This versatile degree will provide the foundational skills necessary to pursue a wide range of interests in some of today's fastest-growing health care careers, including physician assistant, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social work and medical laboratory sciences.
The interdisciplinary design of the BS in Health Science Studies emphasizes patient-centered care with a science-based focus on wellness, health and fitness. Graduates will learn the clinical, diagnostic and rehabilitative services within continuum of care to facilitate overall patient wellness, injury recovery and prevention, and the optimization of physical movement. Students can explore various health-related careers in nutrition, radiology, biomedical sciences, optometry, medical administration, health policy, community public health and biotechnology.
This flexible program offers students a competitive edge to pursue their career interests or postgraduate study paths, including medical school. With the addition of 2 new programs in Fall 2022, there are now 5 academic tracks for students to choose from. Students can also add a minor in Nutrition to round out their program. This minor explores the vital roles that food and proper nutrition play in maintaining healthy lifestyles, achieving peak athletic performance, managing chronic disease and promoting community wellness.
Study the differences in human physical performance and how wellness, health and fitness are linked with exercise to develop a comprehensive understanding of how the human body responds and adapts to exercise. Students will use exercise physiology to explore ideas alongside expert faculty within the QU exercise lab.
This new program will provide a solid foundation in the study of human movement, focusing on the early thought processes and disciplinary content for many fields in the health profession related to movement. Students explore methods of maintaining healthy movement, preventing disabilities and initiating assessment of movement.
Grounded in science, this track is targeted toward students interested in health care professions, especially working in athletic settings or with a physically active population. Studies are focused on developing the early thought processes and disciplinary content for health professions related to sports medicine and working with an active and/or athletic population.
Students receive a solid foundation in patient communication and evidence-based-medicine to prepare for graduate education in a variety of medical fields, including MD, DO, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Podiatry, Optometry, Audiology, Speech Language Pathology, Genetic Counselor, Anesthesiologists’ Assistant, Pathologists’ Assistant or Physician Assistant, and Accelerated Nursing programs.
This program places a strong emphasis on individualized advising. Students are assigned academic advisers who help match coursework to potential experiential opportunities that align with career goals, including internships, community engagement and international research. First-year students also take a career exploration course that exposes them to the breadth and depth of the health care field.
A limited number of Health Science Studies students may be invited into the Physician Assistant (PA)-Prep Track. This track provides a path for well-qualified students to advance their interests in the PA profession. During their junior year, depending upon the number of seats available in the Entry-Level Master’s in Physician Assistant (ELMPA) program cohort, approximately 3-5 students will be selected to transition into the ELMPA program. PA-Prep is designed specifically for health science students who did not get accepted into the ELMPA program. After graduation, PA-Prep students will have a robust CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants) application making them a competitive applicant for other PA programs.
Percentage of Quinnipiac Health Science Studies graduates who are employed or in graduate school 6 months after graduation. (Quinnipiac Alumni Survey 2020)
Our customizable and flexible program makes it easy for students to expand on its core requirements by selecting a minor or a double major.
With permission of the program directors, students interested in pursuing their master’s degree upon the completion of their bachelor’s may apply to take up to 9 credits of graduate-level coursework in their senior year, which may be applied toward both the undergraduate and graduate business programs, including:
Master of Business Administration
MS in Organizational Leadership
Qualified students also can enroll in several dual-degree and accelerated dual-degree programs, including:
Dual-Degree BA or BS/MBA 4+1 (electives available in health care management)
Dual-Degree BA or BS/JD (3+3) (health law concentration available)
Accelerated Dual-Degree BS/MSW (3+2)
Yadley Turnier ’19
Yadley Turnier ’19 knew majoring in health science studies would lead to many career possibilities. Courses she took during her junior year on nutrition and preventable diseases steered her toward the field of public health.
After graduating, Turnier landed a position at FoodCorps, a national nonprofit that trains and places emerging leaders in limited-resource schools for a year of service. As a FoodCorps AmeriCorps service member at Green Village Initiative, Turnier teaches students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds to grow and cook their food, steers them towards the healthiest food options and promotes a schoolwide culture that celebrates healthy food.
“If kids learn nutritional fundamentals early, they won’t be as prone later on to obesity and diet-related diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers,” Turnier said.
She teaches healthy eating habits, cooking, gardening and nutrition fundamentals to children in kindergarten through fifth grade at both the Read School and the Interdistrict Discovery Magnet School in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She also collaborates with the Thomas E. Carroll Nutrition Center to integrate local, farm-fresh foods into the schools’ breakfast, lunch and snack programs.
“If my students are getting two of their meals each day from school, then they should be the most beneficial meals possible,” Turnier said.
Turnier is motivated by the difference she has made. In 2020, she returned for a second year with FoodCorps and began a master’s degree in global public health.
Lauren Schwartz ’10
As a Rite Aid pharmacist, Lauren Schwartz ’10 usually sees customers when they are sick. Occasionally, she hears about a healthy outcome. Recently, a regular customer stopped by the Rite Aid in Northford, Connecticut, to tell Schwartz she was cancer-free.
“It was heartwarming to hear good news,” she said. “To know that someone has overcome their illness is very motivating.”
Schwartz has been a pharmacist with the Rite Aid chain since 2015 and pharmacy manager in Northford for nearly two years. She administers immunizations, counsels customers on drug interactions and instructs them in the use of medical devices.
She also keeps an eye out for her customers’ well-being and that sometimes means challenging the dosing requested by providers and spotting patients who might be abusing prescription drugs.
During her undergraduate years, she was interested in health care but wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. “I thought about nutrition — how food affects the body — and then I became more interested in how medicines work in the body,” she explained. After graduating, she continued her studies at the University of Saint Joseph, earning a doctor of pharmacy degree.
Schwartz shares her enthusiasm for the field with Quinnipiac students. She teaches both Foundations of Pharmacy and Pharmacological Interventions for Common Medical Conditions and hires students as pharmacy technicians to let them experience the work. She also co-founded QU’s Pre-Pharmacy Club.
She credits Cynthia Christie, assistant dean for career development, with putting her in touch with people in the pharmacy field while in school. “Quinnipiac staff members have an amazing ability to help students network,” she said.
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