Gerontology Concentration
Administered by the Departments of Psychology
Effective: Spring 2009
This program is designed to help prepare students for careers in aging and advanced or graduate training in gerontology. The program emphasizes core information as well as content and process knowledge necessary to work with older adults. It also consists of an internship or field experience that provides first-hand opportunities for students to interact with older adults. Settings for these experiences may include hospitals, retirement communities, assisted-living centers, nursing homes, area agencies on aging, therapeutic day-care programs, and community family counseling centers.
Due to the wide variation of possible career objectives held by students entering the concentration, options have been given in each course category. Students are asked to identify their interests in each category prior to taking any courses, so that their faculty advisor can make recommendations that will complement their career objectives. Students may make changes as they progress through the program with their advisor's approval. For example, as new courses and/or special topical seminars with a focus on aging are developed, students may make substitutions in the appropriate category with their advisor's approval.
Courses as well as the internship or field experience are drawn from a variety of University departments, including Biological and Allied Health Sciences, Exercise Science, Nursing, Psychology, and Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice. The program consists of 30-36 credit hours: 27 credit hours of course work and 3-9 credit hours of field experience. Options are available in all category areas, so that students may personalize their gerontology career concentration program.
I. Core courses: 12 credits
One (1) required course:
48.311 Adulthood and Aging
48.210 Life Span Psychology (Nursing Majors ONLY)
Choose any three (3) courses from the following:
45.211 Principles of Sociology
48.101 General Psychology
48.131 Psychology of Adjustment
49.133 Introduction to Social Work and Social Welfare
50.107 Medical Terminology
50.231 Biology of Aging
II. Content courses: 9 credits
Choose any three (3) courses from the following:
05.321 First Aid and Safety
28.290 Medical Ethics
40.317 Population and Resource Problems
45.213 Contemporary Social Problems
45.231 Marriage and Family
48.335 Abnormal Psychology
49.456 Social Work and Issues of Aging
50.205 Introduction to Nutrition or 82.211Nutrition
82.213 Foundations of Nursing Practice
82.307 Contemporary Health Issues of Aging
III. Methods, skills, or process courses: 6 credits
Choose any two (2) courses from the following:
Courses (below) marked with an * (asterisk) must have prior approval in order to fill the requirement for this concentration. Approval will be given to seminars and research projects that are focused on aging issues or older populations.
05.397 Adult Health Development Program
*45.466 Social Research
*48.406 Psychology Seminar
48.430 Community Psychology
*48.466 Independent Study
48.476 Principles of Behavior Modification
49.334 Social Work with Individuals and Families
49.450 Social Work with Groups and Groups at Risk
49.452 Social Work with Organizations and Communities
82.410 Community Health Nursing
82.411 Psychological Mental Health Nursing
IV. Internship or field experience: 3- 9 credits
Choose one (1) course from the following:
Courses (below) marked with an * (asterisk) must have prior approval in order to fill the requirement for this concentration. Approval will be given to all field experiences that are focused on aging issues or older populations.
*05.498 Internship in Exercise Science
*45.496 Sociology Internship Program
*48.497 Practicum in Psychology
*49.497 Social Work Internship
*50.490 Internship in Biology and Allied Health Sciences
82.311 Adult Health Nursing