Courses

HLTH 1200. Basic Skills for the Healthcare Professional. (2 Hours)

Introduces health science students to the basic skills necessary to be successful in entry-level healthcare positions. These skills include: Basic Life Support, safe patient handling, vital signs, oxygen transport and safety, and EKG prep and placement. Also covers basic medical terminology, appropriate professional behaviors, and communication skills.

Corequisite(s): HLTH 1201


HLTH 1201. Lab for HLTH 1200. (1 Hour)

Accompanies HLTH 1200. Provides students with hands-on opportunities to learn skills in Basic Life Support, safe patient handling, determining vital signs, oxygen transport and safety, EKG prep and placement, and related clinical skills.

Corequisite(s): HLTH 1200


HLTH 1203. Basic Clinical Skills for the Healthcare Professional. (3 Hours)

Introduces undergraduate students to the basic knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in entry-level healthcare positions. Provides students with hands-on opportunities to learn skills in Basic Life Support, safe patient handling, determining vital signs, oxygen transport and safety, EKG prep and placement, and related clinical skills.


HLTH 1205. Wellness. (4 Hours)

Explores the concept of wellness and examines behaviors and lifestyle choices that lead to a high level of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Topics include health risk, behavioral change, lifestyle analysis, the life cycle, and stress management through self-analysis.


HLTH 1250. Introduction to Health Professions. (3 Hours)

Uses a foundation in interprofessional education competencies to introduce students to careers in the health professions including medicine, nursing, rehab sciences, mental health/behavioral sciences, and other health professions. Discusses roles and responsibilities for each covered discipline as well as common values, ethics, and commitment to patient safety and confidentiality. Introduces fundamentals of the U.S. healthcare system, concepts in public health, health equity and access to care, legal issues in health, health industries and health entrepreneurship, and health-related technologies including artificial intelligence. Explores issues of burnout and introduces strategies for personal resistance and wellness. Engages students in goal setting and planning their professional journey.


HLTH 1717. Enriching Lives Through Behavior Change Interventions. (4 Hours)

Presents the skills required to work directly with learners receiving applied behavior analytic services. Explores the science of behavior and offers students an opportunity to practice assessing behavior, teaching new skills, and helping reduce behaviors that interfere with learners’ own goals. Emphasizes compassionate care and inclusion of learners and their families as team members.


HLTH 1990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)

Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 2100. Interprofessional Ethics for Individual and Population Health. (4 Hours)

Provides case reviews and discussion related to basic theories, principles and contemporary issues of bioethics. Secondarily, this course is an interprofessional course that covers specific ethical guidelines for various health disciplines from nursing, pharmacy, health sciences, and others. Offers students an opportunity to develop systematic strategies and analytic frameworks for identifying and examining bioethical issues and for resolving bioethical dilemmas and problems. Students have an opportunity to apply their specific discipline’s ethics code and work in multidisciplinary groups to apply ethical principles from different perspectives.

Attribute(s): NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Writing Intensive


HLTH 2183. Interdisciplinary Special Topics: Pop-up Course. (1,2 Hours)

Addresses timely trends, issues, and events as they unfold. Offers students an opportunity to learn about and respond to issues of the day in an immersive, interdisciplinary, short-course format. Content and instructors vary by offering. May be repeated five times for a maximum of eight semester hours.


HLTH 2200. Emergency Medical Technician Training. (6 Hours)

Offers students an opportunity to learn basic healthcare clinical skills and seeks to prepare students to function as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) at the basic life support level. EMTs are an essential component of prehospital emergency medical service (EMS) systems. This course seeks to establish a solid foundation in EMS, broadly including patient assessments, medical emergencies, trauma emergencies, relevant pharmacology, special populations, and EMS operations.


HLTH 2302. Alternative Medicine. (4 Hours)

Presents an objective assessment and discussion of alternative and complementary medical approaches used in the United States and their significant historical, cultural, and cross-cultural implications. The majority of alternative and complementary medical strategies were developed in a specific historical and cultural context. Some of the therapies have had an impact on human health for thousands of years. Others have become popular only recently. Many methods discussed are fused with different cultural practices, such as the concept of “vitalism,” a force that modern science does not recognize but is an important attribute in certain cultural practices. Some methods have long and successful histories based upon sophisticated ancient medical theories, such as “Chi,” found in Chinese medicine.


