BS in Health Sciences
Boston
Academic Policies
Curriculum
Baccalaureate Degree Entry-level Option
This option is available to students who are undecided about which allied health discipline to pursue. It is primarily intended to lead to second baccalaureate or advanced first professional degree programs, but could also be used as a terminal degree for employment in jobs in health sciences areas such as medical and dental products sales, patient education, and research technician. Students must complete the MCPHS Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements (57 semester credits) and First Year Seminar requirement (1 semester credit), the Health Sciences Core, the Health Sciences Major, and the Health Sciences Concentration. The curriculum is flexible, allowing students to build, with the program advisor, schedules of study that are full-time (three-year accelerated or four-year traditional) or part-time.
Preprofessional courses
The MCPHS Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements (57 semester credits) and First Year Seminar requirement (1 semester credit), must be met. The following courses, or their equivalent, will be used to meet these requirements (higher level science and mathematics courses may be substituted with approval of the program advisor):
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| BIO 110 | Anatomy and Physiology (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| BIO 210 | Anatomy and Physiology (with Laboratory) | 3 |
| CHE 110 | Basic Chemistry I (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| CHE 210 | Basic Chemistry II (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| FYS 101 | First Year Seminar | 1 |
| LIB 111 | Expository Writing I | 3 |
| LIB 112 | Expository Writing II | 3 |
| LIB 120 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| LIB 133 | American Culture, Identify, and Public Life | 3 |
| LIB 420 | Interpersonal Communications in the Health Professions | 3 |
| LIB 512 | Health Care Ethics | 3 |
| MAT 141 | Algebra and Trigonometry | 3 |
| MAT 197 | Computer Applications | 3 |
| MAT 261 | Statistics | 3 |
| Behavioral Sciences Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Humanities Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Liberal Arts Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Social Sciences Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Mathematics, Physics, or Computer Science Course | 3 | |
| Total | 58 |
Health Sciences Core
Students must successfully complete (with a grade of C or better in each course), the twelve (12) credit Health Sciences Core.
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| HSC 301 | Health Promotion | 3 |
| HSC 310 | Health Care Informatics | 3 |
| HSC 401 | Public Health and Policy | 3 |
| HSC 410 | Research Analysis and Methods | 3 |
| Total | 12 |
Health Sciences Major
Entry-level students must complete a Health Sciences major. The major consists of 24 required credits and an additional 15 elective credits selected from a list of specified courses.
Required Component
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| BEH 250 | Health Psychology | 3 |
| BEH 352 | Human Development Through the Life Cycle | 3 |
| BIO 255 | Medical Microbiology (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| PHY 181 | General Physics | 4 |
| PSB 220 | Introduction to Health Care Delivery | 3 |
| RSC 325 | Clinical Pathophysiology | 4 |
| SSC 495 | Evolution of the Health Professions | 3 |
| Total | 24 |
Elective Component (choose 15 credits from this list)
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| BEH 254 | Death and Dying | 3 |
| BEH 350 | Abnormal Psychology | 3 |
| BEH 454 | Stress and Illness | 3 |
| BEH 457 | Drugs and Behavior | 3 |
| HUM 456 | Literature and Medicine | 3 |
| PSB 301 | Pharmacology for Allied Health Professionals | 3 |
| SSC 230 | Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| SSC 432 | Medical Anthropology | 3 |
| SSC 444 | Cigarettes in American Culture | 3 |
| Total | 15 |
Health Sciences Concentration
Students must design, in collaboration with the program advisor, and complete, a concentration in a health sciences related area of interest. Decisions about content of the concentration should be made not later than the completion of 60 credits of degree requirements in order to integrate the approved courses in a timely manner. The concentration will comprise a minimum of 18 credits, at least half of which are numbered 300 and 400 or above. Examples of possible concentrations include management, liberal arts, health promotion, or, for radiologic technologists, MRI courses needed for additional American Registry of Radiologic Technology (ARRT) certification in MRI.
Minimum number of credits to complete option requirements, 127 s.h.
