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 650Drug Use and Public Health3.0
CHP 681Research with Rare, Stigmatized and Hidden Populations3.0
CHP 804Qualitative Research in Community Health3.0
Elective3.0
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 Credits12.0

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.