Interprofessional Health Sciences Major (B.S.)

This course is designed for diverse health professionals, including future health practitioners with clinical backgrounds, whose responsibilities include health management for various health organizations. Applications of traditional health management skills and competencies are tailored to emphasize the role of clinicians, highly educated workforces, safety, and risks for health employees, and managing health delivery personnel services that are complex and are offered in disparate settings from emergency rooms to assisted care facilities.

This course introduces the fundamentals of Pharmacoeconomics. The course compares the cost and outcomes of therapies from an economic perspective. Various techniques are applied to the decision-making approaches to determine the value of the therapies under investigation. These techniques are applied in the selection of patient treatment and formulary evaluation. Quantitative techniques as they impact health policy on quality-of-life issues is discussed.

The Capstone project is a formative and summative assessment of the student’s knowledge and competencies in their interprofessional health science concentration. The Capstone course runs like a seminar although the student has a project advisor to guide the work. The outcome measures of the Capstone are a written product, either a paper or poster presentation, and/or an oral presentation of the work to the department, school or elsewhere. The individual Capstone project to showcase the student’s interest will be decided upon by the advisor and student. The Capstone project can be research-related, direct work experience or other application. The main criterion is that the advisor and student agree that the Capstone project reflects the student’s knowledge and skills in or related to their interprofessional health science concentration.

This course expands students' understanding of the various healthcare system components as they relate to the United States and global healthcare industries. This semester's work will focus on health and pharmaceutical economics, managed care and population health models, political and governmental issues, lobbying and advocacy, and international health systems.

This course familiarizes the student with the concepts of quality and outcomes management with a special emphasis on the introduction of quality improvement processes across the healthcare continuum. The relationship of quality improvement to customer satisfaction is discussed in detail. Students will utilize databases from AHRQ and IOM to evaluate quality outcomes.

 Organizations are rapidly adapting to change, with significant implications for leadership and organizations. Teams are essential to effective healthcare systems. Leaders find they must also be able to operate in a virtual environment. The course covers the essentials of successful human resources management illustrated through exercises in team dynamics and effective leadership in a team-based environment. The course has the goal of enhancing the teamwork skills of each participant.

This course introduces students to planning options and integrated delivery operating processes designed specifically for healthcare organizations. Building on the systems approach, students learn models appropriate for health delivery organizations regardless of site, size, and complexity (medical health complexes, community hospitals, urgi-care centers) and become familiar with best practices for clinical operations management. Applications of logistic theories to hospital-wide productivity metrics and ethical constraints in health care services supply and demand decisions are covered. Students apply the various decision tools used to assess impact of strategic alternatives appropriate for healthcare settings.

 This introductory course is for students interested in pursuing a career in the healthcare profession. The purpose of the course is for students to gain a basic knowledge of the skills required for diverse health professions. The course provides students with an overview of careers in the health systems. Various health care professions and career opportunities are incorporated into this course. The collaborative and interprofessional nature of the health care team is emphasized in the modern health care arena. Students are encouraged to explore health professions through assignments, observations, guest lecturers and interviews.

This course addresses professional role development integrating concepts of multidimensional care and analysis to inform clinical decision making, professional judgment, and lifelong learning.

This course introduces the student to the concepts of the promotion of health and wellness. Topics include understanding the health consumer, personal health, relationships, disease prevention, and substance use.

This course introduces statistical research methods in health science. This course provides students with the tools to collect and analyze data. Students will analyze peer-reviewed literature to improve critical thinking skills. Emphasis will be placed on concepts of data collection, data entry, data analysis and interpretation utilizing SPSS and Excel software programs.

This course introduces students to the social determinants of health and population health in the United States. Students develop knowledge of behavioral and social factors that contribute to population health inequity and the impact of health disparity. Other topics include skill development in cultural humility, deliberative dialogue, and active listening to reduce health inequities.

A review of the current national health care crisis and the impact on legal issues for reform. Topics include issues of health care access, cost and quality control, Medicare and Medicaid, and the impact of legal decisions on the roles of health institutions, health care contracts and claims, right to treatment, and federal health plans vs. private health coverage.