Graduate Minor in Substance Use and Misuse
About the Graduate Minor
The graduate minor in Substance Use and Misuse focuses on key issues relating to the history, epidemiology, and study of drug use. This will include examination of drug policies, public health outcomes linked to substance use/misuse, and characteristics of marginalized individuals/communities who use. Students will gain understanding of the economic, cultural, and health-related contexts of drug use, including consideration of intersects between drug use and homelessness, incarceration, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, mental health, violence, and health disparities.
Coursework will address the use of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the public health effects to drug use and prevention, intervention and treatment strategies, and policies for addressing substance use and misuse. This includes consideration of the use of illegal drugs, such as marijuana, heroin, and cocaine; legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco/nicotine; and prescription drugs, such as pharmaceutical opioids, tranquilizers, and stimulants.
Morbidity and mortality associated with substance use and misuse is a top public health concern, reflecting the impacts of drug dependence and overdose, drug-use-associated transmission of infectious diseases, and the overuse of prescription opioids in managing chronic pain associated with cancer and other conditions.
Admission Requirements
Graduate minors are designed to complement students' training by providing basic knowledge in topics outside their primary discipline. All matriculated graduate students in quarter programs are eligible to enroll.
Students must receive approval from their home program and the Dornsife School of Public Health and complete the necessary paperwork with the DSPH Academic Advising Team.
Program Requirements
| Required Courses | ||
| CHP 650 | Drug Use and Public Health | 3.0 |
| CHP 681 | Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations | 3.0 |
| CHP 804 | Qualitative Research in Community Health | 3.0 |
| Elective | 3.0 | |
| Pick one course from below: | ||
| Community Organizing and Community Assessment for Health and Wellness | ||
| Pharmacoepidemiology | ||
| Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Justice | ||
| Violence, Trauma and Adversity in Public Health | ||
| Total Credits | 12.0 | |
Additional information
For more information about this graduate minor, please contact:
DSPH Academic Advising Team
Office of Education
dsphadvising@drexel.edu
Additional information can be found on the Dornsife School of Public Health website.