The Health Sciences major is designed for students interested in understanding the causes of disease, strategies for promoting wellness, and the scientific basis and methodologies for analysis of health concerns. The major combines a broad foundation of health-related course work with a choice of preparatory courses suitable for entry into graduate programs in medicine, dentistry, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, public health physician assistant and veterinary medicine.
As a new freshmen or transfer student. You will declare your major through the JMU One Book website when you sign up for orientation. This major becomes your official major on your academic record.
HTH 100 Personal Wellness is currently a required course in the major and fulfills a general education requirement. You will work with your first year adviser to determine what other courses are appropriate. HTH 150 Introduction to Health Sciences is another required course that you will complete in your first two years.
There is a core curriculum for health sciences that includes courses on population health determinants, infectious disease, chronic disease, health behavior change, U.S. and global healthcare systems, epidemiology, and ethics.
Most health sciences students complete BIO 270 Human Physiology and BIO 290 Human Anatomy. Then, working with your advisers, you will select additional science classes aligned with your career or graduate school goals. These may include additional courses in biology (microbiology, cell/molecular biology, genetics), chemistry (general chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry), and physics. Details of the curriculum are available at: https://www.jmu.edu/catalog/.
At JMU, there are several pre-professional health minors (medicine, dentistry, optometry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, physician assistant studies and veterinary medicine) that students may complete. Be sure to look into the criteria and support offered by the Office of Pre-Professional Health Advising at https://www.jmu.edu/pph/.
Other common minors include: biology, health communication, chronic illness, medical humanities, gerontology, medical Spanish, substance abuse education, and exceptional education.
All health sciences students complete a course sequence that includes a statistical methods in health sciences course and then a course in health research methods. Currently, during the health research methods course, students work in groups to propose and conduct a research project with a faculty member serving as the research adviser. Students present their findings at a research symposium at the end of the semester. With approval from the Institutional Review Board, students may be able to present their research at state or national conferences or publish the findings in a research journal.
In addition to study abroad opportunities made available by the university, students have completed summer study abroad courses in Ghana, South Africa, and Thailand. https://www.jmu.edu/global/ Faculty in the department have also supported alternative spring break trips to Charlotte, NC, and Chicago, IL. https://www.jmu.edu/cevc/serve/abp/index.shtml
While the graduate programs at JMU do not offer preferred admission for JMU undergraduates, the Department of Health Professions offers graduate programs in athletic training, occupational therapy, and physician assistant studies. View additional information about these programs
Eastern Virginia Medical School (MD), Emory & Henry (OT and PT), Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (OT and PT), Virginia Commonwealth University (OT, PT, Pharmacy, and Dentistry), Shenandoah University (OT), Drexel (PA), The Ohio State University (MD)
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