Health Overview
Communities need increasing numbers of public health educators, health promotion specialists, and allied health professionals with a B.S. degree. Not only will recent healthcare reforms demand greater number of healthcare providers and educators, this need is exacerbated as a generation of health professionals are retiring. This program prepares students to meet the opportunity, with passionate and accomplished health faculty, who have extensive experience in health education and research in the areas of obesity, smoking prevention and treatment, HIV, and cardiovascular disease.
Students with a 2.3 cumulative UH GPA may declare a major in Health. The Bachelor of Science in Health offers three degree tracks: public health; health promotion; and health promotion for allied health professionals.
Public Health Track
This degree option provides courses required for entry-level public health jobs found in government agencies, health corporations, community non-profit organizations and health care facilities. The 15 hour Public Health Core, combined with a 15 hour Health Promotion Specialization and 9-15 hours of Health Electives offers numerous strong opportunities to public health majors for employment. It also provides a feeder-program for graduate study in our College of Education programs, local Schools of Public Health, and health professional schools in the Texas Medical Center and statewide.
Health Promotion Track
The Health Promotion Track consists of 18 hours of Core Health Promotion courses and 21 hours of Advanced Health Electives designed to provide the student with the flexibility to develop areas of individual competencies desirable for future employment. Socio-cultural, behavioral, psychological, and biological factors contributing to wellness and disease are emphasized. It is an ideal major for students interested in public/community health practice, health behavior research, program planning and delivery, and pre-professional preparation for medicine, pharmacy, optometry, and dentistry.
Health Promotion Track For Allied Health Professionals
This Track consists of 21 hours of Health Promotion Core, 21 hours of health electives, and 15-18 hours of approved electives. Students who have completed a two-year Associate degree program in an allied
health field (e.g., dental hygiene, respiratory therapy, health information technology, speech-language pathology assistant, nursing, occupational therapy assistant, pharmacy technician, radiologic technology, physical therapy) may transfer in University core course requirements and advisor-approved courses from their Allied Health Field. This curriculum provides a program that coordinates well with previous backgrounds and training and allows students to progress to a Bachelor's Degree.
All three tracks are designed to meet the coursework criteria for eligibility to become a CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist). The degree plans are based on the CHES national competencies which are generic to the practice of health promotion and health education, whether it takes place in schools, colleges, workplaces, health care settings, or other settings within a community.
Please see department advisor for more information.
The Bachelors of Science degree in Health offers three tracks from which students may choose: