Health Science

Are you currently certified, licensed, or registered in a healthcare profession? If so, this concentration builds on your current knowledge and skills as you continue your education. The Bachelor of Science in Health Science – Applied Health Studies concentration is a degree-completion program for individuals who are certified, licensed, or registered as a healthcare professional. Students enter the program with an associate’s degree and a healthcare credential and then build upon their existing knowledge and skills to earn a bachelor’s degree. You will benefit from attaining core knowledge at an advanced level that applies to all healthcare practitioners while establishing a more marketable, multi-skilled background.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Athletic Trainers are multi-skilled health care professionals who provide service or treatment under the direction of a physician to a variety of patient types in a variety of practice settings. The Pre-Athletic Training Concentration provides you with the education you need to enter graduate athletic training programs. Commonwealth University offers a graduate athletic training program at the Lock Haven Campus.

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Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Athletic Trainers are multi-skilled health care professionals who provide service or treatment under the direction of a physician to a variety of patient types in a variety of practice settings. The Pre-Athletic Training Concentration provides you with the education you need to enter graduate athletic training programs. Commonwealth University offers a graduate athletic training program at the Lock Haven Campus.

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Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Occupational therapy is a health care profession that promotes health and well-being through occupation. The Pre-Occupational Therapy concentration provides you with the courses you need to apply to graduate occupational therapy programs.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Are you interested in a challenging and rewarding career choice that will make a positive impact on the health of Americans? As healthcare providers, physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals of all ages by conducting evaluations, and developing treatment plans that promote mobility, decrease pain, restore function, and prevent disability.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Are you interested in a challenging and rewarding career choice that will make a positive impact on the health of Americans? As healthcare providers, physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals of all ages by conducting evaluations, and developing treatment plans that promote mobility, decrease pain, restore function, and prevent disability.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

As healthcare providers, physician assistants practice medicine in collaboration with a physician or surgeon. They examine patients, diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses, prescribe medications, and provide treatment. Over the next decade, the employment of physician assistants is projected to grow much faster than the average for other occupations.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

Only available at the Lock Haven campus

To be considered for the accelerated option, you must have a completed online application designating the Health Science/Pre Physician Assistant track before November 1st with a 3.5+ weighted GPA, SAT score of at least 1200 or a composite score of 25 on the ACT submitted to the Admissions Office.  

Applicants are carefully screened to ensure they have the track record (e.g. high class rank and strength of curriculum) to succeed in this very concentrated, rigorous and demanding academic and professional program. If accepted, a compressed schedule of undergraduate classes, including summer work, will enable you to transition into the graduate program at the end of your third year.

If accepted into the "3+2" program, you must maintain the following criteria in order to ensure a guaranteed seat into the graduate program:

• Grade Point Average (GPA): 3.2 or above
• Grades in core classes: B or better
• Successful interview

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

This concentration prepares you for entry into a variety of professional programs. Recent graduates have earned advanced degrees in medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, and other allied health professions. It also prepares you for employment in health-related fields such as sales within the pharmaceutical or surgical/medical equipment industries.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

This track will prepare you for entry-level public health education and promotion positions in settings such as public health departments, non-profit agencies, corporations, and hospitals. Typical tasks of health education professionals include assessing the health of populations and planning, implementing, and evaluating health programs designed to change health behaviors and improve overall health. Graduates will be prepared to sit for national exams and enter graduate programs.

Course Delivery

Degree Requirements Degree Works

Note: Degree requirements effective for enrolled students beginning Fall 2023. All enrolled students, including matriculating students prior to Fall 2023, can review their degree program requirements and track progress to degree completion with our degree audit and advisement tool, Degree Works.

As a Health Science major, you will be required to complete a professional field experience that serves as a culminating experience linking academic preparedness to an experience that matches your career goals and aspirations.

The following guidelines will assist you in preparing for this critical step in your education.

State Authorization for Distance Education and Field Experiences

Eligibility

You must be a Health Science Major to enroll in HLTH485.

• Minimum grade point average:  To participate in HLTH 485 - Professional Field Experience in Health Science you must have earned an overall minimum grade point average of 2.5 and a minimum grade point average of 2.5 in your core courses.  Exceptions will only be made if you and your advisor formally request an exception that will be considered by the Health Science faculty.
• Minimum course requirements:  To enter the professional field it is important that you are able to discuss basic concepts in your field of study.   Your site supervisor will grade you on your ability to ask intelligent and informed questions as well as your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biology and more.
• Resume and Cover Letter: Click on the following links for a sample:
  • Resume
  • Resume Rubric
  • Cover Letter

The following tracks do require specific courses prior to entering the field:

• Community Health
  • HLTH 204 Foundations of School & Community Health
  • HLTH200 Introduction to Disease
  • HLTH350 Program Planning
  • HLTH402 Evaluation in Health Education & Promotion Programs
  • HLTH410 Community Health Organization Management
• All other tracks
  • HLTH128, 129, 130, & 131 Anatomy and Physiology I & II
  • HLTH200 Introduction to Disease

HLSC BS Applied Health Studies 

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre AT 3+2 Program 

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre AT Program 

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre OT Program 

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre PA 3+2 Program 

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre Physical Therapy 3+3 Program

Upon program completion, students will:

1. Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
2. Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre Physical Therapy 

Upon program completion, students will:

• Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
• Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
• Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Pre Physician Assistant Program

Upon program completion, students will:

• Demonstrate general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology in both healthy and disease states.
• Apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
• Demonstrate entry-level communication skills including written, verbal, and affect skills specific to their proposed professional setting.

HLSC BS Public Health Education Program

The Health Science Public Health Education graduates will meet the following outcomes:

1. Students will demonstrate general knowledge of the human body in healthy and diseased states.
2. Students will apply critical thinking skills when making evidence-informed/evidence-based decisions.
3. Students will demonstrate entry-level written and verbal communication and affect skills in public health and health education professional settings. PHE
4. Students will demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and professional attributes as outlined in the 2020 Health Education Specialist Practice Analysis (HESPA II 2020).

HLSC Public Health Education Minor Program

Students completing the minor will be able to:

1. Describe the function and value of public health activities for advancing population health.
2. Examine health concerns from a population health perspective.
3. Apply public health principles in health profession settings.