Health Sciences

Advisors: Dr. James Scifers, Dr. Amy Gerney, Dr. Jennifer Ostrowski

The health sciences major is intended for students who wish to pursue careers in health professions after completing their undergraduate career at Moravian College. Such programs include physical therapy, occupational therapy, and athletic training. Students wishing to pursue medical school, veterinary school, dental school, or a physicians’ assistant program are advised to pursue majors in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, or neuroscience, and are advised to consult with the health professions advisor on an appropriate curricular choice for their interests.

Each of the program areas listed above requires additional education beyond the undergraduate degree. Students are advised to consult with the health professions advisor on specific program prerequisites and program requirements.

Students pursuing programs in the health sciences take Economics 156, Math 107, or another statistics course as their F2 (Quantitative Reasoning) requirement. Students in the health sciences should take Philosophy 259, Medical Ethics, or another bioethics courses, as their U1, or Nursing 360, Ethical Issues in Healthcare, as their U2 requirement.

All students, regardless of intended career or concentration, must complete Biology 103 and Biology 104, Anatomy and Physiology 1 and 2, as well as Psychology 120 and Health 310, Research Methodology in the Health Sciences Sciences (writing-intensive). In the third of fourth year of study (junior or senior year), all students enroll in HLTH 285.2 or 285, Clinical Observer, to complete the required number of clinical observer hours expected for enrollment into the graduate program of their choice. In addition, in the last term of undergraduate study, students enroll in the capstone course, Health 385.2, Social Issues in Health Science.

Upon declaring a major in health sciences, students select one of the following tracks, based on their intended career path:

Athletic training/exercise science

2 additional courses, chosen from the list of elective courses below

In addition, before matriculation into an athletic training program, students need to complete CPR certification, AED certification, and first-aid certification, at their own expense. Some schools will include the advanced first-aid certification as part of the athletic training curriculum.

Occupational Therapy

4 additional courses, chosen from the list of elective courses below.

Physical Therapy

one additional course, chosen from the list of elective courses below.

Health Sciences elective courses

Additionally, with the increasing need for educated home health care workers and health care assistants, students in the health sciences major are recommended to consider a minor in business management, composing the following courses:

two management or economics electives, chosen in consultation with an advisor

Courses in Health Science

Health 231. Nutrition for Health. Food is essential not only for our health and wellbeing, but also for our basic survival. How we obtain, preserve, and prepare our food has changed drastically since the days when our hunter-gatherer ancestors discovered fire, domesticated the first livestock, and cultivated the earliest crops. Today, concerns about food safety, poor diets, and obesity dominate the U.S. headlines, and we are bombarded with all sorts of conflicting dietary claims in the media or via the internet. This course will focus on the science of nutrition: the macro and micro nutrients we need and why, the linkages between energy balance and body composition disordered eating, and food safety. Because there are so many false, conflicting, and newly-emerging (but as of yet, unproven) claims about diet and our health, we will also use the scientific understanding gained to help identify credible sources of information about nutrition, diet plans and dietary supplements, and food safety. 
Doane, Staff

Health 260.  Kinesiology.  Upon completion of this course, a student should be able to identify the structural characteristics, movements, and muscles acting as the major joints of the body.  The student will be able to select movements or exercises which utilize specific muscle groups and analyze the joint actions, muscle actions, and mechanical principles which apply to the performance of a specific movement.  Prerequisites: Biology 103 and 104; or Biology 310 and 350. Fall.
Hauth, Staff

Health 261. Management and Prevention of Sports Injuries. This course is an introduction to the principles and practices associated with sport and fitness injury management. The course emphasizes the development of competencies in the recognition and treatment of injuries appropriate for professionals working with active populations. Topics include injury mechanics, injury prevention strategies, and injury recognition and management. Prerequisites: Biology 103 and 104; or Biology 310 and 350; and Health 260. Spring.
Gloyeske, Staff

Health 310.  Stats and Methods for Health Professions. Scientific method as the means through which knowledge advances in allied health fields. Developing and researching hypotheses, collecting data, testing hypotheses using appropriate statistical techniques, interpreting and reporting statistical results. Research methodology, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics, as well as use of the computer software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to analyze data. Writing intensive.  Prerequisite: Psychology 120 and junior or senior class standing.  
Toedter

Health 360. Exercise Physiology. This course is an introductory course in exercise physiology. It will introduce certain concepts of the “how and why” the body responds to both acute and chronic exercise stress.  Topics will include exercise metabolism, respiration, circulation, neuromuscular, hormonal, and environmental influences on exercise. Prerequisites:  Biology 103 and 104 (or Biology 310 and 350; Health 260 (Kinesiology); junior or senior class standing or permission of instructor. Spring.  
Scifers, Staff

Health 385.2  Social Issues In Health Science. A capstone seminar for students in the health sciences major.  Guided readings and research to prepare students for graduate and professional study in allied health fields.  Students explore ethical and social issues related to health science (such as the debate regarding immunizations, homeopathic approaches to healing, obesity as a cause of illness vs. an illness in itself), and co-author research papers which include perspectives from their chosen/intended field of study.  Prerequisites: senior class standing; major in health sciences, nursing, or public health; other students by permission of instructor.
Staff