The History of Health Sciences (HHS) is concerned with the historical development of medical practices, disease categories, biomedical technologies, and healthcare systems. With an emphasis on modern (late nineteenth to twenty-first century) American and European contexts, the program's faculty and students investigate how medicine, health, and illness are historically perceived, and how these perceptions reflect and shape culture and society. Examining the role of the patient, provider, institution, and state in healthcare systems, the program provides students the ability to understand how medical ideas and practices have been deployed and negotiated in different historical contexts.
Students in the HHS program learn to examine the history of health sciences from a variety of critical approaches. Graduates from the program enrich their careers and chosen fields by infusing unique historical perspectives into their work. The location of the HHS program at UCSF, one of the nation's leading health sciences campuses, gives students the opportunity to collaborate with their counterparts in the basic and clinical sciences to advance the historical analysis and understanding of biomedical research, clinical practice, and health policy.
Career Outcomes
Graduates from the HHS program are prepared to undertake a wide variety of professional careers in academia, industry, government, and communications.
15 August 2025
School of Medicine
513 Parnassus Avenue,
SAN FRANCISCO,
California,
94143, United States
A bachelor's degree (BA/BS) or the equivalent from an accredited institution is required with at least a 3.0 (B) grade point average.
Applicant is required to have TOEFL score of 550 on paper based, 213 on computer based, 80 on internet based test and IELTS score of 7.0.
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.