MA-Design

Program Contacts

Overview

The Master of Arts in Design focused on Health is a first-of-its-kind applied master's degree born from the radical collaboration between the College of Fine Art's School of Design and Creative Technologies and Dell Medical School. The MA in Design focused on Health teaches learners how to become a force of innovation by using person-centered design methodologies. MA students will learn design research methods to understand the needs of people seeking health, receiving care, and delivering care. Learners will develop ideation and creation skills to generate new approaches for better health and care systems. Graduate students focused on Design in Health will learn to prototype, test, and iterate solutions based on measuring impact and results that matter. These learners will know how to craft compelling and persuasive experiences, stories, and systems designed to share and widely distribute innovations across systems of health.

Curriculum

Students will take classes that will develop them into “T-shaped” professionals, with a deep understanding of both the provision of care and the design process, and a very broad set of skills, abilities, interests, and experiences that will help them innovate in need areas they identify during the course of their careers as physicians. The classes students will take are far outside the realm of what traditional physicians study, and include courses in the history of design, visual and narrative design, hands-on physical prototyping, service creation, and more.

Students completing their MA in Design focused on Health will not only receive their MA alongside their MD, but will use their project as the centerpiece of a portfolio, which will communicate to future employers the tangible work products of the MA and the individual skills that each student has developed. Additionally, alums will become part of a growing group of physicians and designers—including members of the Design Institute—that can lean on one another as they begin to practice design in medicine in their residencies and beyond.

Click here to view the MA in Design focused on Health curriculum.

Virtual Information Session

The MA in Design focused on Health program holds information sessions throughout the fall and spring semesters. Check the MA in Design focused on Health webpage for upcoming sessions or a recording of a previous session. 

Degree Format

The program begins in the summer semester (early August) and concludes in the spring (mid-May). The MA in Design focused on Health program is offered on a full-time, in-person basis. Classes are typically scheduled Monday through Thursday, with additional professional development opportunities on Fridays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., though some courses and events may be scheduled in the evenings and/or on Fridays. 

Degree Requirements

This program is only for third-year Dell Medical School students who are accepted into the MA dual degree program. 

Tuition and Fees

There are no additional tuition or fees associated with this dual degree. Students will continue paying their regular medical school tuition.

Application Instructions

This program is only for third-year Dell Medical School students who are accepted into the MA dual degree program. In order to apply for the MD/MA dual degree program, students must be in good academic standing at Dell Medical School. 

Please navigate to the MA in Design focused on Health webpage and follow the application instructions listed there. Please be sure to select "summer" as your semester of entry in ApplyTexas to locate the correct graduate Design program.

Orientation

Program orientation and a 2-week Summer Studio will begin the first week in August.

Graduation

See the Graduation page for more information.