Health Sciences
The healthcare field is rapidly evolving and changing. Healthcare organizations need innovative professionals who understand the field and the people they serve. The Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences program equips students with the communication, cultural, management, and leadership competencies needed to make a positive impact within the healthcare industry.
Health Sciences Courses
HLTH_SCI 250-DL Healthcare Principles (1 Unit)
This course serves as an introduction to the US healthcare delivery system, including the development and evolution of the current system, comparison to other healthcare systems in other countries, service delivery models, ethics, and levels of care. Topics will include the major components and considerations in healthcare administration, development of the US healthcare system from its origins to present day, and how patient, personal, and professional rights, ethics, and responsibilities impact healthcare. Students will interview a healthcare professional of their choosing to learn more about what healthcare principles mean in practice.
HLTH_SCI 315-DL Communication in Health Science Professions (1 Unit)
The importance of having good communication skills in any health profession cannot be overstated. Good communication can improve patient health outcomes, patient compliance, and overall patient satisfaction. Many patients value the communication skills of their healthcare provider even higher than the provider’s technical skills. This class highlights the important role of communication for students who work in (or are considering) healthcare careers. Using writing assignments, presentations, and role-play scenarios, this course will increase students’ communication competence in healthcare.
HLTH_SCI 317-DL Culturally Responsive Healthcare (1 Unit)
This course's objective is to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for delivering culturally responsive care to a variety of patient populations. Participants will delve into the influence of culture on health beliefs, behaviors, and healthcare outcomes. The course employs a mix of lectures, discussions, case studies, journals, papers, and presentations designed to foster the development of culturally relevant healthcare practice that leads to equitable and patient-centered care.
HLTH_SCI 355-DL Managing Financial Resources in Healthcare Organizations (1 Unit)
This course introduces principles of finance management in healthcare. Students will explore the functional role of financial management and control in large-scale healthcare organizations, and evaluate the effectiveness of organizational financial planning.
HLTH_SCI 357-DL Healthcare Quality Management (1 Unit)
This course provides a comprehensive overview of healthcare quality management principles and practices. Students will explore the fundamental concepts, strategies, and tools used to enhance the quality of healthcare services. The course focuses on the importance of quality management in healthcare settings, examining how it impacts patient outcomes, organizational efficiency, and overall healthcare delivery. Students will be able to illustrate how various concepts and tools can be applied to real healthcare scenarios to improve healthcare delivery, enhance patient outcomes, and improve organizational efficiency.
HLTH_SCI 365-DL Data Management and Analytics in Healthcare (1 Unit)
An introduction to methods in data analysis utilized in healthcare organizations, with an emphasis on the functional application of these techniques in large-scale information management. Students will have the opportunity to discuss how data-driven solutions can be applied to a variety of healthcare settings to improve patient outcomes and apply analytical techniques to data sets. Microsoft Excel will be leveraged for some assignments; other data visualization tools will be reviewed.
HLTH_SCI 367-DL Research Methods in Health Sciences (1 Unit)
This course provides an overview of quantitative and qualitative research methods for the health sciences, including research design, analysis, and dissemination. Students will learn about the literature review process, how to evaluate the quality of research, and how to design quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research projects. Students will have an opportunity to explore a research topic of interest and propose their own study.
Prerequisite: None. STAT 202-DL or similar is recommended.
HLTH_SCI 395-DL Health Sciences Capstone (1 Unit)
In this course, students will reflect upon the knowledge and skills gained throughout the health sciences program and all courses -- Distribution, core, concentration, and electives -- as they create a project in the health sciences and prepare a professional e-portfolio. All core courses must be completed before enrolling.
ORG_BEH 307-DL Leadership Principles (1 Unit)
This course introduces the theory and practice of leadership: the capacity to mobilize group resources to affect fundamental change in organizations. Topics include understanding organizations as complex social systems; the difference between leadership and managerial authority; navigating the politics of competing factions within organizations to achieve shared goals; emotional intelligence and the role of building and maintaining relationships of trust to drive optimal performance and continuous improvement; and the role of leadership in creating an environment in which risk-taking and innovative solutions are encouraged, learned from, and rewarded. The classroom, as well as students' experiences, will serve as foundational learning and ultimately become case studies in leadership.
ORG_BEH 310-DL Organizational Change (1 Unit)
In-depth investigation of the forces driving organizational change and their impact on people and structure.
ORG_BEH 367-DL Strategic Planning and Management (1 Unit)
Concepts of strategic planning applied to various types of organizations.
ORG_BEH 368-DL Project Management (1 Unit)
Foundations of leading and managing projects in increasingly VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environments. Three domains, leading and managing self, people, and business are covered.
ORG_BEH 369-CN Entrepreneurship and Technology (1 Unit)
Focus on how early-stage companies are structured, financed, managed, scaled, and sold.
PUB_HLTH 342-DL Epidemiology and Biostatistics (1 Unit)
This course provides an introduction to epidemiology and biostatistics for application in health sciences. Concepts of descriptive statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, correlation, linear regression and analysis of variance will be covered. A focus on how these principles and statistical procedures are used in public health initiatives, including measuring disease prevalence and incidence and for prevention and intervention assessment will be included.
PUB_HLTH 343-DL Healthcare Disparities, Inequities, and Social Determinants of Health (1 Unit)
This course examines the impact of social categorizations of difference, including race, class, gender, sexuality, age and religion, on access to healthcare and individual health outcomes. Students will critically explore current debates of social inequity in healthcare policy and research.
PUB_HLTH 344-DL Health Program Development and Evaluation (1 Unit)
This course provides the theoretical and practical foundation for developing and evaluating health programs. An emphasis on the use of organizational and population data, the role of stakeholders, and the development of program objectives and assessment strategies to evaluate program outcomes and effectiveness.
BIOL_SCI 170-DL Concepts of Biology (1 Unit)
General biological sciences introduction. Topics include evolution, biomolecules, cell biology, genetics, population biology, and the relationship between structure and function in organisms. The course is geared toward students with an interest in the topic but without a background in biological sciences.
BIOL_SCI 312-DL The Evolutionary Biology of Human Anatomy, Health, and Disease (1 Unit)
Key features of human anatomy, health and disease from an evolutionary perspective.
BIOL_SCI 313-DL Human Anatomy (1 Unit)
This is an online course on human anatomy, focusing on morphology and function. It follows both a regional and systems approach. All course content, activities, and assessments will be online learning activities and assessments. The course will also have a broad emphasis on clinical application that is applicable to all health care professions. The course covers gross anatomy of the human body; therefore, images of human cadavers will be presented in your textbook, as well as in other course resources. Readings are assigned from the Marieb, Wilhelm and Mallatt text.
Prerequisite: BIOL_SCI 170-DL, or equivalent course.