School of Interdisciplinary Studies

Healthcare Studies (BS)

The Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Studies is designed for pre-health students who want to pursue careers in healthcare fields such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, health care administration, occupational therapy, physician assisting, and podiatry.

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers the degree, which provides the academic foundation for pre-health students to prepare for advanced study as well as the essential knowledge components in healthcare studies.

Science foundation areas within the degree include biology, chemistry, and physics. Healthcare studies areas include pre-health professional development, a healthcare internship, medical terminology, psychological aspects of health and illness, understanding of the U.S. healthcare system, patient education, and prevention.

Bachelor of Sciences in Healthcare Studies

Degree Requirements (120 semester credit hours)

View an Example of Degree Requirements by Semester

Faculty

FACG> is-healthcare-studies-bs

Professors: Karen J. Prager @kprager, Lawrence J. Redlinger @redling, Erin A. Smith @erins

Professor of Instruction: Barbara Ashmore @baa067000, Tonja Wissinger @twissin

Associate Professors of Instruction: Kathleen Byrnes @kab019000, Patricia A. Leek @santine, Syed Naqvi @skn180000

Assistant Professors of Instruction: Kyle Hammonds @kxh230016, Marc Lusk @mxl121730, Michele McNeel @mem210009, Azadeh Stark @ats160030, Larissa Werhnyak @lxw163630

I. Core Curriculum Requirements: 42 semester credit hours¹

Communication: 6 semester credit hours

Select any 6 semester credit hours from Communication Core courses (see advisor)

Mathematics: 3 semester credit hours

Choose one course from the following:

MATH 1325 Applied Calculus I²

MATH 2413 Differential Calculus²

Or select any 3 semester credit hours from Mathematics Core courses (see advisor)

Life and Physical Sciences: 6 semester credit hours

CHEM 1311 General Chemistry I²

CHEM 1312 General Chemistry II²

Or select any 6 semester credit hours from Life and Physical Sciences Core courses (see advisor)

Language, Philosophy and Culture: 3 semester credit hours

Select any 3 semester credit hours from Language, Philosophy and Culture Core courses (see advisor)

Creative Arts: 3 semester credit hours

Select any 3 semester credit hours from Creative Arts Core courses (see advisor)

American History: 6 semester credit hours

Select any 6 semester credit hours from American History Core courses (see advisor)

Government/Political Science: 6 semester credit hours

Select any 6 semester credit hours from Government/Political Science Core courses (see advisor)

Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 semester credit hours

Select any 3 semester credit hours from Social and Behavioral Sciences Core courses (see advisor)

Component Area Option: 6 semester credit hours

BIOL 2311 Introduction to Modern Biology I²

STAT 2332 Introductory Statistics for Life Sciences²

or STAT 1342 Statistical Decision Making

Or select any 6 semester credit hours from Component Area Option courses (see advisor)

II. Major Requirements: 44 or 52 semester credit hours³

Foundation I: Scientific Foundation Studies: 15-23 semester credit hours beyond Core Curriculum (depending upon career track)³

All the following:

BIOL 2311 Introduction to Modern Biology I²

BIOL 2111 Introduction to Modern Biology Workshop I

BIOL 2312 Introduction to Modern Biology II

BIOL 2112 Introduction to Modern Biology Workshop II

CHEM 1311 General Chemistry I²

and CHEM 1111 General Chemistry Laboratory I

or CHEM 1315 Honors Freshman Chemistry I

and CHEM 1115 Honors Freshman Chemistry Laboratory I

CHEM 1312 General Chemistry II²

and CHEM 1112 General Chemistry Laboratory II

or CHEM 1316 Honors Freshman Chemistry II

and CHEM 1116 Honors Freshman Chemistry Laboratory II

MATH 1325 Applied Calculus I²

or MATH 2413 Differential Calculus²

STAT 2332 Introductory Statistics for Life Sciences²

or STAT 1342 Statistical Decision Making

And either 8 or 16 semester credit hours of the following courses:

