Health Science
Bachelor of Science | COLLEGE FOR ADULTS
About the program
Are you interested in expanding your career options in healthcare?
Consider the Health Science bachelor's degree, offered online in St. Kate's College for Adults, and help fill the workforce gaps in our ever-changing healthcare landscape.
What can I do with a degree in Health Science?
This online program is designed primarily for students who hold healthcare certificates or associate degrees who are seeking a path to bachelor’s degree completion, which will expand their opportunities for career advancement. Examples of previously earned credentials include (but are not limited to):
• dental assistant or hygienist
• emergency medical technician or paramedic
• health information or laboratory technician
• medial assistant or equipment technician
• occupational or physical therapist assistant
• pharmacy or phlebotomy technician
• radiographer or sonographer
In St. Kate’s bachelor’s program, we emphasize skill development in interprofessional collaboration, cultural fluency, and ecological approaches to health, leadership, and patient care.
Our graduates are well positioned for advancement in healthcare roles, either within their existing field or a new one, as well as opportunities to seek further healthcare-related education.
What will I study?
The Health Science major courses provide students with advanced skills in:
• leadership
• healthcare policy
• change management
• professional sustainability
• patient care
You'll enhance your existing skills to become an even more competent, caring professional. A strong foundation in the liberal arts will complete the bachelor’s requirements and build your skills for communication, critical thinking, decisionmaking, and working in healthcare teams.
Class scheduling
Major, liberal arts and elective courses for the Health Science bachelor’s degree are offered online, with a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning formats.
Clinical hours to fulfill patient care requirements may be completed using relevant previous or current work experience; pursuing approved credential options during enrollment; or completing St. Kate’s in-person or virtual simulation experiences.
Bachelor’s-to-Graduate Pathway
While working on your bachelor's degree you may be eligible to take courses in select graduate programs at St. Kate's, such as Organizational Leadership (MAOL), Business Administration (MBA), or Holistic Health Studies (MAHS). These courses may fulfill elective credits toward your bachelor’s, as well as counting toward graduate requirements if you choose to purse the graduate program after competing your bachelor’s degree.
Credit for prior learning
St. Kate’s values the previous educational and professional experiences that students bring with them to the program. You may be eligible to earn credit for your experiences through the Credit for Prior and Alternative Learning (CPAL) portfolio option, saving time and money on your bachelor’s degree. CPAL credits may be eligible to use for elective, major, and/or clinical patient care requirements.
Your program of study
Major courses
32 credits are required for the major. A sample plan of study is listed below, but courses can be completed in any order they are offered on the academic schedule. Previous course and/or work experience that a student wishes to apply toward the required patient care hours must have been completed within the past five years.
Sample Plan of Study
Fall Semester
• ECON 3250: Healthcare Policy (4 credits)*
• LEAD 3400: Leadership, Effective Teams, and Change Management (4 credits)
• IPE 1030: Healthcare Teams Foundations and Medical Terminology (2 credits)
• IPE 1040: Healthcare Teams and Quality Outcomes (2 credits)
Spring Semester
• CAST 4100: Building Resilience for Professional Sustainability in the Helping Professions (4 credits)
• SOWK 3910: Social policy for Social Change (4 credits)*
Fall Semester
• HHS 2050: Culture, Health and Healing (4 credits)**
• SOWK 3400: Human Behavior and the Social Environment (4 credits)**
Summer Term
• IPE 4200: Healthcare Teams: Evidence-Based Practice (4 credits)
• IPE X: Patient Care I (2 credits)
Fall Semester
• IPE X: Patient Care II (2 credits)
Spring Semester
• IPE X: Patient Care III (2 credits)
• IPE X: Senior Seminar (2 credits)
*choose one of the two course options **choose one of the two course options
Henrietta Schmoll School of Health
Health Science is a major in the University’s Henrietta Schmoll School of Health Sciences, offering certificate, associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs through St. Kate’s College for Adults, College for Women and College of Graduate Studies.
Core liberal arts courses
• CORE 1000W: The Reflective Woman: The Reflective Practitioner (4 credits)
• CORE 3990W: Global Search for Justice (4 credits)
• Behavioral and Social Sciences: choose one from communication studies, economics, political science, psychology or sociology (except ECON 1080, 1090, or PSYC 1090)
• Mathematics or Logical Reasoning: choose one from ECON 1080, ECON 1090, HLTH 1090, PSYC 1090, PHIL 2150, STAT 1089, STAT 1090, or any four-credit MATH course numbered 1000 or higher, except MATH 2500 and MATH 2510
• Natural Sciences: choose one course with a laboratory and/or field component in biology, chemistry, or physics
• Arts and Humanities: choose two courses from different disciplines: philosophy (except PHIL 2150), literature, history, foreign language, studio art, art history, creative writing, classics.
• Theology: choose one 1000 or any 2000-level theology course (except 2994 Topics)
Electives
Additional courses, as needed, to accumulate a minimum of 120 semester credits required for your bachelor’s degree
CORE course exemptions
Students pursuing the Health Science major who have completed a previous bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution prior to enrollment at St. Catherine University are exempt from all Core liberal arts requirements.
Students who have completed an A.A. or A.S. degree from a regionally accredited institution, or the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum, are exempt from all Core liberal arts requirements except CORE 3990
Students who have completed an A.A.S. degree from a regionally accredited institution must complete all Core liberal arts requirements except CORE 1000.
All information is subject to change
The information in this document applies to students entering the College for Adults in Fall 2024 or later. Provisions of this document are subject to change at any time. Consult the St. Catherine University Undergraduate Academic Catalog for official requirements.
