Health Communication Certificate

About

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, health-related occupations will grow much faster than average occupations in the coming decade.  Closer to home, health-related occupations are expected to grow by 40% in Montana by 2025 as a result of a growing and aging population in the state.   In the Communication Studies discipline, health communication represents a growing field of study as the need for communication skills has been linked to such health-related outcomes as managing medical errors, improving doctor-patient communication, using relationships to manage health, advocating for public health, and improving organizational performance to enhance healthcare.

The Department of Communication Studies’ certificate program in Health Communication educates students as to how communication about health is constructed, transmitted, managed and improved in a variety of contexts. For Communication Studies majors, the certificate provides a specialized skill-set related to emerging careers in health-related fields such as health care navigators, health communication specialists, public health advocates, health campaigns coordinators, and public relations and public information officers for health organizations.  For other programs around campus, the health communication certificate fosters the development of communication capacities that complement health careers.  For instance, students in pharmacy might use the health communication certificate as a way to build skills for working in supervisory roles.