Health Sciences (BS)
The program of the Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Sciences is interdisciplinary and flexible. The Program is designed to promote the development of sensitive health professionals that possess the knowledge and skills to offer quality health services. This knowledge is based on concepts and principles of natural, social and health sciences.
Students may choose a major in administration or education, which will allow them to occupy positions of a higher hierarchy and of leadership in their work. Graduates from this program will work within their professional field, in areas such as: government agencies, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, medical and diagnosis equipment companies, managerial positions such as department managers in hospitals or offices.
The Ponce Campus is authorized to offer this Program in distance education modality.
Program Goals
The Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences aims to:
- Develop health professionals who possess leadership skills, knowledge and theoretical, practical, communicative, ethical, legal, administrative and psychological domain to effectively serve the health care environment.
- Promote the implementation of practical measures in problem solving and integration of modern practices in the field of educational and administrative health-related services.
- To value both the exercise of organizational and educational management as well as the skills that a server possesses in the area of health sciences, to be a professional who can participate with sensitivity in the programs that contribute to the improvement of the sanitary conditions of the community.
Program Objectives
The Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences aims that, at the end of the study program, the student:
- Analyze the general theoretical and philosophical principles related to the latest trends in the guarantee and improvement of the quality of health services through administrative and educational management in these services.
- Discern the variables for decision-making and bioethical considerations in regulatory agencies in areas related to applicability and compliance with laws during the provision of services related to community health.
- Classify the existing diagnostic, therapeutic and technological means destined to the management of diseases throughout the life cycle, considering the economic impact on health services. It will effectively review strategies for the promotion of health in the community, the protection of environmental health, health services and resources.
- Contrast the process of physical-biological, social, intellectual and psychological development in the different stages of the life cycle from conception to death.
- Devise marketing programs for services, taking into consideration the social responsibility of the health agency and including the ethical principles that govern the marketing field.
- Propose reforms for the management of conflicts or controversies in health care services through the effective use of the nomenclature and communication skills pertinent to the case.
- Correctly apply the principles and concepts of the audit for the internal control of agencies applied to the public and private governmental health systems in Puerto Rico.
- Thoroughly analyze the methodological foundations of scientific research in health services.
- Safely project leadership skills in its execution when it is necessary to expose knowledge acquired in the field of health sciences.
- Assess the professional skills of supervision and administration necessary to create strategies for promoting health in the community, protecting environmental health, improving the quality of services, and managing available health resources.
- Forge positive attitudes towards the development and care of the healthy human body to improve the quality of life in the social group to which we belong from the administrative and educational management.
Competencies Profile of Graduate
The program is designed to develop competencies, where the student:
Knowledge
- Understand the general theoretical concepts related to administration, supervision, management and leadership to guarantee the quality of services in the health field through management in areas of potential risk assessment, physical plant review, safety in the work area, infection control, human resource management, service quality verification and billing.
- Analyze the bioethical, ethical and legal principles as a consequence of the constitutional mandates that regulate the practices related to the health services provided, considering the provider as the patient and following the laws of Puerto Rico.
- Identify the factors that intervene in health and disease throughout the life cycle to establish the steps related to its prevention and its promotion in the community.
- Know fundamental principles of the physical, biological and psychological sciences for the understanding of the development of the human body in sanitary practices.
Skills
- Organize the strategies leading to the analysis of the economic systems that are related to promotion, auditing and marketing to create and apply management activities towards the respective populations involved from planning to the provision of health services.
- Communicate orally and in writing the relevant terminology to effectively address controversial situations related to the professional field, considering the social, economic and political impact caused by them.
- Facilitate the internal and external audit process in the provision of health services considering legal and ethical principles, new service trends and controversies arising in the health environment.
- Apply quality administrative knowledge to solve problems using the contrast of different scientific investigations in the field of health.
Attitudes
- Assume the commitment of leadership and social responsibility by perceiving themselves as a pillar professional in charge of directing health services.
- Self-esteem one's own skills as a management leader in the design of the processes required by community health services, such as the diagnosis of needs, formulation of objectives, selection of content, planning and evaluation of science-related services of the health.
- To assume an authentic position towards the importance of the components of the development and evolution of the human being associated with biological, emotional and psychosocial factors in the achievement of a full and productive life within the community.
Admission Requirements
Candidates desiring to enter this Program must comply with the following requirements:
- Have a minimum grade point average of 2.50.
- Comply with all the admission requirements at the undergraduate level established in this Catalog and by the Campus.
- Comply with the requirements established by the Department of Health Sciences:
- Health Certificate.
- Hepatitis B Vaccination Certificate.
- No Criminal Record Certificate.
- Pass an interview with the Admissions Committee.
Graduation requirements
Candidates who aspire to graduate from this program must meet the following requirements:
- Have a minimum GPA of 2.00
- Pass with a minimum grade of C all the courses that are part of the major and core requirements.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Sciences
| General Education Requirements |
45 credits |
| Core Requirements |
30 credits |
| Major Requirements |
15 credits |
| Related Requirements |
27 credits |
| Electives |
3 credits |
| Total |
120 credits |
General Education Requirements at the Bachelor’s Level - 45 credits
Forty-five (45) credits as explained in the General Education program for Bachelor Degrees section from the General Catalog.
Students of this Program are exempt from taking the course GEHP 3000 – Well-Being and Quality of Life.
Core Requirements - 30 credits
Major-Requirements - 15 credits
Major-in-Administration-Health-Sciences
Major in Education - Health Sciences
Related Requirements - 27 credits
Select twenty-seven (27) credits from Natural Sciences or Health Sciences courses