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The Health Science Program of
the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences offers
pre-professional education for specialized
allied health occupations. Students who receive the
Bachelor of Health Science degree can apply for graduate or
professional educational programs leading to careers in fields such as
physical therapy,
pharmacy, and physician assistant.
Students may also prepare for further education in
forensics and in fields related to business
administration in health care. In addition, a program can be
tailored for students wishing to prepare for other allied health
occupation careers.
The academic tracks of this
program are similar to majors. In the HSC program, students take courses in
biology and health science, as well as in other
natural and physical sciences, mathematics, and the
liberal arts. The courses required for the HSC program are those generally
required or recommended by graduate and professional schools in these
fields.
The Bachelors of Health Science degree is similar to any bachelors
of science and many of the courses are the same as those taken by "premed"
students, that is, students interested in doctoral level professional
education in medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatry, or veterinary
medicine.
zzz The Pre-Physical Therapy track is designed
to prepare students for graduate work in physical therapy or occupational
therapy at the Master's level; however, beginning in May 2001 there was a
change in the UM degree from a 7 semester Masters in P.T. program to a 9
semester Doctor of Physical Therapy. There is a cooperative arrangement
with the Division of Physical Therapy of the Department of Orthopedics and
Rehabilitation at the UM School of Medicine to offer competitive students
the opportunity to attend the University of Miami from the freshman year
through the doctoral degree and become licensed physical therapists. The
Health Science Program also offers two honors programs that allow early
entry in this program.
The BHS pre-forensics track is designed to
provide students with a strong science background coupled with a
foundation in criminal justice and legal concepts. Graduate programs (M.S.
and certificate programs) in Forensic Science are available at University
of Central Florida and Florida International University.
Post-graduate Physicians Assistant programs
(in Florida: Barry MDCC, Nova SE, and UFl) often require 2 years of
college for admission .
The Health Science Program allows health
science students to take a minor in a discipline in Arts and Sciences
(such as chemistry or psychology) as well as in sports medicine, exercise
science, or sports management. It also offers a health science track with
a minor in business administration for students interested in health care
management. Students are advised to choose minors and electives to fulfill
the requirements of graduate programs in which they are interested.
Because of the competitiveness of
graduate/professional programs in these fields and the increasingly
sophisticated skills necessary in the allied health sciences, to be
accepted into the program entering freshmen must have a minimum SAT score
of 1100 or an ACT score of 24. Transfer students must have a minimum
cumulative grade point average of 3.0 for pre-physical therapy or 2.8 for
the other tracks.
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