The Bachelor of Science in health science (BSHS) is a preprofessional degree program specifically designed to prepare students for admission to a variety of undergraduate and graduate clinical education programs (nursing, dental hygiene, medical laboratory sciences, physical therapy, physician assistant, occupational therapy, or medical, dental, optometry, and pharmacy school). Departmental courses provide an important and competitive advantage bringing healthcare systems knowledge into students’ professional training as a clinical health provider. Students complete courses that provide foundations in hard sciences, mathematics, health services delivery, population health assessment and leadership. Additional program content includes an introduction to public health, health services management, aging studies and ethics. Successful graduates of the BSHS additionally complete an applied learning professional portfolio.

Program Learning Objectives

1. Communicate public health information, in both oral and written forms and through a variety of media, to diverse audiences.
2. Locate, use, evaluate and synthesize public health information.
3. Exhibit understanding of the evolution of public health and the healthcare system and their roles and issues across local, national and global health systems.
4. Demonstrate ability to use data to promote, protect and assure improved health outcomes and knowledge.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of health leadership, management and policy using systems thinking.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of social, behavioral, cultural and environmental factors that impact health.
7. Demonstrate understanding of health ethics.
8. Demonstrate introductory knowledge of clinical sciences.

Admission to the College of Health Professions

Students choosing to study health science are admitted to the BS in health science degree program. They are assigned a college advisor who assists them in meeting the requirements for the degree.

Program Requirements

A minimum total of 120 credit hours is required for the BS in health science. Students in the health science degree program are required to maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.000 with no individual program course generating a grade less than 1.700 credit points per credit hour. In addition to meeting the requirements of the WSU General Education Program and the requirements of the College of Health Professions, students in the BS in health science program must take the following courses:

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Required major courses may also count towards General Education requirements. Students will need to select additional electives to reach 120 credit hours required for graduation with assistance from an advisor.

Requirements for Graduation

Students in the health science degree program are required to complete the applied learning portfolio as part of the degree requirement. Activities required fall under the following areas: career readiness, scholarship, volunteerism and service learning, and professionalism and interprofessional education. Activities will be compiled and submitted as the applied learning component of the HS degree program.

To be eligible for graduation from Wichita State University, students must have 120 acceptable credit hours toward their degree and a grade point average (GPA) in the major of 2.000. Students transferring from a two-year college must complete at least 45 credit hours of upper-division coursework to qualify for graduation. Public health sciences (PHS) departmental policy requires a program cumulative grade point average of 2.000, with no individual program course generating a grade less than 1.700 credit points per credit hour.

Departmental Honors Program

Scholarship and research are encouraged at the undergraduate level. Students who meet the qualifications should explore adding the honors program to their undergraduate major. Students who are not PHS majors and are involved in the Cohen Honors College, should contact the PHS department for permission to enroll in these courses, as appropriate.

Admission requirements include:

1. Status as a PHS major;
2. An overall GPA of 3.500 in all major coursework;
3. A one-page, double-spaced letter describing reasons for applying to the honors track, goals and potential benefits to participating in the program; and
4. Agreement by a PHS faculty member to mentor the final project.

Honors Program Requirements

Students admitted to the PHS honors track must complete the following:

1. Maintain a 3.500 cumulative GPA in all major coursework;
2. Be a participating member of the Health, Education, Advocates for Leadership, Teamwork and Humanity (HEALTH) student organization;
3. Maintain a portfolio of assignments, activities and reflections throughout the honors track; 
4. Complete and present a mentored scholarly activity during the last year of the program by enrolling in a 1-3 credit hours of PHS 401H Field Research Public Health Science Honors; and
5. Enroll in and complete the honors assignments with a minimum of 12 credit hours of PHS coursework selected from the following options:

Students who have previously taken the courses above without honors can contact their advisor to see how they can earn honors credit.

Applied Learning

Students in the Bachelor of Science in health science program are required to complete an applied learning or research experience to graduate from this program. The requirement can be met by successfully completing the applied learning portfolio¹.

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For more information and a program handbook, contact the undergraduate coordinator by email: phs@wichita.edu, by phone at 316-978-3060, or visit the department of public health sciences website¹.

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