Health Sciences M.S.

Total Semester Credit Hours = 36

The Master of Science (M.S.) in Health Sciences Program is designed to prepare graduates to be effective leaders in the fields of health promotion and disease prevention. This program provides a strong foundation for both professional leadership roles and pursuit of more advanced degrees in the field of health.

Graduates of this program will be prepared to assume leadership roles in: a) planning, implementing and evaluating individual and group needs for interventions aimed at promoting health and preventing disease; b) administering and/or coordinating specialized activities and programs aimed at promoting health and preventing disease; c) communicating health needs, concerns, and resource availability for programs aimed at promoting health and preventing disease; d) critiquing, conducting and contributing to research related to health promotion and disease prevention; and e) serving as advocates for improvements in the fields of health promotion and disease prevention through effective education of individuals, groups, and communities.

Objectives:

At the completion of the Master's program, the graduate should be able to demonstrate the knowledge and skills identified in the seven areas listed below.

1. Content Area
   • Critique, conduct and contribute to health-promotion and disease-prevention research.
   • Plan, implement, and evaluate health-promotion and disease-prevention interventions.
   • Compare and contrast existing health programs and theories, and evaluate their relevance for personal and population health.
   • Coordinate specialized health-promotion and disease-prevention activities.
2. Critical Thinking Area
   • Assess personal interests and abilities in preparation for selecting an area of specialization in the health field.
   • Use analogy, model, and metaphor to organize information in the health sciences.
   • Apply statistical, social/political, historical/futurist, and ethical modes of thinking as they pertain to health.
   • Evaluate and critique the underlying assumptions of the dominant health-science discourses.
   • Analyze and critically assess local, regional, national, and global health issues.
3. Communication Area
   • Communicate health needs, concerns, and resource availability for health-promotion and disease-prevention purposes in research format.
   • Use analogy, model, and metaphor to communicate meaning in the health sciences
   • Communicate health information to diverse groups, for health-promotion and disease-prevention purposes.
   • Communicate health needs and concerns to governmental and non-governmental entities involved in establishing or changing health policy.
   • Serve as a resource professional for health-promotion and disease-prevention activities.
   •  Present ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral communications.
   • Develop and apply networking skills to create and maintain consultative relationships.
4. Leadership Area
   • Demonstrate knowledge of cutting-edge health policies or models.
   • Advocate health to peers and family by practicing model health behaviors.
   • Function as leaders in supporting health education of individuals, groups and communities.
   • Advocate for improvements in the field of health promotion and disease prevention.
5. Ethics/Values Area
   • Evaluate moral and ethical conduct using multiple value systems and perspectives.
   • Identify ethical issues involved in research, practice, and governance and understand how ethical principles are used to guide professional activities.
   • Weigh judgments of detrimental behavior in respect to health outcomes against surrounding determinants of health.
6. Technology Area
   • Use statistical computing software to analyze data and display information.
   • Use a broad range of technologies in health sciences.
   • Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of various intervention technologies in health science and promotion.
7. Diversity Area
   • Explain the cultural, social, economic, and environmental determinants of health and of health disparities.
   • Describe recent trends in health sciences that reveal an association between socioeconomic status and disease or wellness.