Health Services, Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Laurie Cathers, Ph.D., LMSW
Program director

bshs.chp.vcu.edu

The Bachelor of Science in Health Services will prepare future health care leaders with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the challenges of managing responsibilities across the range of health care organizations. With an emphasis on evidence-based practice, the program will prepare students to work as medical and health services providers charged with planning, directing and coordinating medical and health services. Graduates will be able to work in diverse health care settings, such as hospitals, specific clinical areas or departments within those facilities, health management organizations or in medical practice groups.  

The program is designed for students who wish to create a pathway into a health care field. It provides a core set of courses to build a foundation of health care knowledge. It also provides the flexibility for students to focus their studies on a particular area of interest through the selection of open and restricted elective courses. The flexibility gives students an opportunity to identify how their strengths, values and skills can best serve the health of their communities.

Students in the health services program have the option to complete the entire program face-to-face or complete their last two years asynchronously online. 

Student learning outcomes

Upon completion of the B.S. in Health Services degree program, graduates will be able to:

• Describe health, illness and human development in the context of the U.S. health care system
• Analyze contemporary issues and trends in health promotion and delivery in the context of the U.S. health care system
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of professional and ethical behaviors within the health care context
• Identify and analyze cultural and economic factors impacting health disparities in the U.S. health care system
• Apply effective written and oral communications skills within the health care services context
• Analyze and apply basic theories of leadership and change management to the health care services workplace
• Evaluate and interpret evidence-based practices in the health care services context

Degree requirements

The B.S. in Health Services requires 120 credits.

Service-learning requirement

All students in the degree program will have a culminating experiential learning opportunity in the final semester of the senior year when they take ALHP 435. All students will receive constructive feedback from their faculty adviser and also the site supervisor for the relevant experiential and applied learning experience. The course is designed to prepare students for career search, future professional and educational opportunities, and reflective oral and written presentations on professional and ethical practice in the service-learning environment. 

Curriculum requirements 

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

Restricted electives

Course	Title	Hours
BUSN 329	Introduction to Intercultural Communication	3
GRTY 410	Introduction to Gerontology	3
GRTY 510	Aging	3
INFO 360	Business Information Systems	3
MGMT 310	Managing People in Organizations	3
MGMT 331	Human Resource Management	3
PATC 511	The Professional Caregiver	4
PSYC 101 Play course video for Introduction to Psychology	Introduction to Psychology (satisfies general education BOK for social/behavioral sciences and AOI for diversities in the human experience)	4
PSYC 304	Life Span Developmental Psychology	3
RHAB 202	General Substance Abuse Studies	3
RHAB 321	Introduction to Substance Abuse	3
RHAB 502	American Sign Language I	3
SLWK 201	Introduction to Social Work	3
SLWK 230	Communication in the Helping Process	3
SOCY 344	Medical Sociology	3
SOCY 401	Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities	3

Students who complete the requirements for this degree will receive a Bachelor of Science in Health Services.

Freshman year
Fall semester		Hours
MATH 131 or MATH 141 or MATH 151 or MATH 200	Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics (satisfies quantitative foundation; any serves as prerequisite for STAT 210) or Algebra with Applications or Precalculus Mathematics or Calculus with Analytic Geometry I	3
UNIV 111 Play course video for Focused Inquiry I	Focused Inquiry I (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (select AOI for diversities in the human experience)		3
General education course (select BOK for humanities/fine arts and AOI for creativity, innovation and aesthetic inquiry)		3
Open elective		3
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
UNIV 112 Play course video for Focused Inquiry II	Focused Inquiry II (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (select BOK for natural sciences and AOI for scientific and logic reasoning)		3
General education course		3
Open electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
Sophomore year
Fall semester
STAT 210	Basic Practice of Statistics	3
UNIV 200	Advanced Focused Inquiry: Literacies, Research and Communication (satisfies general education UNIV foundations)	3
General education course (select any AOI)		3
Open electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
ACCT 202	Accounting for Non-business Majors	3
ECON 210	Principles of Microeconomics (satisfies general education BOK for social/behavioral sciences and AOI for global perspectives)	3
Open electives		6
Restricted elective		3
	Term Hours:	15
Junior year
Fall semester
ALHP 310	Introduction to Health Care Professions	3
ALHP 325	Introduction to Rehabilitation Services	3
HCMG 300	Health Care Organization and Services	3
Restricted electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
ALHP 320	Person-centered Care	3
ALHP 330	Human Growth and Development for the Health Professions	3
ALHP 340	Health Care Technology and Innovation	3
ALHP 410	Professional and Clinical Ethics	3
Restricted elective		3
	Term Hours:	15
Senior year
Fall semester
ALHP 415	Health Care Financing and Budgeting	3
ALHP 425	Health Care Management and Performance	3
ALHP 430	Overview of Research in the Health Professions	3
Restricted electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
Spring semester
ALHP 416	Health Care Economics	3
ALHP 420	Health Care Leadership Development	3
ALHP 435	Health Care Career Development and Planning in Allied Health Professions	3
Restricted electives		6
	Term Hours:	15
	Total Hours:	120