HLTH 2500. Entrepreneurship in Health Sciences. (4 Hours)

Explores in-depth the intersection between entrepreneurship and the health sciences field. Addresses unique opportunities and challenges of starting and managing businesses in the healthcare industry. Covers the fundamental principles of entrepreneurship and applies them specifically to the context of health sciences. Offers students an opportunity to obtain the tools to identify and evaluate innovative healthcare business ideas, develop sustainable business models, and navigate the complex healthcare landscape. Uses case studies to analyze approaches to identify opportunities, develop innovative solutions, and create sustainable businesses that have a positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals and communities.


HLTH 2550. Product Design, Development, and Innovation in Health Science. (4 Hours)

Introduces the process of product design, development, and innovation across the health sciences. Presents the tools and methods for creating new products that benefit health and well-being across the life span. Focuses on overall product design methodology, including the identification of customer needs, generation of product concepts, prototyping, and minimal viable product development. Offers students an opportunity to understand regulatory processes for the FDA, medical devices, and digital therapeutics. Reviews go-to-market strategies and provides exposure to the full product development life cycle.


HLTH 2963. Topics. (1,2 Hours)

Offers undergraduate students an opportunity to learn about timely issues, develop new skills, or explore areas of broad interest in an immersive, short-course format. Content and instructors vary by offering. May be repeated three times.


HLTH 2973. Special Topics in Healthcare. (1-4 Hours)

Offers an intermediate-level study of contemporary issues in healthcare. Draws upon a variety of perspectives. Offers students an opportunity to expand their breadth of knowledge and to facilitate their understanding of various themes grounded in a particular area of healthcare. May be repeated once.


HLTH 2990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)

Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 2992. Research. (0 Hours)

Offers an opportunity to document student contributions to research projects or creative endeavors.


HLTH 3990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)

Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 4800. Careers in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. (4 Hours)

Introduces a wide range of careers dedicated to supporting the mental health of children, adolescents, and their families and reducing health inequities. Explores the roles of different mental health professions. Discusses how psychological theories and research findings can be applied to address real-world challenges. Presents firsthand accounts of how professionals design and implement culturally sensitive strategies for prevention, intervention, and advocacy with vulnerable children and youth facing a range of developmental and mental health issues.


HLTH 4981. Research—Global. (4 Hours)

Offers an opportunity to conduct research in global locations under faculty supervision.


HLTH 4982. Directed Study—Global. (4 Hours)

Offers independent work in global locations under the direction of members of the department on a chosen topic. Course content depends on instructor. May be repeated once.


HLTH 4990. Elective. (1-4 Hours)

Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 4991. Research. (4 Hours)

Offers an opportunity to conduct research under faculty supervision.

Attribute(s): NUpath Integration Experience


HLTH 4992. Directed Study. (1-4 Hours)

Offers independent work under the direction of members of the department on a chosen topic. Course content depends on instructor. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 4994. Internship. (1-4 Hours)

Provides students with an opportunity for research internship work. May be repeated up to four times.


HLTH 4998. Research. (0 Hours)

Offers an opportunity to document student contributions to research projects or creative endeavors.


HLTH 5002. Mindfulness: Theory and Practice. (3 Hours)

Studies key aspects of theory and practical principles of mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is a particular way of paying attention to experiences that has been scientifically researched and found to decrease habitual and destructive cycles of thought and emotion. This course is highly experiential and daily homework practice consists of at least 20 minutes of mindfulness practice. Instructions for the various practices are provided throughout the course. Each class typically includes a didactic portion, a mindfulness practice, and a group discussion. The benefits of mindfulness practice include reduced stress, improved attention, reduced emotional reactivity, and greater mind-body awareness. Offers students an opportunity to develop practical skills of relational mindfulness in interactions with others and to cultivate positive emotions.


HLTH 5120. Statistics for Health Science. (3 Hours)

Focuses on applying formal reasoning to understand the underlying principles of statistics; how to select and conduct statistical tests; and how to interpret and use the results of data analysis in relation to research questions and research hypotheses.

Attribute(s): NUpath Analyzing/Using Data, NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning


HLTH 5200. Magic and Healthcare: A Scientific Exploration. (3 Hours)

Explores the arts and humanities to examine complex concepts in nursing and medicine. Surveys how magic and magic theory inform an array of neuroscientific concepts, cognitive bias, expectation violation, and surprise, with application to clinical practice. Critically evaluates medical information using some of the principles of magic, illusion, and mentalism. Explores the principles of blind spots, misdirection, attention, memory, and influence from the theoretical construct of magic, and applies these principles to concepts in nursing and other medical specialties.


