Healthcare Services and Sciences

wmich.edu/healthservices

The Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Services and Sciences (BS-HSS) at Western Michigan University prepares students to understand the healthcare world and how to work successfully in it. Through the three required elements of 1) core courses, 2) specialized knowledge (minor or concentration) and 3) a capstone experience (internship), students gain knowledge and experience to take their place as interdisciplinary team members in today's health services systems. A student in BS-HSS can focus their studies in a number of ways. These include:

a. The general program: This option must be paired with a minor to focus the program more clearly on student goals.

b. The Clinical Practice in Health Concentration: This option is specifically designed for those who have an associate's degree in a clinical area and are licensed or certified in that discipline following a discipline approved licensing exam.

c. The Physician Assistant Preparation Concentration: A preparatory program that prepares students to apply to Physician Assistant graduate programs including, but not limited to, WMU's PA program by including required prerequisites.

d. The Audiology Preparation Concentration*: A preparatory program that prepares students to apply to Audiology doctoral programs including, but not limited to, WMU's Audiology doctoral program by including required prerequisites. (THIS CONCENTRATION IS NOT CURRENTLY ALLOWING ADMISSION.)

e. The Blindness and Low Vision Studies Preparation Concentration*: A preparatory program that prepares students to apply to two of WMU's Blindness and Low Vision Studies programs, Orientation and Mobility for Adults or Vision Rehabilitation, by including required prerequisites (these prerequisites are similar to other programs but not identical).

f. The Occupational Therapy Preparation Concentration: A preparatory program that prepares students to apply to Occupational Therapy graduate programs including, but not limited to, WMU's OT program by including required prerequisites.

*The Pre-Audiology Preparation Concentration and the Blindness and Low Vision Preparation Concentration can lead a student to accelerated graduate programs in those areas. These programs are collaborations between the School of Interdisciplinary Health Programs and the respective graduate department. Within these programs, some courses are utilized for both a BS-HSS degree and a graduate degree. Students must be accepted into the accelerated degree (for Audiology and Blindness and Low Vision Studies programs) through the respective program before taking the courses that apply to both degrees.

For more information about the graduate level concentrations see the links under "Admission" below. Acceptance into these advanced programs is not automatic and if students are not accepted into the graduate program as undergraduates they must meet with their advisor to pursue a minor in their junior year.
 

BS-HSS Mission Statement

The Healthcare Services and Sciences program mission is to help students to understand the healthcare world and how to work successfully in it.

The BS-HSS major has three required elements: (wmich.edu/healthservices/academics)

1. The HSS Core is comprised of the two sets of courses: the HSS Core Major requirements and the HSS Core Cognate requirements. These courses provide an introduction of core competencies that are needed across health services disciplines including delivering patient and family centered care, working in interdisciplinary teams, evidence-based practice, health literacy practices, quality improvement, informatics, and ethical decision making. In addition, the HSS Core provides a more in-depth study of the organization and delivery of health services, safety practices, health disparities, diversity in delivering services, and health policy.
2. Specialized knowledge obtained through a Concentration or Minor.
3. A capstone experience (usually an intership) that pulls together skills obtained throughout the program and applies them to an internship placement, a professional project, or a research project. (Students who are accepted into the Audiology accelerated degree program take courses that serve as a capstone in those programs. Clinical Practice in Health students may transfer in an equivalent coursework as well.) Please see more information at "Capstone Experience".
    

Admission

Admission to the General, Clinical Practice, or any of the Preparatory programs occurs when students, who have previously been admitted to WMU, select Healthcare Services and Sciences as their major as long as the student has a 2.0 GPA and is not on academic probation. However, all students must raise their GPAs to 2.5 before taking the required capstone course.
 

Continuance and Graduation Policy

Student must obtain at least a "C" in all HSS required core courses with the Health Services (HSV) designation. Students may repeat courses to obtain the required grade of "C". Only two repeated HSV courses will count toward degree requirements. These two repeated courses may be the same course repeated twice or two separate courses repeated once each.

Students must have a 2.5 cumulative GPA when applying for the required capstone course. Those who do not have a 2.5 cumulative GPA in the semester before their capstone course may take one additional semester to raise their cumulative GPA to a 2.5 or better. If after this additional semester they do not meet the 2.5 cumulative GPA requirement they will be dismissed from the program.
 

Audiology and Orientation & Mobility and Vision Rehabilitation Accelerated Degree Admission

Admittance to any BS-HSS accelerated degree program requires acceptance into that graduate program. This usually occurs during the junior year. All of the accelerated degree programs have some courses that count toward both the undergraduate degree and the graduate degree. Students must consult information from the graduate departments for more information. Please see the links below.
 

Graduate Accelerated Degree Programs (all of the programs below require a separate application and are competitive)

Audiology wmich.edu/speech-audiology/academics/grad/accelerated
Orientation and Mobility (Blindness and Low Vision Studies) wmich.edu/visionstudies/academics/accelerated 
Visual Rehabilitation (Blindness and Low Vision Studies) wmich.edu/visionstudies/academics/accelerated
 

Academic Advising

The College of Health and Human Services provides advising to all students who wish to enroll in and who are admitted to the Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Services and Sciences program. Students should contact an advisor as early as possible. Advisors will assist students in program planning, and in the selection of a concentration, or academic minor. Failure to meet with an advisor on a regular basis may result in difficulty in completing the program in a timely manner.

Specific program requirements to follow.

1. Copy of passport identification page
2. Proof of English language proficiency*
3. Transcripts from all secondary and post-secondary schools attended or are attending, including diplomas, examination results, mark sheets and certificates.* Unofficial transcripts and other academic documents are acceptable for admission decision-making. Uploaded documents will show as received only AFTER an admissions counselor has completed the evaluation. 

   The Office of International Student and Scholar Services (I3S) may accept credential evaluation reports from certain credential evaluation services to make admission decision at Western Michigan University for undergraduate and graduate international admissions. Although it is not required, we strongly encourage submission of evaluation reports to expedite application processing and decision-making. Admitted and enrolled students are required to send your official high school or university transcripts and proof of degree before the beginning of the second semester of your studies. Following are the evaluation agencies that you may use to get your transcripts evaluated: World Education Services: www.wes.org Educational Credential Evaluators: www.ece.org Academic Evaluation Services: www.academicevaluations.org Global Credential Evaluators: www.gceus.com Spantran: The Evaluation Company: www.spantran.com

4. $100 non-refundable application fee
5. Proof of sufficient funds for the first academic year of study at WMU according to estimated cost of attendance. Proof of sufficient funds is a bank statement in your own name for cost of attendance. If the bank statement is not in your own name, then additionally provide a letter signed by your financial sponsor indicating that they will pay your cost of attendance.

*Official documents are those sent directly to International & Student Scholar Services (I3S) from the issuing institution or testing agency. Hand-carried transcripts will be accepted if in a sealed envelope from the institution. Documents sent by the student cannot be accepted as official.

If any documents are not issued in English, also provide an official English translation of each document. 

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