Health sciences students learn technical and administrative skills that are relevant in the entire field of health care. A Health Sciences degree incorporates a holistic approach in its focus. Touro University Worldwide, for example, offers undergraduate degrees in Health Sciences with concentrations in health care administration, health education and long-term care administration. In addition, TUW offers graduate degrees in Health Sciences with concentrations in health education and public health. Each of these online degree programs equips graduates with the competencies, skills and knowledge needed to pursue a number of different career or educational opportunities. A Health Sciences degree may provide upward mobility to health professionals with an associate degree or another professional degree such as RNs, radiological technologists and more.
What Is Health Sciences?
Health Sciences is a general degree that provides graduates with an understanding of a wide range of health-related topics. Health sciences professionals apply skills from different fields in practical and clinical settings in order to improve the health of patients. Health sciences professionals can have a wide variety of responsibilities and day-to-day tasks. Health Sciences bridges the gap between scientific discoveries and the application of this knowledge to improve the quality of life. The Health Sciences program is unique in that it offers a strong emphasis on problem-solving skills and critical thinking while providing a solid foundation in basic and health-related sciences.
Health sciences positions are either patient-oriented jobs, administrative jobs in health care facilities or research-oriented roles. Patient-oriented careers involve working directly with people in order to help, treat, diagnose or collect data. Research-based careers focus more on the raw collection and analysis of data.
Career Options for Health Sciences Graduates
According to the BLS Healthcare, administration incorporates planning, strategizing, coordinating and implementing medical and health services in an organization. Health care administrators are versed in health policy and legal issues as well as running efficient and productive hospitals, practices, nonprofit health-related organizations and more. Graduates with an undergraduate degree in health care administration have the skills and knowledge needed to pursue entry-level careers in the health care system or to pursue further graduate-level education.
Public health careers include epidemiologists and community health workers. Epidemiology refers to the monitoring of the spread of diseases and researching causes and responses to illnesses, disorders and other health concerns. Community health workers engage with people in the community to provide healthcare-related resources to disadvantaged people.
Health education refers to teaching and instruction related to preventative health care. This specialty incorporates physical, biological, social and behavioral fields of health sciences in order to best inform the public on care that prevents and treats health conditions. Health educators work directly with health personnel and the community in order to identify the needs of community members and connect them with resources and information with the higher goal of optimal health maintenance for all communities.
Long-term care administration is a growing need. This demand is in response to the demographic changes in the United States, which include ethnic and linguistic diversity as well as an increasingly large population of elderly people. Graduates of this kind of program can pursue careers as administrators in long-term care settings like hospice and retirement homes.