Start Your Journey Toward a Career in Healthcare
The Associate of Arts in General Studies with a Concentration in Health Sciences at Touro University Worldwide (TUW) is a 60-credit online degree designed for students interested in healthcare, health sciences, and professional health programs. The program combines a strong general education foundation with specialized coursework in health sciences, preparing students for continued education and career opportunities in the health sector.
Students complete 45 credits of general education coursework and 15 credits in Health Sciences, gaining knowledge in nutrition, global health, aging, stress-related disease, and health promotion.
Why Choose the Health Sciences Concentration?
This unique program is designed for students seeking:
- A flexible online associate degree in health sciences
- Preparation for bachelor’s-level study in health-related fields
- A pathway to the TUW Bachelor of Health Sciences program
- Academic preparation aligned with prerequisites for the Touro University California PharmD pathway
- 100% online
- Very affordable tuition
- Nonprofit Accredited University
- No residency required
- Accelerated admissions process
- 6 start dates throughout the year
- 8 weeks session
- Professors with Real-World Experience
The Associate of Arts in General Studies with a concentration in accounting was developed by practicing accounting faculty with students and organizations in mind, to ensure students gain the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their careers. The accounting concentration includes courses such as Principles of Accounting I, Principles of Accounting II, Ethics in Accounting, Payroll Accounting, Computerized Accounting, Fundamental Tax Accounting, and Managerial Accounting.
Accelerate Your Path to Pharmacy
TUW designed the Associate Degree in Health Sciences for Future Pharmacists to support students interested in pursuing the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree through Touro University California (TUC). The proposed pathway aligns TUW coursework with PharmD prerequisite planning, creating a streamlined route from associate-level education to professional pharmacy studies.
Note: Admission to the PharmD program is subject to TUC admission requirements and any pathway agreements in effect at the time of application.
What You’ll Learn
Graduates of the program will be able to:
- Communicate effectively in written and oral formats.
- Analyze and evaluate arguments and information.
- Interpret scientific and social data.
- Apply ethical decision-making principles.
- Understand cultural diversity and global perspectives.
- Explore contemporary health issues related to nutrition, disease, aging, stress, and global health.
- Collaborate effectively in diverse settings.
Featured Areas of Study
Nutrition and Disease
Examine the relationship between nutrition and chronic health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Stress and Disease
Explore the effects of stress on physical and mental health and learn strategies for stress management in healthcare settings.
Gerontology
Study aging, mental health, demographic changes, and the societal impact of increased longevity.
Global Health
Investigate global health challenges, epidemiology, disease burden, and public health initiatives around the world.
Through a curriculum focused on contemporary health issues, students develop critical thinking, communication, scientific reasoning, and cultural awareness skills that are highly valued across healthcare professions.
Note: This degree does not lead to any form of licensure or certification.
Career and Educational Opportunities
The Associate of Arts in General Studies with a Concentration in Health Sciences provides students with the academic foundation for:
- Continued study in health sciences and related bachelor’s degree programs
- Entry-level healthcare support and administrative roles
- Community and public health organizations
- Wellness and health promotion settings
- Professional health education pathways, including pharmacy and other health professions
Flexible
TUW presents a flexible course of study by offering the associate degree online. The degree is designed to maximize the number of transfer credits counted toward the degree, resulting in a shorter completion time.
Drawing on TUW’s exceptional professional practice faculty, students learn firsthand from industry experts who bring relevance to the classroom. Students can immediately apply the lessons learned in the classroom to their current job while preparing to advance their careers to the next level.
Student Centered
The associate of arts degree program is student centered in a number of ways. First, class sizes are limited and more personal, so you receive more of your professor’s time. More so, all TUW professors are carefully selected for their credentials and passion as an educator.
AREA A Communication
6-9 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Concepts of communication. Includes audience analysis, selection of topic, reasoning, mapping, material organization, visual aids, public speaking, verbal and non-verbal cues.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Expressing ideas and conveying information in writing. Includes reasoning, factual support, clarity of purpose, organization, and language. Instruction and practice in reading and writing of expository and argumentative essays.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course focuses on improving students writing ability in various rhetorical modes, including description, narration, persuasion, definition, classification, comparison, causation, and process analysis. During the term, we will read examples of effective writing, discuss composition techniques and strategies, analyze and critique texts, and explore ways to put concepts and theories into practice through specific written assignments and Threaded Discussions.
