The applicant to the Master's Degree in Health Psychology must have:

General knowledge in the area of Psychology, such as:

• Identify the main paradigms of psychology.
• To know the fundamental bio-psycho-physiological bases of human behavior.
• Locate the steps of the scientific method within an investigation.
• List the basic elements of an interview.
• Recognize the main elements of descriptive statistics.
• Possess grammatical, orthographic and syntactic knowledge of the English language since most international institutions offer their documents in English.

Critical reasoning, analysis and synthesis skills, as well as being able to convey ideas clearly, such as:

• Use writing and style guidelines according to the APA manual.
• Demonstrate oral and written communication skills.
• Apply the stages of the research process to a given problem.
• Apply and interpret standardized psychological tests.
• Use basic elements of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and other ICTs.
• Research and select scientific information in documentation centers, digital libraries and virtual media.
In a second language (English):
• Understand general, as well as specific and technical texts in the area of health psychology in English.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform written summaries of scientific texts in Psychology in English.

Have attitudes of initiative towards self-learning in their professional field in a responsible manner, such as:

• Initiative and commitment as basic skills for entry.
• Ethics, social responsibility, respect, honesty, organization, team collaboration, perseverance and discipline as values to be able to enter the postgraduate program.
• Manifest formative interests that correspond to their work, professional and/or academic project.
• Possess academic, professional and/or work experience related to the area of Health Psychology.

Profile of graduates

The graduate of the Master's Degree in Health Psychology, upon completion of the study plan, will have the following characteristics:

Specialized theoretical and research knowledge in the area of Health Psychology, such as:

• Recognize the biopsychosocial approach to disease that addresses psychophysiology, psycho-socio-cultural factors, cognitions, emotions and behaviors as part of user care.
• Recognize the basic and applied research methodology used in various scientific investigations.
• To know the principles of statistics and psychometrics for the realization of research protocols that provide empirical evidence for the knowledge of study phenomena.
• Identify the main theoretical models in Evidence-Based Health Psychology to pose research problems relevant to the area.
• To identify the psycho-socio-cultural factors associated with health and disease that have an impact on the improvement of health, quality of life and well-being indicators in the Mexican and Latin American population.
• Describe diverse phenomena from the perspective of Health Psychology and the elements that compose it.

Critical reasoning skills to be able to employ and generate research in the area of Health Psychology, which demonstrate its effectiveness in improving the well-being of people, such as:

• Distinguish and apply the main methods and analyses used in Health Psychology.
• Understand the factors that promote or interfere with the disease self-management process.
• Compare different intervention programs for the same health problem.
• To discuss theoretical and methodological contributions that can advance in the establishment of a solid body of knowledge in the field of emotional health and regulation.
• To propose theoretical-methodological contributions that can advance in the establishment of a solid body of knowledge in the field of emotional health and regulation.
• Intervene individually or as part of a multidisciplinary team through various techniques (RAB, CBT, TREC) with EBE support to prevent chronic conditions or complications that have an impact on the improvement of health indicators of individuals through the use of psychological strategies.
• Search for and interpret information, analyze and synthesize it for inclusion in a health psychology research protocol.
• To develop relevant basic and applied research to prevent chronic conditions that have an impact on the improvement of people's health indicators through the use of psychological strategies.
• Generate research that analyzes the effect of positive emotions on chronic and acute diseases, as well as on the reduction of risk in the cardiovascular and immune systems, among other health problems.
• To provide adequate counseling to facilitate adherence to treatment for people suffering from any disease.
• Write scientific texts and various research products associated with the health-disease process.
• Disseminate scientific information in oral and written form in forums or media with a scientific audience.
• Manage, organize and operate a research project derived from Health Psychology.
• Create, adapt, validate and apply psychological tests for the area of knowledge.
• Conduct interviews and psychometric tests with specialized skills in the detection of bio-psycho-socio-cultural factors affecting health.
• Evaluate and ethically diagnose the processes associated with the prevention and promotion of health through a critical analysis from the psychological and health fields.
• Analyze information using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), as well as databases, electronic information searches, reference managers and other ICTs for the realization of projects.

Attitudes of leadership, initiative towards self-learning and acting ethically in their professional field in a responsible manner, such as:

• Possess a proactive attitude and social commitment to the generation of research in the area of Health Psychology that demonstrates its effectiveness in improving the quality of life of the user.
• Show leadership and self-management as basic skills for graduation.
• Demonstrate professional conduct and service, as well as social responsibility, respect, honesty and institutional identity as values in order to graduate from the postgraduate program.