Frequently Asked Questions

If you want a traditional approach to medical programs that focuses primarily on the underlying science of disease or the pharmaceuticals to treat them, with more emphasis on skills in bench science and less emphasis on the method and practice of health delivery, then we recommend the PreHealth concentration within biology, or majoring in one of the other appropriate sciences such as chemistry.

However, if you want to look at health care in a more human centered approach, where health care is studied in an interdisciplinary context that considers not just the science of the disease, but the methods and approaches required for quality health care delivery, then we suggest the new Health Sciences Program. It incorporates an approach rapidly becoming part of the best practices in Health Care education, where students from both clinical and policy, bench science and social science, take several classes together, learning to work together as a team to provide the best in health care outcomes.

In Health Sciences there are two concentrations available depending on your interests within the fields of health care.

The BioScience concentration is available for students whose career interests focus on the health of individuals, whether as a clinician or through work in a laboratory connected to health care This concentration includes four tracks: General, Medical, Lab Investigations and Nursing.

The Health Care Policy, and Practice concentration is available for students whose career interests focus on the health of populations, and want to develop the expertise necessary to provide information, manage and reform policy, develop interventions, and administer health care systems that people and communities need to protect their health. The concentration includes four tracks: General, Health Education, Community and Public Health, and Health Policy and Administration.

Students in both concentrations will be taking a set of core courses together to stimulate a community of Health Sciences students that learn how to work in a team-based approach in providing health care.

For more information, see our programs in our Academics section​.

The emphasis of each of the four tracks in BioScience is described below:

This track is for students interested in studying the Biosciences and pursuing a career in the health sciences, but is not yet sure where those interests will lead them, and provides the most flexibility of the BioScience tracks. We encourage entering freshmen interested in the BioScience concentration to start with this General track and switch to one of the other tracks as their interests solidify.

This track is for students who intend to go on to advanced degree programs in one of many health professions: medicine, dentistry, podiatry, optometry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic, pharmacy, physicians' assistant, etc This track provides the necessary prerequisites for applying to a wide variety of medical and graduate programs, although for some programs students may have to use general electives to take additional requirements such as calculus. Students in this track are strongly encouraged to register with the PreHealth Advising Committee, and contact programs they are interests in directly, to ensure that they will have all the necessary prerequisites for their program in place by the time of graduation

This track is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in laboratories that focus on issues of public health; whether they pursue a study of forensics, or investigate the causes, consequences, and potential cures of infectious diseases. Coursework in this concentration is centered on coursework involved in understanding the nature of infections and immune responses, along with the underlying molecular and biochemical foundation for the way drugs and toxins affect human physiology. Students in this track are encouraged to also look at the available programs in biology and chemistry (e.g. biotechnology) to see what program best fits their needs.

This concentration is designed for students interested in entering professional nursing through a Master's Entry to Nursing Practice (MENP) program after graduation. Students are expected to work closely with an advisor in Nursing to select the proper courses for the specific MENP program they choose.