HLTH 5280. The (in)Visibility of (dis)Ability in Society. (3,4 Hours)

Addresses the issues of disability relative to culture, public policy, rights, and advocacy. Focuses class discussion on the experiences of people with disabilities living in our current society as well as from a historical perspective. Explores the following topics: who is disabled, social attitudes toward people with disabilities, and images and stigma in the media. Also covers the language of disability, disability culture, and the forgotten minority. Affords students an opportunity to gain a broad understanding of the complex and dynamic issues and themes concerning people with disabilities.

Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity


HLTH 5301. Clarity and Connection: Pronunciation Skills in English. (3 Hours)

Explores how diversity in language backgrounds, dialects, and accents can both enrich community and sometimes present challenges in specific situations. Provides an opportunity for high intermediate or advanced non-native English speakers or speakers of non-North American dialects of English to learn general strategies for improving comprehensibility across English dialects, as well as some features specific to Mainstream North American English (MAE). Offers opportunities to engage in written and spoken exercises, speaking with partners and in front of a larger group, and preparing for presentations with a focus on pronunciation.


HLTH 5310. Introduction to Transgender Perspectives in Healthcare. (3 Hours)

Introduces cultural responsiveness in healthcare fields, specifically related to transgender and gender nonconforming populations. Offers students an opportunity to gain comfort in engaging with this population and develop actionable steps toward more reflective and accountable practices. Examines implicit bias and its impact on interactions in healthcare settings. Explores the ethical requirements and considerations for the provision of services to TGNC populations across all medical and clinical settings.

Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions


HLTH 5410. Introduction to Statistics in Health and Behavioral Science. (3 Hours)

Introduces basic and intermediate concepts in research methods and quantitative analysis in health and behavioral sciences. Explores foundational considerations in research methodology and acquisition of knowledge in statistical techniques, ranging from descriptive statistics to probability and inference. Offers students an opportunity to state and test hypotheses guiding them through the analysis and interpretation of collected information and to build experience with conducting statistical analysis using common spreadsheet software (e.g., Excel).


HLTH 5450. Healthcare Research. (4 Hours)

Provides an overview of the research process and its application in clinical arenas. Emphasizes the role of the health professional as a consumer of research, with concern for the ethical management and treatment of patients and their families. Elements of research design and their implications in clinical settings provide the framework for the analysis of research and the development of a research proposal. Also emphasizes the use of research findings for evidence-based practice. Encourages interdisciplinary projects.

Prerequisite(s): (ENGL 1102 with a minimum grade of C or ENGL 1111 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1102 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1111 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1113 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1114 with a minimum grade of C ) or graduate program admission

Attribute(s): NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning, NUpath Natural/Designed World, NUpath Writing Intensive


HLTH 5600. Introduction to Patient Safety. (3 Hours)

Introduces patient safety science, which is a growing specialty in healthcare, driven by research and reporting efforts that demonstrate unacceptable levels of patient harm in care delivery. Provides a comprehensive overview of the tools and knowledge necessary for healthcare clinicians, administrators, and leaders to create safer healthcare systems. Explores the major themes of patient safety science and the concepts utilized in designing safer healthcare systems and mechanisms for healthcare delivery. Focuses on the history of patient safety, political and regulatory drivers and their impact on patient safety, the importance of robust data capture in recognizing risks, and the inherent challenges of informatics and technology for patient safety. Applying these concepts guides design of safer healthcare.


HLTH 5610. Patient Safety Science. (3 Hours)

Examines healthcare as a high-risk industry, where complex healthcare systems attempt to meet the complex needs of diverse patients. Introduces the many drivers that influence the design and evolution of healthcare systems, particularly patient safety, which until recently was not typically recognized as one of these design drivers. Expands on the concept of complex systems theory and introduces the concept of high reliability organizations (HROs) and how they approach safety. Examines engineering strategies from HROs by studying how healthcare systems should adapt and retrofit to create safer systems of care delivery. Compares the challenges of improving patient safety at the system vs. the microsystem level. Examines diverse error-reducing strategies.

