulletin Program: Health and Society Microcredential Minimum Credits Required:__________________

Health and Society Microcredential

College of Liberal Arts >> Sociology department 

9 hours

The health and society microcredential is focused on providing a sociological foundation for students preparing to work in medical and health-related fields. Future health care providers would benefit from this microcredential because understanding the social determinants of health and the social organization of health care is important to their work and patients. For example, pre-med students need a strong foundation in sociology because the entrance exam to medical school (MCAT) tests them on core sociological knowledge. Students complete a survey course that provides foundational knowledge about society and then have an opportunity to reinforce that knowledge in a more applied course. Next, students select a course on a health-related topic that integrates their core knowledge in a more specialized area of health and society.

Learning outcomes include:

  • Understanding the social determinants of health and their effects on patients
  • Understanding the social organization of health care and the different social roles of patients, doctors, nurses, administrators and other health care service providers
  • Awareness of the social problems surrounding health care and health care policy
  • Apply core sociological knowledge to a specialized area of health and society

Undergraduate Microcredential Requirements

  • The total number of credit hours required for an undergraduate microcredential may vary by academic discipline but must require a minimum of 6 credit hours and not more than 9 credit hours.
  • At least 50% of the microcredential requirements must be earned at USI.
  • Coursework taken more than 4 years before the microcredential is awarded cannot be applied.
  • Credit hours earned for a microcredential may be applied toward another degree program. A microcredential, therefore, can be embedded within a larger (e.g. certificate, minor, or major) undergraduate degree program. Academic departments may determine whether coursework taken to complete a microcredential can also be applied to a degree program.
  • Microcredentials may be stand-alone or linked to an existing degree program, allowing for stackability with other microcredentials and certificates toward a degree (i.e., certificate, minor, or major) program.
  • Students earning an undergraduate microcredential are not eligible to participate in commencement exercises, but the credential will be added to their official transcript record.

Required Courses (6 hours)

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
SOC 121 - Principles of Sociology

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-Social Inquiry; Social Science-BS; Embedded Experience-Diversity


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer		 Credits: 3
SOC 231 - Social Problems

USI Core 39: Ways of Knowing-Social Inquiry; Social Science (BS)


Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring		 Credits: 3

Elective (3 hours)

Choose one course

Course NameCredits:Term TakenGradeGen Ed
SOC 321 - Sociological Aspects of Aging
Term(s) Offered: Spring		 Credits: 3
SOC 341 - Medical Sociology
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered		 Credits: 3
SOC 343 - Death, Dying, and Bereavement
Term(s) Offered: Fall		 Credits: 3
SOC 370 - Seminar in Sociology  (approved topic: Reproduction)
Term(s) Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer		 Credits: 3
SOC 415 - Environmental Sociology
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered		 Credits: 3
SOC 424 - Population
Term(s) Offered: Irregularly offered		 Credits: 3
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