The combined Bachelor's/Master's degree programs allow students to complete 12 graduate credit hours while still undergraduates. These three graduate level courses will count toward both the undergraduate and graduate degree programs. |
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Health Sciences (BS)/Health Communication (MA)
Students with junior status who have earned at least a 3.5 GPA in their Health Sciences courses, have earned at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have successfully completed CMN 101, in addition to two courses chosen from the Health Care Policy and Practice or BioScience Core Curriculum and three 300 level courses in the Health Care Policy and Practice or BioScience major curriculum. Applicants must submit the following to the Graduate Admission office by April 1 (priority deadline): B.S./M.A. Combined Degree Program Application, official undergraduate transcript, answers to essay questions, writing sample (research paper), and two letters of recommendation from professors in Health Sciences.
Students in Health Sciences will take all of the required courses for the undergraduate major. During their senior year students in this program take a maximum of twelve graduate credit hours
as three Health Communication courses; these graduate courses apply
toward both undergraduate Health Sciences and graduate Health Communication requirements. Students are strongly encouraged to take the following three HTHC core courses during their senior year: HTHC 515, HTHC 516, HTHC 517. In the Health Care Policy & Practice concentration, HTHC 515 can replace CMNS 315. In BioScience, HTHC 515 will count as an elective in the major. The other two graduate courses will count as either major electives or open electives for either concentration.
Students admitted to the program must earn a B or better in each of the three graduate courses they take as a senior. If a student fails to meet the minimum grade requirement, they will not be allowed to continue as a graduate student in the program.
Students in both concentrations will be required to take CMN 101. This can count either as a Self-Society and the Modern World requirement or as an Open Elective.
Students can defer their graduate admission for one year after they earn their B.S. If students do not matriculate after completing their B.S. degrees or within the one year deferral period, the graduate courses taken as undergraduate students will no longer count towards the graduate degree and students must reapply for admission to the graduate program.
CMN 101
INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION
This course provides an introduction to the field of relational, group and organizational communication. Students become acquainted with the basic terms, concepts and theoretical perspectives used to examine communication in dyadic, group and organizational contexts.
HTHC 515
INTRO TO HEALTH COMMUNICATION
Because of the increasing degree of health consciousness in our society, individuals not only interact more frequently with health care providers, but health care organizations play more active roles in their surrounding communities. In addition, health care cultures are changing. Health care organizations play active social and political roles when responding to national health issues or crises. Hence, it is important that we, as consumers of health care, understand the communication challenges that are inherent within health care organizations, and how those can impact the effectiveness of our communication as a participant in health care contexts.
HTHC 516
RESEARCH METHODS FOR HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS
This course focuses on health care methodologies relevant to health care administration ? including a cross section of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Designing questionnaires and surveys, the analysis and presentation of survey data, interviewing strategies, the analysis and presentation of qualitative data. Students will also be provided with skilled technical writing assignments geared toward providing an understanding of how to most effectively present data within the contexts of reports, visuals for meeting or memoranda.
HTHC 517
HEALTH CARE LITERACY
The U.S. Department of Health and Human services included improved consumer health literacy as Objective 11-2, and identified health literacy as an important component of health communication, medical product safety and oral health. Health Literacy refers to obtaining, processing and understanding basic health information. This course examines how the consumer can be not only informed more effectively and efficiently, but also how health information should inform decision making in multiple health contexts.