Health Sciences Program

This interdisciplinary degree program is designed to provide students with career opportunities as entry-level health profession practitioners in a variety of health care fields. The coursework for this degree will also fulfill the standard natural, behavioral, and social science pre-requisites for entry into graduate professional health care programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, nursing and public health. The program aims to foster an understanding of the biological, psychological and social bases of health, and requires students to engage in individual scholarship or team research of an interdisciplinary nature. The Chapman bachelor of health sciences program distinguishes itself by providing students the opportunity to complement the science courses designated as pre-requisites for health care professional programs with expertise in health psychology, health communication, and medical sociology and ethics to prepare them for careers in a variety of health care professions.

Students may either pursue a general track or opt for a health communication area of study. The general track prepares students for entry-level careers in health sciences and for a variety of graduate health sciences programs including Chapman's doctor of physical therapy program.

The health communication area of study provides students with more in-depth knowledge in health and risk communication theory, research and applications. Upon graduation, students may continue their studies and complete Chapman's master of science in health communication degree on a fast track with approximately one year of full-time studies by completing 30 graduate credit hours as required by the degree program provided they meet the admission requirements for the graduate degree.

Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences

This interdisciplinary degree program is designed to provide students with career opportunities as entry-level health profession practitioners in a variety of health care fields. The coursework for this degree will also fulfill the standard natural, behavioral, and social science pre-requisites for entry into graduate professional health care programs such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, nursing and public health. The program aims to foster an understanding of the biological, psychological and social bases of health, and requires students to engage in individual scholarship or team research of an interdisciplinary nature. The Chapman bachelor of health sciences program distinguishes itself by providing students the opportunity to complement the science courses designated as pre-requisites for health care professional programs with expertise in health psychology, health communication, and medical sociology and ethics to prepare them for careers in a variety of health care professions.

Students may either pursue a general track or opt for a health communication area of study. The general track prepares students for entry-level careers in health sciences and for a variety of graduate health sciences programs including Chapman's doctor of physical therapy program.

The health communication area of study provides students with more in-depth knowledge in health and risk communication theory, research and applications. Upon graduation, students may continue their studies and complete Chapman's master of science in health communication degree on a fast track with approximately one year of full-time studies by completing 30 graduate credit hours as required by the degree program provided they meet the admission requirements for the graduate degree.

Major Requirements

All students must successfully complete at least 79 credits of multidisciplinary coursework. This includes 54 credits of core courses, 12 credits of electives, and 13 credits of science requirements and prerequisites. Students in the general track may choose any of the listed electives. Students in the health communication area of study must choose 9 credits of the listed communication studies electives and 3 credits of electives from other disciplines. Students opting for the health communication area of study may complete up to 9 credits of master of science in health communication graduate coursework in their senior year provided they meet the admission requirements for the graduate degree (See Enrolling in Graduate Courses in this catalog). All courses in the major must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a "C" or higher.

core courses (54 credits)

sciences (32 credits)

behavioral and social sciences (16 credits)

health sciences seminars (6 credits)

science requirements/prerequisites (13 credits)

electives (12 credits)

Suggested Four-Year Plan

freshman year

fall (10 credits)

spring (11 credits)

sophomore year

fall (11 credits)

spring (12 credits)

junior year

fall (13 credits)

spring (13 credits)

senior year

fall (3 credits)

spring (6 credits)

Course Descriptions – Health Sciences

HESC 357 Seminar in Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Health Sciences

Prerequisites, junior standing and successful completion (grade of C or higher) of all 100 and 200-level health science required courses. Students examine a current issue in health sciences and health care from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives. For instance, students may explore the topic of cancer from a biological, biochemical, and physiological perspective and also consider the social, psychological, and ethical ramifications of cancer. In addition, students will explore the health communication aspects of cancer both in terms of individual cancer patients but also in terms of health risk for the entire population. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits.

HESC 497 Capstone Project in the Health Sciences

Prerequisites, senior standing and successful completion (grade of C or higher) of all health science core courses. Capstone course for Health Science majors. Students examine a current issue in health care from multiple perspectives. The issue examined will be negotiated between the students and the course instructors and should be partially dictated by students' career goals. Students will work collaboratively in small teams, or in some instances individually, to address a major issue in the field of health sciences or health care that should also include considerations and contributions from the areas of science, communications, psychology, sociology, or ethics. Each student will submit an individually prepared report on the capstone project. In addition, the student or group of students will also make a formal presentation of their finding to the entire class. Lecture. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

Course Descriptions – Health Communication

HCOM 310 Health Risk and Crisis Communication

Prerequisites, PSY 203, 204, or equivalent. Risk communication is studying discourse about physical hazards, while crisis communication may, but does not have to concern physical hazards. In this class, risk communication deals with communication about physical hazards such as tornadoes, toxic chemicals, and so forth. The crisis communication component of this course will focus on effective and ineffective ways of communicating about physical hazards (e.g., Hurricane Katrina), rather than reputation or financial matters. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

HCOM 382 Health Communication Campaigns

Prerequisites, PSY 203, 204, or equivalent. Explores use of communication campaigns to promote health and reduce health risks. We will examine the way health communication campaigns are designed, implemented, and evaluated, describing the critical role of communication research throughout the campaign process. The course cuts across multiple levels of communication, different communication channels, and the use of diverse communication media and technologies. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits.

HCOM 384 Health Communication and Aging

Prerequisites, PSY 203, 204, or equivalent. This course aims to provide a broad overview of the ways in which communicating about health affects, and is affected by, the aging process. This course presents research findings regarding communication, aging and health and examines the implications of these research findings in the day-to-day lives of individuals, relational partners, health care providers, and society at-large in order to develop a deeper understanding of how various communicative processes may impact our health in positive and negative ways as we age. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits.

HCOM 388 Nonverbal Communication in Health Care Environments

Prerequisites, PSY 203, 204, or equivalent. Nonverbal communication is the study of nonverbal cues in terms of observing, interpreting, responding appropriately to, and sending nonverbal messages to convey meaning. This course takes a cognitive behavioral approach to investigating nonverbal communication in health care environments. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits.

HCOM 412 International Public Relations and Health Risk

Prerequisites, PSY 203, 204, or equivalent. This course provides a survey of international public relations with a focus on three areas: (a) applied knowledge for actual international practice, (b) relevant theory and (c) ethical issues. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits.

HCOM 482 Health Communication

Prerequisites, COM 195, PSY 203, or equivalent, or consent of instructor. This is a survey course exposing the student to principles that hold particular importance to health communication and campaigns. The emphasis will be on both seminal and recent research trends, with specific attention directed toward relevant research designs and methodologies. As part of the exploration of contextual topics, types of health campaigns will be examined, and students will have an opportunity to participate in an active and ongoing campaign. (Offered fall semester.) 3 credits.