Prerequisite(s): HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B or HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B


HLTH 5620. Leadership, Patient Safety, and Clinician Wellness. (3 Hours)

Examines patient-safety-focused leadership that recognizes the importance of partnering with key healthcare proponents to advance the safe delivery of care. Discusses the role of leaders in advancing a culture of safety and creating a just culture approach to adverse event reviews. Identifies the importance of psychological safety in adverse event reporting and analysis. Focuses on leadership roles in promoting robust workforce wellness initiatives to prevent clinician burnout.

Prerequisite(s): HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B or HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B


HLTH 5630. Quality Improvement in Patient Safety. (3 Hours)

Introduces key components of patient safety science that promote identification of patient safety risks and effectively foster changes to reduce those risks. Examines the processes and tools employed in quality improvement efforts and recognizes the importance of risk assessment, data collection, and measurement in healthcare settings. Identifies quality improvement models and compares their effectiveness in promoting safer care delivery. Concludes with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of incentivizing quality improvement efforts through reimbursement strategies that utilize quality incentives.

Prerequisite(s): HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B or HLTH 5600 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of B


HLTH 5700. Social Determinants of Health. (3 Hours)

Introduces social and structural conditions as key contributors to people’s physical and mental health. Describes unjust and avoidable socioeconomic conditions considered to be the main contributors to health inequities. Meets a growing demand for health professionals to have fundamental knowledge of the social determinants of health, including social isolation and social support; structural/ institutional racism; income inequality; and social and economic policies. Provides an opportunity to develop awareness of the role of social determinants of health in population health; knowledge of the pathways through which they impact health; awareness of the specific ways the health of different populations and demographic groups is impacted; and enhanced evaluation, diagnosis, and communication with patient and clients.

Attribute(s): NUpath Societies/Institutions


HLTH 5800. AI Across the Health Sciences. (4 Hours)

Presents foundational information about artificial intelligence and its applications in healthcare, public health, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical sciences. Develops AI literacies for entry-level clinical practice, public health, and health-related careers. Provides an overview of the history of AI, most common types of AI approaches, and state-of-the-art of AI in health-related applications. Distinguishes realities from hype around AI’s capabilities and limitations and reviews ethical and regulatory considerations. Offers students experiential opportunities to build a conceptual AI solution to a real-world problem in the health space. Technical background in AI/computer science not required.


HLTH 5963. Topics. (1,2 Hours)

Offers students an opportunity to learn about timely issues, develop new skills, or explore areas of broad interest in an immersive, short-course format. Content and instructors vary by offering. May be repeated three times.


HLTH 5964. Projects for Professionals. (0 Hours)

Offers students an applied project setting in which to apply their curricular learning. Working with a sponsor, students refine an applied research topic, perform research, develop recommendations that are shared with a partner sponsor, and create a plan for implementing their recommendations. Seeks to benefit students with a curriculum that supports the development of key business communication skills, project and client management skills, and frameworks for business analysis. Offers students an opportunity to learn from sponsor feedback, review 'lessons learned,' and incorporate suggestions from this review to improve and further develop their career development and professional plan.


HLTH 5965. Engaging with Industry Partners for Rising Professionals. (0 Hours)

Offers students an enhanced applied project setting in which to apply their curricular learning. Working with a partner sponsor, students refine an applied research topic, perform research, develop recommendations that are shared with the partner sponsor, and create a plan for implementing their recommendations. Curriculum supports students as they develop key business communication skills, project and client management skills, and frameworks for business analysis. Offers students an opportunity to learn from sponsor feedback, review lessons learned, and incorporate suggestions to improve and further hone their career development and professional plan. Career development opportunities through skill-building workshops, panels, and interview preparation are available. Partner-student interactions, including a culminating project presentation, allow partners to assess student potential for co-op, internship, or other employment opportunities with the partner.


HLTH 5973. Special Topics in Healthcare. (1-4 Hours)

Offers an advanced-level study of contemporary issues in healthcare. Draws upon a variety of perspectives. Offers students an opportunity to expand their breadth of knowledge and to facilitate their understanding of various themes grounded in a particular area of healthcare. May be repeated up to five times for up to 6 total credits.


HLTH 6961. Internship. (1-4 Hours)

Offers students an opportunity for internship work. May be repeated up to three times.


HLTH 6962. Elective. (1-4 Hours)

Offers elective credit for courses taken at other academic institutions. May be repeated without limit.


HLTH 6964. Co-op Work Experience. (0 Hours)

Provides eligible students with an opportunity for work experience. May be repeated seven times.


HLTH 7999. Extended Field Experience. (0 Hours)

Offers supervised field experience.