Strengthening the Undergraduate Curriculum and Infrastructure in Biopsychology

Background: Biopsychology is an interdisciplinary major (traditionally a subfield of Psychology) that examines interactions between biology, behavior, mental processes, environment, and health. It reflects the ever-increasing interdisciplinary nature of science and incorporates rapid developments in areas such as behavioral genetics, psychoneuroimmunology, neuroendocrinology, and neuroscience. To date, about 60 colleges and universities in the U.S. offer undergraduate programs in biopsychology and the number of programs is expected to grow.

At Mills, Biopsychology was formally approved as an undergraduate major in 2003 (prior to this, it served as a college major). There has been a steady increase in the number of majors in Biopsychology, and a doubling in the last two years, from 8 to 16 majors. We expect this major to continue to attract more students in the future, not only because of rapid advances in the neurosciences, but also because of upcoming changes in medical school curriculums, which will place more emphasis on understanding behavioral and sociocultural determinants of health and health outcomes. These changes are designed to prepare physicians to serve a more diverse population and develop a clear understanding of the impact of behavior on health. Medical school entrance requirements will change to include coursework in psychology and statistics, and starting in 2015, the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will include a new social and behavioral sciences section, Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior. We predict that the new emphasis on psychosocial factors and health is likely to make Biopsychology an increasingly attractive undergraduate major for many students interested in a career in medicine.

The Biopsychology major at Mills offers several courses that are relevant to this curricular and paradigmatic shift, including Fundamentals of Psychology, Physiological Psychology, Neurobiology, Health Psychology, Stress and Disease, Psychopathology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, and Research Methods. Additionally, the BS degree in Biopsychology fulfills pre-med requirements. Faculty research on psychobiologic mechanisms of disease activity and mental disorders in autoimmune disease, hormone and immune alterations associated with anxiety disorders, and molecular mechanisms of learning in the model organism C. elegans are also relevant to the future emphasis of psychosocial factors in medicine and participation in this research attracts many students who wish to enter medical school.

Concerns: At Mills, the Biopsychology major is run jointly by the Psychology and Biology Departments. As such, it truly reflects the interdisciplinary nature of this major and is a unique feature of our program. However, this structure also poses significant difficulties for the major, which does not have its own budget. Budgets in the ‘parent’ departments, which have diminished in recent years, are struggling to cover the expenses of their primary programs, and are thus, unable to support the financial needs of Biopsychology. As one example, the Psychology Department is unable to support the equipment maintenance of it’s psychophysiolgocial laboratory, the Laboratory of Psychology and Health, which serves students in Biopsychology as well as Psychology. This is a precarious situation: A single repair for the – 80 degree C freezer (which stores hormone and immune samples that can be lost if thawed) can cost an average of $1,500. Annual maintenance and repair policies are similarly too expensive for the Psychology Department to absorb. Additional support would also provide balance in the major so that summer support would be available for majors working in labs from both departments.

With the increased number of Biopsychology majors, now is also an ideal time to build momentum for activities that would strengthen student cohesion in the major. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the program, our majors do not have courses that are designed solely for them, or are even populated mostly by them. Social activities, lecture series, and journal clubs are activities that students in the major have expressed interest in and we believe would develop greater cohesion and learning opportunities among the majors. Support for the Biopsychology major would also allow us to expand existing courses to include a laboratory component, e.g., in the course Stress and Disease.

Strategic Planning Suggestion: With an increased emphasis on psychosocial influences in health and medicine in medical school curriculums and new MCAT section to reflect this, Biopsychology may become recognized as one of the ideal undergraduate majors for students planning careers in medicine, along with other majors in the natural sciences. Mills already has an excellent reputation and track record for preparing students to enter the health fields. We offer one of the most long-standing and nationally acclaimed post-bac pre-med training programs in Northern California and an excellent nursing program in partnership with Samuel Merritt University.

We could market Mills as a premier institution for preparing students to enter medicine and other health fields at both the undergraduate and post-bac levels.

Strategic planning may be used to help to build support for Biopsychology as well as other programs and majors in the natural sciences. The timing of this strategy may never be better, as a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has predicted a major shortage of primary care doctors in the U.S. Mills is geographically located in a hotbed of world-class medical centers and training programs, and faculty in Biopsychology and other majors in the Natural Sciences have collaborations with programs at UCSF (Psychology and Medicine, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine), Children’s Hospital of Oakland, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, to name a few). We are also surrounded by clinics and other health settings providing care for underserved populations and thus are in a good position align our programs with opportunities to learn about the relationships between social stratification and access to resources and health, and effect positive change.