Healthcare has been at the forefront of national discussions on policy and human rights for some time. Now it’s taken a more significant role in the zeitgeist. If you’re working in the field, you know that continually expanding your skills, knowledge, and experience is key to sustained success. And if you’re looking to work in health care, or just fascinated by health and medicine, this is for you.
In this list we’ve looked at twenty free online courses in health and medicine. Many of these are offered in part by elite universities around the world. We’ve ranked these courses by the number of reviews they received and the average rating to give you excellent options no matter what your niche is. You’ll find classes on specific diseases, conditions, nutrition, medical fields, and more. Let’s see what courses made it:
1) CDC Environmental Public Health Online Courses (EPHOC)
The CDC has partnered with Tulane University to offer a series of free e-learning courses on environmental public health issues. These courses are intended for new environmental public health professionals, students, people in the field looking to advance their skills and knowledge, and people wishing to take a state or national exam. There are 15 distinct courses offered to students, including Food Protection, Radiation Protection, Disaster Sanitation, and many more.
- Reviews: N/A
- Rating: N/A
- Environmental Public Health Online Courses (EPHOC)
2) Understanding Dementia MOOC
The University of Tasmania presents this free course on dementia. It requires seven weeks of study and three hours a week to complete. It doesn’t require exams nor assignments, but students will still learn the most recent information about dementia care and research. How do you maximize the quality of life for people with dementia and those around them? This course is intended for policymakers, social scientists, health professionals, people impacted by dementia, and anyone interested in the subject.
- Reviews: 6,742
- Rating: 4.9/5
- Understanding Dementia MOOC
3) Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
The University of Tasmania is back with this free online course on MS. Its goal is to raise awareness and understanding of the disease. It’s intended for people living with MS, their families, health professionals, and advocates. Students will tackle modules in Biology and Pathology, Diagnosis and Symptoms, Demographics and Intro to Risk, Risk Factors, Disease Management and Support Strategies, and Living with MS. This course takes six weeks to finish, and students can expect to spend two hours a week on it.
- Reviews: 424
- Rating: 4.9/5
- Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
4) Maintaining a Mindful Life
This free course is offered by Melbourne, Australia’s Monash University, and aimed at improving student emotional health, communication, and relationships through mindfulness training. It lasts four weeks and requires three hours of study a week. Topics covered include empathy, compassion, and kindness, mindfulness and pain, self-compassion and performance, and much more. It’s technique-focused and will immerse students in formal and informal mindfulness practices. This course is for people with some previous mindfulness practice experience.
- Reviews: 160
- Rating: 4.9/5
- Maintaining a Mindful Life
5) Preventing Dementia
The University of Tasmania is back again with another free course on dementia. This course inspects whether you can change your risk for dementia, based on the latest research about what decreases vulnerability to its conditions. Students will enter online discussions, figure out how to help people reduce their risks of dementia, and even be assessed for their chances. This course is intended for anyone interested, regardless of their background. It doesn’t require exams or assignments to participate. Students can expect to commit two hours a week for four weeks to complete the course.
- Reviews: 2,907
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Preventing Dementia MOOC
6) Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
Monash returns with another mindfulness course, this one on stress reduction. Students will learn to improve their wellbeing and increase their performance in studies and work during this free online course. It requires three hours a week for six weeks to complete. If you’re stressed by modern life, it might be for you. It’s intended for anyone, whether or not they have any experience with mindfulness. Students will learn techniques, decrease anxiety, and improve communication with others. They will be asked to reflect on their experiences. The next start date is 6/15/20.
- Reviews: 124
- Rating: 4.9/5
- Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
7) Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics
The University of Cape Town and Coursera have partnered to present this free course. It’s for people who want to gain a better understanding of technical research terms. It’s intended for people who wish to understand published research better, and researchers alike. This includes complete beginners. You’ll learn to interpret ubiquitous statistical concepts and terminology. In total, this course takes 28 hours to complete. Areas covered include statistics, statistical analysis, clinical research, and statistical hypothesis testing.
- Reviews: 449
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Understanding Clinical Research: Behind the Statistics
8) Nutrition, Exercise and Sports
This free course is offered by edX and Wageningen University. It lasts six weeks and takes four to eight hours a week to complete. Students will learn about exercise physiology, sports, nutrition science, and how nutrition impacts energy, protein metabolism, fluid balance, and much more. You’ll move through Intro to Sports Nutrition, Skeletal Muscle, Exercise and Sports, Energy and Fluid Balance, Macronutrients, Micronutrients, and Ergogenic Supplements, and Exercise and Nutrition During Aging. Students will leave with a critical mind-set regarding Exercise, Nutrition, and Sports.
- Reviews: 281
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Nutrition, Exercise and Sports
9) The Musculoskeletal System: The Science of Staying Active into Old Age
Newcastle University, The University of Sheffield, The University of Liverpool and FutureLearn all combine to offer this free course. It lasts three weeks and demands three hours of study a week. Students will learn why joints, muscles, and bones lose functionality as humans age and learn how to live well through aging. Topics covered include the musculoskeletal system, its health, the impacts of diet and exercise on it, and much more. This course is intended for patients, caregivers, and anyone who wants to learn about health and lifestyle. No previous experience in biology is required.
