Clinical Psychology and Research Methods in Psychology: Learning the diagnostic, treatment, and research methodologies of psychology provides the explanatory knowledge necessary to research and develop effective digital therapeutics.
PSYC 285: Abnormal Psychology: This course will give me a broad understanding of the classification, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health disorders that digital therapeutics seek to address. (Fulfilled prerequisites: PSYC 100)
PSYC 345: Introduction to Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy: Therapeutic techniques and treatments such as cognitive-behavioral therapy are commonly used by digital therapeutics. (Prerequisites: PSYC 100 and 1 other PSYC course [PSYC 285])
PSYC 385: Health Psychology: This class teaches the behavioral effects of many health concerns and is necessary in fully understanding the effects of digital therapeutics. (Prerequisites: PSYC 100 and 1 other PSYC course [PSYC 285])
Ethical and Regulatory Considerations: Understanding the ethical dilemmas of digital therapeutics, such as automating the jobs of therapists, as well as the regulatory oversight of digital therapeutic products allows me to be an informed developer and innovator in the field.
PHIL 251: Ethical Issues in Science and Engineering: Examining the ethical responsibilities of both science and engineering covers ethical concerns in psychology and software development for the creation of digital therapeutics.
INDS 400: Independent Study in The FDA Approval Process OR IS 461 - Healthcare Informatics II: An independent study would allow me to examine the specific ethical and regulatory concerns of digital therapeutics as established by the Digital Therapeutics Alliance. A potential faculty mentor for independent study is INDS alum James Valentine, esq. In the event that a suitable mentor cannot be found, similar information can be gained through the follow-up class to IS 460. (Pending mentor for INDS 400 OR Prerequisites: IS 460)
IS 460: Healthcare Informatics I: This course examines payors, providers, regulators, and security concerns for the health IT field and aids my understanding of how digital therapeutics are regulated and protected. (Fulfilled Prerequisites: IS 300)
Software Development and Usability Design: Knowledge of programming languages, best practices and usability design is necessary to create digital therapeutic products for a variety of technological platforms.
CMSC 202: Computer Science II (Completed): A broad understanding of computer science principles, especially the C++ language, is necessary to create digital therapy applications.
CMSC 203: Discrete Structures (Transfer): This course introduces the logical thinking necessary in software development and programming.
CMSC: 289I: Rise of the Machines (Transfer): This course introduces theories of artificial intelligence such as neural networks and deep learning that are often used by DTx applications to customize a patient’s treatment plan.
IS 303: Fundamentals of Human-Computer Interaction: Design principles are necessary in creating intuitive and accessible applications for users unfamiliar with the technology. (Fulfilled prerequisites: IS 300)
IS 403: User Interface Design: This course applies knowledge in Human Computer Interaction by creating and evaluating a variety of user interfaces. (Fulfilled prerequisites: IS 303)
INDS 410: Internship: An internship with the Imaging Research Center will provide applied experience in the creation of Virtual Reality applications, a form of digital therapeutics widely used in psychotherapy, as well as research experience.
IS 448: Markup and Scripting Languages: This course focuses on the web development technologies, such as Javascript, that are used in the development of internet-based digital therapeutics. (Fulfilled prerequisites: CMSC 202)
IS 413: GUI Systems Using Java: This course covers essential techniques in interface programming such as event handling and multithreaded programming. It provides a technical basis for the design of digital therapeutics. (Fulfilled prerequisites: CMSC 202)
IS 698: Special Topics in Information Systems (Affective Human Computer Interaction): This special topics course covers the field of affective computing and presents systems for evaluating users emotional states. It also provides relevant exposure to literature that will inform the direction of my capstone project.
Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship and Management: Understanding methods of creating and marketing new products allows me to implement the knowledge base I have developed in my other focus areas and work to innovate in a rapidly evolving field.
ENTR 200: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (Completed): This course provides an introduction to the practice of entrepreneurship. It is essential for understanding how entrepreneurship can be applied to digital therapeutics.
ENTR 201: The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset allows me to identify potential opportunities in mental health treatment that may not be immediately obvious. (Fulfilled prerequisite: ENTR 200)
MGMT 210: The Practice of Management: This course introduces the fundamental theories, such as performance measurement and culture creation, of managing a team.
IS 300: Management Information Systems (Completed): This course introduces various information systems used in business management as well as agile product development life cycles often used in startup environments.
ENTR 320: Entrepreneurial Marketing: This course will directly address techniques for marketing and will provide me with the skills to adequately bring new intervention techniques from theory to practice. (Fulfilled prerequisites: ENTR 200 & ENTR 201)
ENTR 340: Innovation, Creative Problem-Solving & The Socialpreneur: Experience with creative problem-solving techniques will assist me in identifying areas of improvement on existing treatments of mental illness. Social entrepreneurship is valuable in creating socially-minded commercial products such as DTx. (Fulfilled prerequisites: ENTR 200 & ENTR 201)
Individualized Study: This area of course work is required to progress with my degree plan and can be applied to my capstone project which will seek to integrate the social sciences with technology.
INDS 330: Ways of Knowing (Completed): This course gives me an introduction to interdisciplinary methods as well as critical thinking skills.
INDS 335: Degree Plan Writing Seminar: This course ensures my degree plan meets the INDS requirements and enables me to practice critical writing and oral communication skills. (Fulfilled prerequisites: INDS 330)
INDS 399: Guided Reading in Interdisciplinary Studies: Reviewing existing literature will allow me to be more informed about my topic area and prepare me for my capstone project.
INDS 430: Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Studies (Kinetic Sculpture Project): This course highlights the importance of project management, personally and professionally. It also provides exposure to working with an interdisciplinary team on a complicated problem.
INDS 480: Capstone Project Seminar: This course ensures my capstone project is manageable yet integrated enough to meet the requirements of the INDS program.
INDS 490: Capstone Project: This course will give me a deliverable that I can present to future employers or graduate programs.