The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.

Accelerated B.S. and M.S.

The accelerated B.S. and M.S. program allows qualified students to earn both the B.S. in Health Services and M.S. in Gerontology in a minimum of five years by completing approved graduate courses during the senior year of their undergraduate program. Students in the program may count up to 12 hours of graduate courses toward both the B.S. and M.S. degrees. Thus, the two degrees may be earned with a minimum of 138 credits rather than the 150 credits necessary if the two degrees are pursued separately.

Students holding these degrees will have completed advanced course work focused on preparing future health care leaders with the knowledge, skills and competencies to meet the challenges of managing organizations that are involved with health care and health-related services. These career opportunities exist in a variety of health care settings for older adults where graduates can pursue employment in the community, corporate and university health care systems or advanced study and research in the field of health sciences.

Entrance to the accelerated program

Interested undergraduate students should consult with their adviser as early as possible to receive specific information about the accelerated program, determine academic eligibility and submit (no later than two semesters prior to graduating with a baccalaureate degree, that is, before the end of the spring semester of their junior year) an Accelerated Program Declaration Form to be approved by the graduate program director. Limited spaces may be available in the accelerated program. Academically qualified students may not receive approval if capacity has been reached.

Minimum qualifications for entrance to this accelerated program include completion of 84 undergraduate credit hours including ACCT 202, ECON 210 and STAT 210; an overall GPA of 3.0; and a GPA of 3.0 in core ALHP courses and restricted electives. Students who are interested in the accelerated program should consult with the graduate program director of the M.S. program before they have completed 84 credits. Successful applicants would enter the program in the fall semester of their senior year.

Once enrolled in the accelerated program, students must meet the standards of performance applicable to graduate students as described in the “Satisfactory academic progress” section of Bulletin, including maintaining a 3.0 GPA. Guidance to students in an accelerated program is provided by both the undergraduate health services adviser and the graduate program director of the graduate gerontology program.

Admission to the graduate program

Entrance to the accelerated program enables the student to take the approved shared courses that will apply to the undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, entry into an accelerated program via an approved Accelerated Program Declaration Form does not constitute application or admission into the graduate program. Admission to the graduate program requires a separate step that occurs through a formal application. In order to continue pursuing the master’s degree after the baccalaureate degree is conferred, accelerated students must follow the admission to graduate study requirements outlined in the VCU Bulletin.

Degree requirements

The Bachelor of Science in Health Services degree will be awarded upon completion of a minimum of 120 credits and the satisfactory completion of all undergraduate degree requirements as stated in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

A maximum of 12 graduate credits may be taken prior to completion of the baccalaureate degree. These graduate credits will substitute for restricted electives for the undergraduate degree. These courses are shared credits with the graduate program, meaning that they will be applied to both undergraduate and graduate degree requirements.

The graduate gerontology courses that may be taken as an undergraduate, once a student is admitted to the program, are:

Recommended course sequence/plan of study

What follows is the recommended plan of study for students interested in the accelerated program beginning in the fall of the junior year prior to admission to the accelerated program in the senior year.