Global life expectancy has never been as high as it is today. However,
our modern society faces modern problems, such as drug abuse, high
levels of occupational stress or population-wide inactivity. All those
issues have severe consequences for health. Finding solutions to those
problems requires a multidisciplinary approach.

The minor “Five Big Issues in Health” focuses on large scale modern
health issues. The minor consists of five courses, each revolving around
a major health issue, which will be tackled from a scientific
perspective and be discussed form physiological, psychological,
societal, socio-cultural and ethical viewpoints. Special attention will
be given to the practical implications of this knowledge. Through
lectures, excursions, practicals and assignments, you will seek answers
to questions such as:
- What do we need to support workers to reach the increased retirement
age in good health? (Health@Work)
- How can we prevent unplanned pregnancies among young girls, and sexual
transmitted diseases among the elderly? (Sexual Health)
- Can we save the world by eating insects? (Food for Thought)
- Is exercise the medicine to lifestyle diseases? (Moving Matters in
Health)
- Why is it so difficult to treat addiction? (Drugs and Addiction)

This minor builds on recent developments within the field of biomedical
and health sciences and places them in a broader perspective (e.g.
societal, managerial, political and economic). In our current time we
face many challenges in health care due to new and emerging infectious
diseases, changing disease patterns, demographic changes, rising costs
of health care and globalisation. At the same time, new scientific
developments result in innovative products and services, such as novel
pharmaceuticals, neurotechnologies and telemedicine. Ideally, the
scientific developments would be able to address the current challenges
successfully. However, reality sometimes proves otherwise. Technical
innovations are not taken up by patient groups, vaccination programs are
unable to reach proper vaccination levels, societal movements halt
further scientific developments, etc. What are the underlying causes for
these undesirable outcomes and how could we in the future create a
better match between the needs in health care and developments in
biomedical and health sciences? This minor provides you with the first
steps to answer these questions.

The central question within the minor Biomedical Topics in Health Care
is: How does biomedical knowledge support health care related solutions?
The courses follow the development of medical interventions from basic
science to the integration into routine clinical practice: “from cell to
society”. Some courses focus more on the biomedical mechanisms of
disorders and how human development is regulated and can be disturbed.
Other courses focus more on healthcare aspects (prevention,
diagnostics, care and treatment) and societal impacts. Students will
learn more about the challenges and steps in translation of biomedical
knowledge to public health and clinical practice.

The purpose of this minor is to acquaint the student with different
disciplines within the field of Neuroscience. The student will become
familiar with the workings and functions of different types of brain
cells and brain areas. The student will learn how this knowledge can be
used to understand characteristics of the healthy brain (e.g.,
perception, attention, learning and memory, consciousness, personality),
of the developing brain
(pre- and postnatal), and of the diseased brain (e.g., depression,
addiction, eating disorders).
In addition, the students will be familiarized with recent findings from
the fields of human genetics and will actively participate in
nature-versus-nurture debates. Finally, this minor provides an
introduction into recent technological advances in brain-machine
interfaces, deep brain stimulation, and robotics in the context of
Neuroscience. The integration of disciplines such as biology,
psychology, sociology, and genetics, is central to this minor. Students
learn to think critically about how knowledge of the brain and the human
genome can be applied to tackle societal issues.

The minor Communication about Health aims to provide insight into basic
principles and recent developments in communication about health and
diseases to different target groups and by different parties (such as
government, press, health-promoting organizations or professionals).
Moreover, the minor deals with behavioral-, language- and
social-scientific aspects as well as legal aspects of communication and
how these can be applied in the area of public health and health care.

New and emerging infectious diseases, changing disease patterns, ageing,
rising costs of healthcare – these are problems that add complexity to
the already considerable health challenges the world is facing today.
Many diseases do not stop at national borders, and most health problems
have social, political and economic impacts. The world is more than ever
in need of a vision of health that spans the globe. At the same time,
innovative answers to these challenges emerge, like novel
pharmaceuticals, neurotechnologies, genomics, mhealth (using mobile
phones), field test kits that replace whole laboratories, as well as
innovative funding schemes and care arrangement (e.g. community-based
health care). But how can we make these answers fit the challenges that
are emerging? History shows numerous, at best, not-so-effective health
interventions and unintended consequences. To effectively address these
complex health challenges, global health researcher need to
cross-disciplinary boundaries and interact with health professionals,
patients and others to gain in-depth understanding of global health
problems, and to set out cohesive and strategic action to solve these
problems.

