Distance Ed Harvard University is issuing certificates for anybody who passes one or more of the same online courses that are also taken by incoming students prior to starting their Harvard Medical School curriculum and used by the institution's faculty to "flip" their classrooms. The courses make up the university's new "HMX" program, consisting of online instruction for medical education. The HMX classes each last 10 weeks and cover physiology, immunology, genetics and biochemistry. Rather than using "traditional lectures and PowerPoint slides," these programs introduce real-world scenarios, animation, concept videos, notetaking guides, assessments, interactive components and videos that take participants into clinical settings. The price of each course is $800, or $1,000 when taken two at a time, or $1,800 when all four are taken simultaneously. To get a taste of the experience, the university is granting free access to lessons from the immunology and physiology courses. Harvard's idea is that the courses will be useful for anybody considering a career in medicine or healthcare or "curious learners" with backgrounds in biology, chemistry and physics who want to learn more. The school isn't giving academic credit for the HMX course; but those who complete a course at a certain level of proficiency will earn either a certificate of achievement or a certificate of completion. About the Author Dian Schaffhauser is a senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal and Campus Technology. She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @schaffhauser.
Harvard University will award certificates to students who pass one or more of the online courses also taken by its incoming medical students . The courses are offered as part of the university 's HMX programme of medical education . Each course takes about 10 hours to complete and costs $ 800 . Students wishing to take multiple classes can pay $ 1,000 for two , or $ 1,800 for all four . Subjects on offer include physiology , immunology , genetics and anatomy . Harvard is offering the courses for those interested in a career in medicine , but will not receive academic credit for completion .