- Reviews: 176
- Rating: 4.8/5
- The Musculoskeletal System: The Science of Staying Active into Old Age
10) Discover Dentistry
The University of Sheffield and FutureLearn collaborated on this free course on dentistry. You’ll learn about the history of dentistry: what they do, why it matters, and much more. This course lasts six weeks and requires three hours of study a week. Topics include specializations in dentistry, dental charting, dentistry systems in different countries, tooth anatomy, development, disease, various roles in dentistry, and more. This course is for anyone interested in dentistry or science, no matter their previous experience or knowledge.
- Reviews: 76
- Rating: 4.9/5
- Discover Dentistry
11) Introducción a la Regulación Emocional basada en Mindfulness
This free course tackles emotion regulation through mindfulness. It’s offered in Spanish by the University of Madrid and edX. The course takes four weeks and requires five to six hours a week. It’s self-paced. Students will learn to tolerate difficult emotions, cultivate emotions of gratitude and compassion, practice presence in the moment, counter negative biases about people, among other practices and outcomes.
- Reviews: 57
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Introducción a la Regulación Emocional basada en Mindfulness
12) Medicine and the Arts: Humanising Healthcare
The University of Cape Town and Future Learn present this free course covering the overlap between humanities, arts, and healthcare. It looks at anthropology, creative arts, history, social sciences, and health. Topics include mental illness, understandings of death, how children experience disease and recovery, and much more. This course requires six weeks of study and three hours a week. It’s intended for anyone interested, regardless of their background.
- Reviews: 53
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Medicine and the Arts: Humanising Healthcare
13) De-Mystifying Mindfulness
This courses if for anyone interested in meditation, contemplation, and mindfulness. It’s offered for free by Leiden University and Coursera. Students will spend approximately 34 hours on it in total (the program has flexible deadlines). Topics covered include the political and social significances of mindfulness, comparing distinct therapeutic and psychological approaches to mindfulness, and common conceptions and misconceptions of mindful practices. Students will also be able to interpret and create the methods that work for them.
- Reviews: 52
- Rating: 4.8/5
- De-Mystifying Mindfulness
14) Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes
Wageningen University and edX present this free course. It’s focused on the current science and analysis of how lifestyle and nutrition impact the development and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular issues. The session lasts five weeks and requires six to eight hours a week to complete. Modules covered include Cardiometabolic Disease Risk, Role of diet – Prevention of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Pathophysiology of Cardiometabolic Disease, Molecular Aspects, and Nutritional Strategies to Reduce Cardiometabolic Diseases. This course is for people with some education or training in healthcare, nutrition, and related areas.
- Reviews: 99
- Rating: 4.7/5
- Nutrition, Heart Disease and Diabetes
15) Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition
This course is also offered by Wageningen University and edX. It focuses on micronutrients (minerals, vitamins, and trace elements) in foods. Whereas macronutrients are types of foods (proteins, fats, carbohydrates), micronutrients are what we get out of food. This course looks at tactics to improve and fight against problems caused by malnutrition. It’s intended for health care professionals or people working in the food industry that don’t have a background in nutrition. Students will develop a critical outlook on food, health, and nutrition. This course requires seven weeks and six to eight hours per week to complete.
- Reviews: 42
- Rating: 4.8/5
- Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition
16) Viruses & How to Beat Them: Cells, Immunity, Vaccines
This course is offered free from Tel Aviv University and edX. It looks at how immune systems handle viral diseases. The course explores vaccinations, how viruses subvert our cells, specific viruses like AIDS and Ebola, and much more. This course requires seven weeks to complete, and students will spend two to three hours a week working on it. It’s intended as an introductory course open to people of all backgrounds. It also has a perfect 5/5 rating from 25 respondents.
- Reviews: 25
- Rating: 5/5
- Viruses & How to Beat Them: Cells, Immunity, Vaccines
17) COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus
This course is offered free from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in conjunction with Future Learn. It provides students an in-depth exploration of the latest information about COVID-19 from international experts. It requires four hours a week for three weeks to complete. It’s intended for anyone working in health or interested in response to the outbreak.
- Reviews: 51
- Rating: 4.7/5
- COVID-19: Tacking the Novel Coronavirus
18) Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19
This free course is courtesy of Harvard University and edX. It’s intended for licensed medical professionals, so they can support and assist those that use mechanical ventilators to care for COVID-19 patients. The course lasts a week and requires 2-5 hours to complete. This is an excellent option if you’re working in healthcare and looking to expand your understanding of mechanical ventilation. It can also give you credits towards health certifications and degrees you might be currently enrolled in. Topics covered include waveform analysis, how ventilation procedures are different in COVID-19 patients, troubleshooting with the ventilator, and much more.
- Reviews 14:
- Rating: 5/5
- Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19
19) Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition
This course is free from Wageningen University and edX. It tackles macronutrients: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. You’ll learn how they’re absorbed, stored, and used for energy, and how they impact health. It explores body weight regulation, being overweight and obese, and the latest in nutritional research/research methodologies. It covers the connection between nutrition, human health, and health problems stemming from overeating. This course is conveyed over nine weeks, and takes six to eight hours a week to complete.
- Reviews: 84
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition
20) Food as Medicine
Monash University and Future Learn team up to present this free course on health and nutrition. You’ll look at how food can be preventative of certain conditions, how it can help manage chronic diseases now and in the future, and how it has been used historically. Topics covered include food and the brain, food and the gut, food and our genome, and much more. This course is intended for anyone interested but will be extremely useful for healthcare professionals. It’s completed over three weeks and requires four hours of study each week.
- Reviews: 77
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Food as Medicine
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