The minor Health Care Management is a joint programme offered by the
School of Business and Economics (SBE) and the Faculty of Earth and Life
Sciences (FALW). It is open to all bachelor students from the VU, from
other Dutch universities and from universities abroad.

This minor discusses health care policy from an economic perspective and
deals with management of health care organizations, using economic,
organization, accounting and finance theories and methods. It offers
students in economics and business sciences the opportunity to use
economic and organizational theories which enables them to gain in-depth
knowledge about the cure and care sector. The minor is also useful for
students from other faculties who have studied health care issues from
another perspective, like medicine, social sciences, life sciences and
behavioral and movement sciences. The minor may be especially helpful
for those students who consider working in policy development or
managerial positions within the health care sector. The minor relates to
two major VU themes: Human & Life Sciences en Professional Services.

The minor focuses on the following themes:
- The economic effects of health, illness, demographic developments and
aging.
- The role of government intervention in the health care market,
positive and negative economic implications of regulation.
- Structure and functioning of care and cure markets, and the way health
care supply meets health care demand.
- The role of health insurance arrangements in influencing health care
supply.
- Policy issues around health care regulation, accessibility of care,
cost control and health care quality.
- Financial management of health care organizations in their pursuit of
health care productivity, cost effectiveness and quality.
- Management of health care organizations, the role of management in
steering and controlling professionals, leadership, and communication.

The minor enables students to analyze the effectiveness of health care
policies, to analyse complex issues related to financing and controlling
health care institutions, and to improve internal management issues
within health care organizations.

The minor contains 5 compulsory courses.

De universiteitsminoren
- Zijn in principe toegankelijk voor alle bachelorstudenten van alle
faculteiten.
- Kennen voor sommige minoren een toegangseis.
- Hebben een vaste omvang van 30 EC.
- Vooraf geen toestemming van je eigen examencommissie nodig om de 30 EC
van deze minor mee te laten tellen in het afstudeerpakket van je
opleiding.
- Indien een bepaald vak uit de universiteitsminor onderdeel uitmaakt
van je reguliere curriculum, kun je deze minor niet (volledig) volgen
omdat vakken niet twee keer kunnen meetellen. Vraag in dat geval
toestemming van de examencommissie voor de invulling van de
profileringsruimte.

Van de reguliere 2e en 3e jaars cursussen van je BSc opleiding,
inclusief die van de minoren, kan in overleg met de betrokken docent en
je honoursprogramma-tutor een zg. Stervariant worden gedaan. Een
Stervariant is gericht op verdieping en heeft een omvang van 3 EC boven
de normale studielast van de cursus. Binnen de stervariant doe je veelal
een individueel begeleid literatuuronderzoek naar een specifiek
onderwerp uit de cursus. Dit literatuuronderzoek rond je af met een
schriftelijk verslag. Het is belangrijk de betrokken docent /
coördinator van de cursus tijdig te benaderen met de vraag of het
mogelijk is een stervariant van de cursus te doen. In overleg kan dan
het onderwerp en de specifieke vraagstelling worden bepaald.

Voor aanmelding, beschrijving van het onderwerp, en beoordeling van het
literatuurverslag, kan gebruik worden gemaakt van het
‘Honours-extenstion / Stervariant-manual’ document wat beschikbaar is op
de CANVAS site voor FALW honoursstudenten.
Zie ook:

http://falw.vu.nl/nl/onderwijs/overig-onderwijs/honoursprogramma/program

The interdisciplinary components of the Honours Programme are taught
mainly in the evening by lecturers from Vrije Universiteit, the
University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam University College, as well as
guest lecturers from the Netherlands and abroad. The classes are small
and you will be expected to give presentations, write papers and make an
active contribution to discussions.

You have to choose at least 12 credits of Interdepartmental honours
courses from the overview of interdepartmental honours courses, as well
as an application form, at: http://www.vu.nl/honourscourses.