Bachelor of Science in Allied Health Studies Curriculum

This course provides a foundation of U.S. healthcare policy, including financial and regulatory policies, as well as the nature and functioning of the U.S. healthcare delivery system. There is emphasis on policy processes at the organizational, local, state, national, and global levels. Learning activities and assignments focus on strategies for learning how to assess the role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in policy formation and reformation at all levels, demonstrating understanding of the political process at all levels, developing effective advocacy strategies for vulnerable populations, how to identify and influence key stakeholders in the policy process, the importance of effective communication of key healthcare issues, and how to influence change in the political process at all levels when there is social injustice.

An introduction to drug discovery and development. Topics include how drugs are used to diagnose, cure, treat, and prevent disease and how drugs affect body function. The origins of diseases and the early attempts at treatment are also covered. Designed for business majors; does not satisfy requirements for the biology major.

This course presents ways in which economic analysis can be used to explain issues in the health care industry. Microeconomics tools will be used to describe the behavior of consumers, producers, and third parties of the health care sector. The course also investigates the role of government in regulating the health care sector, and in providing services to the poor and elderly. Finally, we will use this foundation to examine some recent changes in this industry, and to analyze the most recent proposals for further changes.

An introductory course for non-science majors in which students develop an understanding of the nature of science and are introduced to foundational topics in the biological life sciences and how they relate to human affairs. The course may emphasize human evolution, genetics, aging, disease, reproduction, bioethics or other topics in biology. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Disciplinary Perspectives element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

An introduction to drug discovery and development. Topics include how drugs are used to diagnose, cure, treat, and prevent disease and how drugs affect body function. The origins of diseases and the early attempts at treatment are also covered. Designed for business majors; does not satisfy requirements for the biology major.

An introduction to the biology of the human brain and the rest of the human nervous system. Topics in neuroscience are covered in molecular, cellular, and systematic terms. Additional material is presented on the origins and effects of neurological and psychiatric diseases. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Disciplinary Perspectives element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

Designed to give the nonscientist an appreciation of the role of chemistry in today’s world. The approach is conceptual rather than mathematical. Topics include basic principles of chemical theory, energy sources, elementary organic chemistry, drugs, food additives, polymers, chemistry of living systems, inorganic solids in modern technology, and problems involving pollution of the environment. Three hours of lecture per week. This course satisfies the core requirements for liberal arts, education and business majors.

This course uses theory and methods of psychology to examine the question: How to make a good life? Students will learn how psychology examines the ways motivation, intellect, relationships, self-respect and a healthy lifestyle contribute to happiness, well-being, and flourishing. Students will learn how psychology examines human nature through observation and experimentation. Students will understand how psychology applies research to improve human well-being. Students will leave the course with a better understanding of themselves and their connection to others, and apply their self-knowledge to their personal goals and relationships. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Disciplinary Perspectives element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

The Science of Mental Illness explores the biological bases of mental health and mental illness, focusing on anxiety, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s Disease. This course examines the neural networks of these conditions, common psychiatric medications for treating them, studies of the long-term efficacy and effects of using psychiatric medications, and the psychological and biological capacities for improving mental health. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Disciplinary Perspectives element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

The development of abnormal personalities is discussed, with a survey of the various types of mental abnormalities, including their symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments. Neuroses and psychoses are emphasized.

This survey course will focus on the social and psychological factors related to performance and participation in sport and exercise, health, and injury rehabilitation settings. Two general questions will be explored: (a) how do social and psychological variables influence performance and participation in physical activity pursuits? And (b) how does physical activity participation affect the psychological well-being of the individual? To better understand these questions, this course will overview theoretical and methodological approaches to a variety of sport and exercise psychology topics, including: socialization, motivation, group processes, competition, and performance enhancement. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Disciplinary Perspectives element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

This course focuses on the biopsychosocial model of health in which biological, psychological and social factors contribute to health and wellbeing, as well as illness and disease. After a brief introduction to systems of the body, i.e. nervous, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, immune, this course will examine health enhancing behaviors such as exercise and nutrition, as well as health compromising behaviors such as drug abuse and other reckless behaviors, along with models that explain behavior maintenance and change. Additionally, attention is devoted to a discussion of how health psychology can function in shaping health care policy.

Presents the student with an in-depth analysis of the effects of alcohol and selected chemical substances on the behavior and body of the user. Commonly abused substances will be discussed in terms of their history, sources of production, routes of administration, distribution, metabolism and excretion, neurophysiology, tolerance, properties of addiction, withdrawal course and symptoms, and potential beneficial and harmful effects.

This course covers the biological structures and processes underlying cognition in humans and explores modulating factors such as age, sex, disease, stress, and environment. The theoretical and methodological issues of developmental cognitive neuroscience research are addressed. Focus of the course is on brain structure and function in the largest growing segment of our population, persons over the age of 65, and the link between structure and cognitive abilities, both intact and declining. Special attention is paid to those factors related to successful aging and treatments with putative cognitive enhancers.

Everything that is alive eventually dies, thus death is a part of life. Understanding death can help us to understand and experience life more fully, and it can help us to make appropriate, compassionate responses to death and dying. Class members will examine difficult and controversial psychosocial issues related to dying and death, death perceptions from childhood through older adulthood, religious and death attitudes, the dying process, living with dying, dying in the American health care system, euthanasia and biomedical issues, pain management, suicide, cross-cultural perspectives on dying and death, the business of dying, the legal aspects of dying, and the bereavement process.

Students will increase their competence in the critical reading of challenging college-level texts that engage significant ideas and in writing effective essays that advance a clear and meaningful thesis while demonstrating understanding of those texts. The second of the department’s three-course composition sequence, This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Essential Competencies element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

Introduces students to the process of library research and documented writing. Emphasis will be on the refinement of critical reading, thinking, and writing strategies applied to multiple sources and documented papers. This course counts towards the fulfillment of the Essential Competencies element of the CLAS general education curriculum.

Examines basic communication principles and strategies of public speaking. Various genres of oral communication are studied, with an emphasis on extemporaneous and impromptu forms of delivery. Students research, prepare, and deliver speeches that are then used as the focal point for the discussion of effective speaking and listening. A number of speeches are videotaped.

This course will enable students to use Microsoft Excel and Access to design and create complex applications to support effective decision making. Students will use Excel to design and create spreadsheets to support business analytics. Access will be used to understand, design, create, and utilize relational databases.