This highly flexible, low-residency program can be specifically tailored to meet your learning goals and lifestyle. You may choose to complete an individual 12 credit certificate, or you can complete 2 certificates plus a capstone to earn the full MS Health Communication Design Degree for a total of 30 credits. A full time student can complete the program in 1 year, or you can extend the experience if part-time learning works better for you.

The two certificate options are:

• Design and Communication for Disease Prevention, Management and Cure: Ethics and Accessibility Focus (offered in fall semesters)
• Design and Communication for Life Stages and Identity: Sustainable Systems Focus (offered in spring semesters)

Each certificate consists of:

• 1 Project Core (4 credits)
  • This is a studio style course where students put design and communication theory into practice to work on projects relevant to the certificate theme and individual student’s career goals.
• 1 Topic Core (3 credits)
  • The Topic Core exists to support the Project Core with active research and discussion of related contemporary issues in design and health.  
• 2 Skills Modules (1 credit each)
  • These shorter courses run for only a portion of the semester and provide students with an opportunity to dive deeper into skill-based topics. Example topic include: design thinking, health communication defined, negotiation, organizational change management and capstone research.
• 1 Elective Course (3 credits)
  • Students choose from a variety of options including but not limited to: Health and Package Design, Communicating Health Data, Design and Business Entrepreneurship, Cognitive Psychology for Design, Internship and more.

After completing 2 certificates, students have the option to complete a 6 credit Capstone to earn the full MS Health Communication Degree. The Capstone experience provides students the opportunity to conduct deeply immersive research and experimentation to deliver a solution that provides unique value to the field of Health Communication Design.