8 semester credit hours of the following (depending on career track):³

CHEM 2323 Introductory Organic Chemistry I

CHEM 2325 Introductory Organic Chemistry II

CHEM 2233 Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory

or

PHYS 1301 College Physics I

PHYS 1101 College Physics Laboratory I

PHYS 1302 College Physics II

PHYS 1102 College Physics Laboratory II

16 semester credit hours of the following (depending on career track):³

CHEM 2323 Introductory Organic Chemistry I

CHEM 2325 Introductory Organic Chemistry II

CHEM 2233 Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory

PHYS 1301 College Physics I

and PHYS 1101 College Physics Laboratory I

or PHYS 2325 Mechanics

and PHYS 2125 Physics Laboratory I

PHYS 1302 College Physics II

and PHYS 1102 College Physics Laboratory II

or PHYS 2326 Electromagnetism and Waves

and PHYS 2126 Physics Laboratory II

Foundation II: Healthcare Foundation Studies: 14 semester credit hours

HLTH 1100 Career Explorations for the Health Professions

HLTH 3101 Medical Terminology

HLTH 3300 Pre-Health Professional Development

HLTH 3305 The U.S. Healthcare System

HLTH 3315 Issues in Patient Education

HLTH 4304 Health Professions Internship

Foundation III: Multidisciplinary Healthcare Studies: 15 semester credit hours

Required (3 semester credit hours):

BIS 3320 The Nature of Intellectual Inquiry

Required (3 semester credit hours from the following):

HLTH 3301 Issues in Geriatric Healthcare

HLTH 4305 Public Health

HLTH 4310 Information Literacy and Information Resources for Health Care

Required (3 semester credit hours from the following):

PSY 4328 Health Psychology

PSY 4343 Adult Psychopathology

And choose 6 semester credit hours from among the following courses:

ECON 3330 Economics of Health

GEOG 3357 Spatial Dimensions of Health and Disease

HLTH 3310 Health Care Issues: Global Perspectives

HMGT 3301 Introduction to Healthcare Management

HLTH 3306 Gender in Healthcare

PHIL 3328 History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine

PHIL 3320 Medical Ethics

PHIL 4321 Philosophy of Medicine

SOC 4371 Mental Health and Illness

SOC 4372 Health and Illness

ISIS 4310 Health Strategy for Multicultural Populations

III. Guided Elective Requirements: 26 or 34 semester credit hours³

Required for all freshmen: 1 semester credit hour

BIS 1100 Interdisciplinary Studies First Year Experience

Guided Electives: 25 or 33 semester credit hours³

Students interested in pursuing entrance into health professional fields (such as medical, dental, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, optometry, etc.) should seek advising on additional courses required for entrance into the particular professional school of their interest. A subset of the following courses should be considered essential and should be taken as part of their elective credits.

BIOL 2281 Introductory Biology Laboratory

BIOL 3401 Genetics

BIOL 3402 Molecular and Cell Biology

BIOL 3303 Introduction to Microbiology

BIOL 3203 Introduction to Microbiology Lab

BIOL 3325 Drug Development to Clinical Trials

BIOL 3461 Biochemistry I

or CHEM 3461 Biochemistry I

BIOL 3462 Biochemistry II

or CHEM 3462 Biochemistry II

BIOL 3370 Exercise Physiology

BIOL 3385 Medical Histology

BIOL 3455 Human Anatomy and Physiology with Lab I

BIOL 3456 Human Anatomy and Physiology with Lab II

BIOL 4310 Cellular Microbiology

BIOL 4345 Immunobiology

BIOL 4350 Medical Microbiology

BIOL 4385 Oral Histology and Embryology

BIOL 4V40 Special Topics in Molecular and Cell Biology

HLTH 1301 Introduction to Kinesiology

HLTH 1322 Human Nutrition

HLTH 3306 Gender in Healthcare

HLTH 4306 Health and Sport

HLTH 4307 Climate Change in Healthcare

HLTH 4V01 Health Professions Independent Study

NSC 3361 Introduction to Neuroscience

NSC 4366 Neuroanatomy

NSC 4351 Medical Neuroscience

The plan must include sufficient upper-division courses to total 45 upper-division semester credit hours.

A minimum of 45 semester credit hours must be taken at UT Dallas. All the coursework in the final semester must be taken at UT Dallas.

1. Curriculum Requirements can be fulfilled by other approved courses from institutions of higher education. The courses listed are recommended as the most efficient way to satisfy both Core Curriculum and Major Requirements at UT Dallas.

2. A required major course that also fulfills a Core Curriculum requirement. Semester credit hours are counted in the Core Curriculum.

3. Students may take either 8 semester credit hours of Organic Chemistry or 8 semester credit hours of Physics or 16 semester credit hours of Organic Chemistry and Physics. Please consult your advisor for additional information.

IS Policy on Healthcare Studies Change of Major

All students wishing to change majors to IS Healthcare Studies after enrollment should carefully consider the consequences of excessive hours and time to degree completion.

Change of Major Application Minimum requirements:

All of the following requirements must be met:

• Applicant must have a cumulative UT Dallas GPA of 2.5.
• Applicant must have no grade lower than a C- in a science course.