CREDITS
3
AREA B Critical Thinking
3-6 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is an introductory course in philosophy to satisfy the General Education requirement. Topics include the various traditions of philosophical thought, such as concepts of knowledge, reality, mind-body duality, existence of God, free will, and morality. Special topics include philosophers from Classical Era to 21st Century.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Basic concepts of logic. Includes deductive and inductive reasoning, techniques of argumentation, analysis and assessment, evaluation of evidence, language, definition, and fallacies.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Learn basic concepts of probability and statistical inference, focusing on an intuitive approach to understanding concepts and methodologies. Get an introduction to statistical and critical thinking, including descriptive statistics, probability, sampling distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing and regression.
CREDITS
3
AREA C Mathematics
3-6 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Algebraic concepts and methods. Includes real numbers, graphs, linear and quadratic equations, systems of equation, polynomials, sinusoidal equations, theory of functions
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course covers general concepts of functions, including limits and continuity. It covers various rules for the computation of derivatives and integrals, such as the sum, product, and quotient formulas, as well as the chain rule. It also covers applying these concepts to the determination of maxima, minima, optimizations, and rate-related topics. The determination of the area of shapes through integration is also covered. Topics learned are applicable to various real world settings.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course will review of Functions and Graphs, Applications of Integrals, and conclude with Infinite Sequences and Series. By the time you’re done, you’ll have studied how to use derivatives and integrals to solve a variety of problems and understand the connections and relationships that are fundamental to the theories of calculus.
CREDITS
3
AREA D Physical & Biological Sciences
3 -12 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is a general education course for students interested in the chemistry of everyday life. Includes determining the composition of foods and drugs, measurements, unit conversions, scientific notation, chemical representations, mole concept, structure of atoms and molecules.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to basic biological concepts including biochemistry and macromolecules, the structure and function of cells, basic genetic principles, DNA replication, transcription and translation.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course examines nutritional concepts and scientific findings. Emphasis is placed on macro and micronutrients as methods of assessing nutrient intake in the well client. Additional topics include digestive processes, food additives, safety and sanitation as well as factors that influence nutrient intake. Fundamentals of normal nutrition, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and their roles in human metabolism as well as nutrition and the life cycle are presented and explored.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course discusses unifying principles of elastic, sound, light and matter waves. Models of nature. Successes and failures of wave and particle models and their synthesis. The course meets the lower division General Education requirement in Natural Sciences.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces the learner to the structure and function of the human body with particular emphasis on mechanisms of homeostasis. This course focuses on chemical, cellular, and tissue levels of organization, the integumentary system, skeletal system, muscular system, central and peripheral nervous systems, organs of sense and concludes with the endocrine system. Laboratory experiences are obtained through the use of the Virtual Dissector, digital human program.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The learner continues the journey through the structure and function of the human body with particular emphasis on mechanisms of homeostasis. This course focuses on normal structure and function of bodily systems, including cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, hematological and reproductive systems. Concepts of acid/base, fluid and electrolyte balance as well as basic genetics are included.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to the biology of major groups of microorganism including their role in infectious diseases, their role in nature and their relationship to humankind.
CREDITS
3
AREA E Arts and Humanities
3-6 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course provides an in-depth approach to issues of ethical, legal, and social responsibility impacts on decision making in the managerial and multidisciplinary environment. Emphasis on case studies will stimulate critical thinking and collaborative group discussions, which will address various current issues/topics for the 21st century.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Analysis and interpretation of art. Art culture and society. Emphasis on style, form, and meaning. A survey of works and artists across the visual and performing arts.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to both technical and conceptual elements of digital photography. Students will learn the fundamentals of a digital camera and image editing. This course will utilize technology in producing and manipulating photographs. Projects will apply the photographic components of exposure, composition, depth of field, and lighting. Students will develop the conceptual skills of looking, interpretation, and critique. Students will learn to communicate through photographic visual language, understanding and exhibiting how images produce meaning through medium and form. This course will also investigate historical and contemporary photography in order to examine how these photographic skills are practiced.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
A comparative study of some of the basic patterns of religion and/or a focus on one specific religion. The course will focus upon such themes as religious experience, myths of creation, stories of religious founders and heroes, the origin and resolution of human suffering, and the structure and meaning of religious community and ritual. Source material for these themes will be taken from the literary and artistic resources of the religious traditions of Judaism.
