Programs

Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree program 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. 

Program Highlights 

• Flexible curricula, full- or part-time
• For incoming freshmen and transfer students
• Fall semester start
• Strong foundation for a range of careers
• Excellent springboard to transfer into these MCPHS programs: dental hygiene, nursing, medical imaging and therapeutics 

Program Details

This Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences program is designed as an entry-level option for students who are undecided about which allied health discipline to pursue and who wish to prepare for study in a post bachelor's degree allied health professional program.

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.

Please Note: This program is not intended for those interested in medicine, physician assistant studies, dentistry, optometry, osteopathy, veterinary, occupational therapy, pharmacy or physical therapy careers. Students interested in these disciplines are advised to enroll in the MCPHS Bachelor of Science in Premedical and Health Studies degree program, which is designed to prepare individuals for entry into study in these disciplines.

Health Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences

This degree program is designed with four options: (1) an entry-level option for students who wish to prepare for a postbaccalaureate degree in an allied health profession or in a health care oriented management, policy or public health field; (2) a degree completion option for allied health workers seeking career progression who earned an associate degree or certificate and who possess current registration, certification or licensure in an allied health discipline; (3) an online degree completion option, for allied health workers seeking career progression who earned an associate degree or certificate and who possess current registration, certification or licensure in an allied health discipline; and (4) an online degree completion option for students with an associate degree not in an allied health profession.

Please note that this program is not intended for those interested in dentistry, medicine, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, or veterinary careers. Students interested in these disciplines are advised to enroll in the MCPHS Bachelor of Science in Premedical and Health Studies program, which is designed to prepare individuals for entry into these disciplines. It is also not intended for those interested in pharmacy.

Baccalaureate Degree Entry-Level Option

This option is designed for campus-based 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, or to graduate education in a management, policy or public health field, but it could also be used as a terminal degree for employment in health sciences areas such as medical and dental products sales, patient education, and research technician. Students must complete the MCPHS Arts and Sciences course requirements, First Year Seminar requirement, Health Sciences Core, Health Sciences Major, and 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.

1. Arts and Sciences Courses

Students must complete the following courses at MCPHS, or receive transfer credit for equivalent courses (higher level science and mathematics courses may be substituted with approval of the program advisor):

* Students must take A&P I and II and Basic Chemistry I and II if they plan on pursuing a post baccalaureate degree in dental hygiene, nursing, medical imaging, or other allied health science field. Students in the management, generalist, and education concentrations need only one college level life science course (3sh) and one college level chemistry course with a laboratory (4sh)

** Students interested in a post baccalaureate MRI degree must complete, MAT 151 and 152.

2. Health Sciences Core

Students must successfully complete twelve (12) credits in the Health Sciences Core.

*** HSC301O and HSC401O, respectively, fulfill behavioral science and social science requirements in the Arts and Sciences core curriculum described in the College catalog.

3. Health Sciences Major

Entry-level students must complete a 39sh Health Sciences Major. The major consists of 20 to 24 required credits and an additional 15 to 19 elective credits selected from a list of specified courses. (Degree completion students with an associate degree or certification in an allied health science profession do not complete the Health Sciences Major.)

Required Component

**** Students interested in a post baccalaureate diagnostic medical sonography, nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy or radiography degree take PHY 181; those Interested in a magnetic resonance imaging degree must take PHY 270/272. Students Interested in a post baccalaureate dental hygiene or nursing degree do not have a required physics course.

Elective Component (choose 15 -19 credits from this list)

4. Health Sciences Concentration

Entry-level Students choose one of the following concentration options. The concentration will comprise a minimum of 18 credits.

General Concentration (online)

Management Concentration (online)

Education Concentration (online)

General, Management and Education Concentration Online Electives (when not required for the concentration)

Independent Concentration (on campus only)

5. General electives

Students complete between 9 and 18 semester hours of general electives to reach the minimum 122s.h. required for the degree.

Minimum number of credits to complete degree requirements: 122 s.h.

Arts and Sciences (34-43), First Year Seminar (1), Health Sciences Core (12), Health Sciences Major (39), Health Sciences Concentration (18), and general electives (9-18)

Accreditation

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is authorized to grant undergraduate and graduate degrees in the health sciences and related fields. MCPHS is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), Inc. through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.

For Transfers

MCPHS welcomes students from other institutions. Any applicant to MCPHS who has completed at least one semester of college coursework (12 credits or more) is considered to be a transfer applicant. Students who have been out of high school for more than two years are strongly encouraged to take math and science courses at another accredited college or university and then to apply for transfer to MCPHS.

The transfer requirements may be different for different MCPHS programs. To find the requirements for transferring into this program, please click the link below.  

Transfer Requirements for Health Sciences (BS Boston)