(57 in Arts and Sciences core curriculum, 1 of Freshman Seminar, 12 in
Health Sciences Core, 39 in Health Sciences Major, and 18 in Health Sciences Concentration)
Baccalaureate Degree Completion Option
This option is open to allied health personnel who hold a certificate or associate degree from an accredited program and active registration, certification, or licensure in their health discipline. Upon admission, students will be awarded credit for the prior allied health professional coursework completed in their certificate or associate degree up to a maximum of 40 semester credits. For those students who completed a certificate for which academic credit was not awarded (e.g., a hospital-based program), credit will be awarded if the certificate program was accredited by the appropriate allied health programmatic accrediting agency and if the quality of the program has additionally been validated by the applicant’s successful registration, certification or licensure. Students must additionally complete the MCPHS Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements, the Health Sciences Core, and a Health Sciences Concentration. The curriculum is flexible, allowing students to build, with the program advisor, schedules that are full-time or part-time.
Prior degree or certificate
Up to 40 credits will be awarded to students who have completed an associate degree or certificate in an allied health discipline through a programmatically or regionally accredited institution.
Preprofessional courses
The MCPHS Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements (57 semester credits) must
be met. Courses already completed that meet the MCPHS transfer credit policies, and are
deemed equivalent to the Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements will be
accepted in transfer. The remaining requirements beyond those transferred during the
admission process must be completed at MCPHS unless prior approval to take them
elsewhere is approved by the MCPHS Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs.
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| BIO 110 | Anatomy and Physiology (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| BIO 210 | Anatomy and Physiology (with Laboratory) | 3 |
| CHE 110 | Basic Chemistry I (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| CHE 210 | Basic Chemistry II (with Laboratory) | 4 |
| LIB 111 | Expository Writing I | 3 |
| LIB 112 | Expository Writing II | 3 |
| LIB 120 | Introduction to Psychology | 3 |
| LIB 133 | American Culture, Identify, and Public Life | 3 |
| LIB 420 | Interpersonal Communications in the Health Professions | 3 |
| LIB 512 | Health Care Ethics | 3 |
| MAT 141 | Algebra and Trigonometry | 3 |
| MAT 197 | Computer Applications | 3 |
| MAT 261 | Statistics | 3 |
| Behavioral Sciences Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Humanities Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Liberal Arts Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Social Sciences Distribution Course | 3 | |
| Mathematics, Physics, or Computer Science Course | 3 | |
| Total | 57 |
Health Sciences Core
Students must successfully complete (with a grade of C or better in each course), the twelve (12) credit Health Sciences Core.
| COURSE | TITLE | SEMESTER HOURS |
| HSC 301 | Health Promotion | 3 |
| HSC 310 | Health Care Informatics | 3 |
| HSC 401 | Public Health and Policy | 3 |
| HSC 410 | Research Analysis and Methods | 3 |
| Total | 12 |
Health Sciences Concentration
Students must design, in collaboration with the program advisor, and complete, a concentration in a health sciences related area of interest. Decisions about content of the concentration should be made not later than the completion of 60 credits of degree requirements (or immediately upon matriculation if this threshold has been exceeded prior to admission) in order to integrate the approved courses in a timely manner. The concentration will comprise a minimum of 18 credits, at least half of which are numbered 300 and 400 or above. Examples of possible concentrations include management, liberal arts, health promotion, or, for radiologic technologists, MRI courses needed for additional American Registry of Radiologic Technology (ARRT) certification in MRI.
Minimum number of credits to complete option requirements 127 s.h.
(40 in the prior allied health program, 57 in Arts and Sciences core curriculum, 12
in Health Sciences Core, and 18 in Health Sciences Concentration)
BS in Health Sciences Academic Policies
The health sciences core and the concentration courses may not be transferred from another institution as they serve as the distinguishing elements of the 127-credit program curriculum. Courses may be MCPHS courses delivered using traditional or distance delivery methods, or approved Colleges of the Fenway courses. The health sciences core and concentration courses comprise the 30-credit residency requirement of the degree completion option. To meet the MCPHS residency requirement for the entry-level option, at least half (63) of the required credits for the degree must be completed in residence at MCPHS.
To remain in good standing in the BSHS program, regardless of program option, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 and must successfully complete each course in the core, major, and concentration with a grade of C (2.0) or better.
As appropriate, courses required as part of the major of the entry-level option may be used to satisfy Arts and Sciences core curriculum requirements, allowing the opportunity for free electives in an area of choice approved by the program director. Degree credits must total a minimum of 127.