BS Health Sciences

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Health Sciences degree offers an interdisciplinary approach designed to develop the critical knowledge and skills you’ll need to work in the healthcare field. You’ll also have the opportunity to choose elective courses that match your interests and career goals. Here are some of the key areas you’ll learn about as a Health Sciences major:

The Health Sciences bachelor’s degree program has grown to include more than 400 students. Many Health Sciences students especially enjoy the flexibility of the program, including the ability to choose elective courses that focus on developing individual interests. Our Health Sciences degree allows students to prepare for and meet the requirements needed to reach their individual educational and career goals.

Of the 120 credits required for graduation, 60 of the credits are elective and can be tailored to your particular areas of interest. For instance, a Health Sciences student interested in health care administration can take management and marketing courses as electives; another Health Sciences student interested in pharmacy can focus electives on chemistry courses.

Core Health Sciences courses use active learning techniques that are highly engaging. Core courses are designed to help you improve professional skills (such as creating resumes and working on interview skills) and build your health care knowledge (research methods and health administration). Courses also include the practice of techniques that will help you become a better health care professional.

The program also welcomes students who are undecided or who wish to change their major once they’re studying at Marshall. Many students switch into Health Sciences from other majors such as Nursing, Exercise Science, Biology or Athletic Training.

Employment for healthcare occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is projected to grow 18 percent through 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs. Healthcare occupations are expected to add more jobs than any other occupational groups, mainly due to an aging population with a greater demand for healthcare services.

The median annual wage for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (such as registered nurses, physicians and surgeons, and dental hygienists) was $66,440 in May 2018, which was higher than the median annual wage of $38,640 for all occupations in the economy.

Healthcare support occupations (e.g., home health aides, occupational therapy assistants and medical transcriptionists) had a median annual wage of $29,740 in May 2018.

Marshall graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences are prepared to pursue:

Many of Marshall’s Health Sciences graduates obtain employment in the following types of jobs:

Health Sciences graduates from Marshall University have gained admission into the following types of graduate programs: public health, health care administration, health informatics, social work, occupational therapy, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy, nursing, epidemiology, sport management, pharmacy, mental health counseling, psychology, human resource management, safety technology, chiropractic, physician assistant, medical assistant, child life specialist, speech pathology and biomedical sciences. Marshall graduates from our bachelor’s degree program in Health Sciences also have gone on to medical school.

Marshall University offers graduate programs that are an excellent next step for Health Sciences alumni:

Required experiential work as part of the Senior Capstone in Health Sciences enables students to synthesize what they have learned in their coursework to provide hands-on experience in a health-related environment such as a hospital, clinic or agency.

The Capstone course consists of 180 hours of experiential work related to a student’s career of interest, along with associated academic writing and presentation assignments. The Capstone experiential hours are typically in the form of interning, shadowing, volunteering, conducting a research project, continuing education and professional development activities.

Students have completed their Capstone hours in more than 100 different locations and organizations in West Virginia and the Tri-State area, including at Cabell Huntington Hospital, St. Mary’s Medical Center, Cabell Huntington Health Department, Prestera Center, Huntington YMCA, Marshall Sports Medicine Institute and Riverside Physical Therapy.

The Health Sciences program has articulation agreements with our graduate programs that will help you save time and money. The accelerated master’s degree program with the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree allows Health Sciences majors to take 12 credits of graduate coursework during their senior year.

The 3+4 Bachelor in Health Sciences and Doctor of Pharmacy program allows students to gain admittance to the Pharm.D. program at Marshall University after just three years of coursework in the Health Science bachelor’s degree program. You will earn your bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences after completion of the first year of the Pharm.D. program.