Graduate Studies
The History of Science and Medicine Program is a semi-autonomous graduate track within the Department of History. The Program's students are awarded degrees in History, with a concentration in the History of Science and Medicine.
Education
Science and medicine have become integral to our conceptions of race, gender and identity; national security, economic growth and natural risks; sex, death and illness. Science and medicine pervade politics, markets and culture to a larger extent than ever before.
Studying the history of science and medicine provides a critical entry into understanding these relationships between science, medicine and society. Indeed, history is not primarily about the past, but first and foremost about building intellectual tools to make sense of the world we live in today.
Graduate Studies
MD-PhD Program
Yale University offers an interdepartmental Program in the History of Medicine and Science leading to the M.A., Ph.D., J.D./Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D degrees. The Program's full-time faculty are members of the Department of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and of the Section of History of Medicine in the School of Medicine.MD Thesis
Students may elect to write their MD thesis in the history of medicine. The thesis, like all Yale MD theses, is to be based on original research on an aspect of the history of medicine or public health, including attitudes and institutions of the medical profession, medical ethics and policies, the conceptual foundation of the biomedical sciences, the management of health and disease in their cultural and social contexts, or the life of a selected historical actor.Undergraduate Major
History of Science, History of Medicine (HSHM) is an interdisciplinary program of study within the History Department that leads toward an understanding of the development and interactions of science, medicine and society. It explores a great variety of topics, such race and medicine in America, Chinese science, women and medicine, genetics and biotechnology public health and epidemics, science and the state, medical technologies and pharmaceutical drugs.Courses
A listing of undergraduate and graduate courses. Most courses are open to medical students. However, for more information, please get in touch with the individual faculty.