CREDITS
3
AREA F Social Sciences
9-12 credits
AREA G Cultural Studies
3-6 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In this course students will research the relationships between human societies and cultural adaptation and learn about social and cross-cultural behavior, language, customs, and social organizations.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course in anthropology and world culture introduces students to the fundamentals of human social and cultural adaptation. Course topics include social organization, language, types of non-literate and traditional societies, economics, religion, and art.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Focus is on the influence of culture on illness, health, and rehabilitation. The relationship that culture plays in the health and wellness of both individuals and the community in which they live will be explored.
CREDITS
3
AREA H History
3-6 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Political and social development of the United States, with emphasis on colonial period, the Constitution, and American institutions, up to the Civil War.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course surveys the political, economic, and socio-cultural history of western civilization, mainly focusing on Europe and North America, from the seventeenth century to the present. Topics covered include the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, Age of Revolutions, industrialization and imperialism, the world wars, the Cold War, and decolonization.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course surveys the history of the Jews throughout the world from c. 300 C.E. to the present. The first half will examine interactions between Jews and Christian and Muslim cultures, the evolution of Jewish social organization, and the development of Judaism and Jewish thought up to approximately 1700. The second half will examine how modernity generated radically new varieties of Jewish religious and political life but also transformed traditional anti-Judaism into a virulent anti-Semitism.
CREDITS
3
AREA I Information Literacy
3 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to computer and Internet technologies for school research and writing. Provides a overview of data, electronic information and files and methods of organizing information. Includes strategies for using a variety of electronic resources emphasizing technological skills and critical thinking abilities as well as understanding the changing nature of information resources, computer and Internet ethics and security.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is a computer literacy course designed to familiarize the learner with a variety of computer tools and computer concepts with emphasis on utilizing basic operating and software programs. The course provides an introduction to the use of computers, common software programs and peripherals. Students are instructed in a variety of areas to include the use of software applications in word processors, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, and the Internet.
CREDITS
3
Concentration Courses
15 credits
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Examine eating disorders within the social and family context. Explore the implications regarding body image, self-esteem, cultural context, appropriate exercise and nutrition, human development, family stress, child abuse, and interventions. Explore the issues related to prevention, intervention, and genetics, based on research.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course provides an understanding of the relationship between nutritional factors and chronic diseases, with a focus on the role of the health educator as a nutrition therapist in providing appropriate dietary recommendations for disease prevention. Students will examine the role of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fats, cholesterol, and sodium, as well as nutrient deficiencies and health risk. The health outcomes explored in the course will include obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Examine the pathology of stress and disease in healthcare; explore behavioral strategies regarding stress and stress management, and the use of alternative remedies for physical and emotional dependencies and addictions in healthcare.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Examine the issues relating to the adult aging process; personality and intellectual change, mental health of the older adult, and the psychological issues of extending human life with emphasis on the strengths of the older adult and prevention of psychological problems of the older adult. Explore the changing demographic structure and role changes and the impact on society.
CREDITS
3
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will serve as an introduction to examining global health challenges and programs. The program will examine global health concepts, identify and describe the burden of disease on a community and global level. Students in the course will examine epidemiological data to discuss important communicable and non-communicable health conditions.
CREDITS
3
Credit Hours
60
Class Type
100% online, 8-week courses
Scholarship
Receive up to a $7,200 scholarship!
Transfer Credits
Transfer in up to 45 credits
Accreditation
WSCUC
Request Information
Tuition Information
TUW’s tuition is $400 per semester credit. A range of tuition assistance programs are available to prospective students to help reduce the out-of-pocket expenses associated with continued education, including scholarships and students loans.
Many employers offer tuition assistance programs, so make sure to check to find out if additional financial support is available to you. TUW tuition assistance counselors are available to determine your eligibility for financial aid and other tuition assistance programs.