Health: Science, Society, and Policy (HSSP)
The Health: Science, Society & Policy (HSSP) program encourages HSSP majors and minors to engage in study abroad programs. Each year, approximately one-third of HSSP students participate in such programs. In recent years, HSSP students have gone to Mexico, Chile, Denmark, England, Geneva, South Africa, Spain, and numerous other countries for their life-enriching study abroad experiences.
While some HSSP students do not take health-related courses abroad, others go abroad to expand their perspectives on health and health care, as well as cultural differences in understanding health, illness, and well-being. Many programs offer health-related internship and field experience components that fulfill the HSSP hands-on experience (HOE) requirement.
Sample of approved programs with pre-approved health-related coursework:
Explore Pre-approved HSSP Courses abroad
If you are interested in Studying Abroad options:
Step 1 - Get Started: Review the Office of Study Abroad’s "Get Started" resources to learn, for example, how to create an online study abroad account, think about your goals and options, and learn about finances.
Step 2 - Research your Options: Start your research into Programs and Courses that interest you:
- See this Sample of Approved Programs; and
- If you want to seek HSSP credit while abroad, explore over 175 pre-approved HSSP courses, including HOEs, on the Office of Study Abroad’s List of Pre-Approved Courses.
Note: Majors can take 2 for HSSP credit; Minors 1. New courses will be added from time to time.
Step 3 - Read the FAQs: Carefully review the FAQS for earning HSSP credit while Study Abroad.
Step 4 - Meet with OSA: Schedule a meeting with an Office of Study Abroad advisor.
Step 5 - Finalize your Plan: Choose the course(s) you want to take and finalize your plan and then prepare your Proposed Course Abroad form::
- Is the course already on this List? And, is it approved by HSSP for what you plan to take it for (for example, HSSP Focal Area C or HOE)? If so, note that on your Proposed Course Abroad form and you’re all set! You don’t need any additional signatures because the course is pre-approved for what you want it for.
- If a course or HOE you are interested in is health-related (i.e., has at least 50% health-related content) and is NOT on this List, then complete this Petition. Prof. Curi will notify you whether or not the HSSP faculty has approved your petition.
Note: If the HSSP faculty doesn’t approve that course/HOE, then you may explore another option(s).
Upon return from abroad:
After returning from abroad, Follow the Office of Study Abroad's Returning to Brandeis checklist, including attending their Re-Entry Workshop.
Any pre-approved courses will be automatically transferred. If you are a major who took more than 2 pre-approved courses, please let the Office of Study Abroad know which course(s) you would like to transfer toward your HSSP major.
FAQs
Before contacting the HSSP Study Abroad Liaison with questions, please review the Steps above and the following FAQs.
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Yes, HSSP majors may receive credit for up to two courses and HSSP minors may receive credit for one course, provided that the course is closely related to HSSP courses. Some majors choose to avail themselves of health-related internships and field experiences to fulfill the HSSP hands-on-experience (HOE) requirement. With few exceptions (see FAQ 3 below), such outside courses may only fulfill HSSP electives, the HOE, and/or Additional Basic Science requirements.
When choosing courses for HSSP credit:
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See HSSP List of Pre-Approved Health-related Study Abroad Courses (“List”).
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If you are interested in petitioning for approval of a course that is not on this List, keep in mind that courses taken abroad don’t have to be identical to current HSSP courses; courses may be thematically similar. Therefore, the best strategy is for you to look for courses that fit in the three HSSP Focal Areas (health-related courses relating to Science, Society, or Policy).
Look for courses that are different from the Brandeis courses that you have already taken (or intend to take). For example, you should not take HSSP 102A - Global Perspectives on Health at Brandeis as well as a course abroad that is similar. In addition, if you've taken (or plan to take) BIOL 42A - Physiology, then you should not take physiology while abroad.
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Before going abroad: If you are a HSSP major/minor who wants HSSP credit for your study abroad work, after meeting with the Office of Study Abroad,
- a) Is your course already on this List? And, is it approved by HSSP for what you plan to take it for (for example, HSSP Focal Area C or HOE)? If so, note that on your Proposed Course Abroad form and you’re all set! You don’t need any additional signatures because the course is -pre-approved for what you want it for
- b) If a course or HOE you are interested in is health-related (i.e., has at least 50% health-related content) and is NOT on this List, then complete this Petition. Prof. Curi will notify you whether or not the HSSP faculty has approved your petition.
Note: If the HSSP faculty doesn’t approve that course/HOE, then you may explore another option(s).
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After returning from abroad: Any pre-approved courses will be automatically transferred. If you took more than 2 pre-approved HSSP courses, please let the Office of Study Abroad know which 2 you would like to transfer toward your HSSP major.
We encourage students to complete most, if not all, of their core Science, Society, and Policy courses before going abroad. In general, study abroad courses only fulfill HSSP electives, the HOE, and Additional Basic Science Course requirements. Other than the HOE, the only core courses that can be completed abroad are the following:
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The DIS Epidemiology: Danish Case Studies or Epidemiology: Swedish Case Studies can substitute for HSSP 100b-Introduction to Epidemiology Biostatistics and Population Health; and
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There are already some pre-approved human physiology courses that can substitute for BIOL 42a - Physiology. If not already pre-approved, students may petition for a human physiology course taken elsewhere (US or abroad) in place of BIOL 42a - Physiology; such petitions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Majors have many study abroad options for fulfilling the HOE requirement: You can do a health-related internship, a health-related research project, or take a study abroad course that has an experiential component. If your HOE is a part of your study abroad program, then you don’t need to take HSSP 89a - Internship Seminar.
If you plan to look for a health-related internship when you arrive, you will still need written pre-approval for that particular HOE. Importantly, when you arrive on site and identify an opportunity, complete the
HSSP Internship Approval Form as soon as possible; your failure to do so may result in not receiving HOE credit.
We understand that you may change your mind about what courses to take and/or the courses you hoped to take are no longer available or have changed. For example, because of a change in the syllabus, a course that may initially appear to be appropriate for Focal Area C may only qualify for Focal Area B.
If your plans change for any reason and you decide to take a different pre-approved course, you are all set!
If a course or HOE you are interested in is health-related (i.e., has at least 50% health-related content) and is NOT on this List, then complete this Petition. Prof. Curi will notify you whether or not the HSSP faculty has approved your petition.
Note: If the HSSP faculty doesn’t approve that course/HOE, then you may explore another option(s).
To receive HSSP course credit for courses taken abroad, you must earn at least a C-.
