This is the preliminary (or launch) version of the 2024-2025 VCU Bulletin. Courses that expose students to cutting-edge content and transformative learning may be added and notification of additional program approvals may be received prior to finalization. General education program content is also subject to change. The final edition and full PDF version will include these updates and will be available in August prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
Laurie Cathers, Ph.D., LMSW
Program director
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 ofhealth 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 ALHP435. 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
Course | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
General education | ||
Select 30 credits of general education courses in consultation with an adviser. | 30 | |
Major requirements | ||
• Major core requirements | ||
ALHP310 | Introduction to Health Care Professions | 3 |
ALHP320 | Person-centered Care | 3 |
ALHP325 | Introduction to Rehabilitation Services | 3 |
ALHP330 | Human Growth and Development for the Health Professions | 3 |
ALHP340 | Health Care Technology and Innovation | 3 |
ALHP410 | Professional and Clinical Ethics | 3 |
ALHP415 | Health Care Financing and Budgeting | 3 |
ALHP416 | Health Care Economics | 3 |
ALHP420 | Health Care Leadership Development | 3 |
ALHP425 | Health Care Management and Performance | 3 |
ALHP430 | Overview of Research in the Health Professions | 3 |
ALHP435 | Health Care Career Development and Planning in Allied Health Professions | 3 |
• Additional major requirements | ||
ACCT202 | Accounting for Non-business Majors | 3 |
HCMG300 | Health Care Organization and Services | 3 |
Ancillary requirements | ||
ECON210 | Principles of Microeconomics (satisfies general education BOK for social/behavioral sciences and AOI for global perspectives) | 3 |
STAT210 | Basic Practice of Statistics (satisfies general education quantitative foundations) | 3 |
Restricted electives (Select from the list below.) | 24 | |
Open electives | ||
Select any course. | 21 | |
Total Hours | 120 |
The minimum number of credit hours required for this degree is 120.
Restricted electives
Course | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
BUSN329 | Introduction to Intercultural Communication | 3 |
GRTY410 | Introduction to Gerontology | 3 |
GRTY510 | Aging | 3 |
INFO360 | Business Information Systems | 3 |
MGMT310 | Managing People in Organizations | 3 |
MGMT331 | Human Resource Management | 3 |
PATC511 | The Professional Caregiver | 4 |
PSYC101 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 |
PSYC304 | Life Span Developmental Psychology | 3 |
RHAB202 | General Substance Abuse Studies | 3 |
RHAB321 | Introduction to Substance Abuse | 3 |
RHAB502 | American Sign Language I | 3 |
SLWK201 | Introduction to Social Work | 3 |
SLWK230 | Communication in the Helping Process | 3 |
SOCY344 | Medical Sociology | 3 |
SOCY401 | 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 | |
MATH131 or MATH141 | Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics (satisfies quantitative foundation; any serves as prerequisite for STAT210) or Algebra with Applications | 3 |
UNIV111 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 | ||
UNIV112 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 | |
Sophom*ore year | ||
Fall semester | ||
STAT210 | Basic Practice of Statistics | 3 |
UNIV200 | 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 | ||
ACCT202 | Accounting for Non-business Majors | 3 |
ECON210 | 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 | ||
ALHP310 | Introduction to Health Care Professions | 3 |
ALHP325 | Introduction to Rehabilitation Services | 3 |
HCMG300 | Health Care Organization and Services | 3 |
Restricted electives | 6 | |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Spring semester | ||
ALHP320 | Person-centered Care | 3 |
ALHP330 | Human Growth and Development for the Health Professions | 3 |
ALHP340 | Health Care Technology and Innovation | 3 |
ALHP410 | Professional and Clinical Ethics | 3 |
Restricted elective | 3 | |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Senior year | ||
Fall semester | ||
ALHP415 | Health Care Financing and Budgeting | 3 |
ALHP425 | Health Care Management and Performance | 3 |
ALHP430 | Overview of Research in the Health Professions | 3 |
Restricted electives | 6 | |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Spring semester | ||
ALHP416 | Health Care Economics | 3 |
ALHP420 | Health Care Leadership Development | 3 |
ALHP435 | 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:
Course | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
GRTY601 | Biological and Physiological Aging | 3 |
GRTY602 | Psychology of Aging | 3 |
GRTY603 | Social Gerontology | 3 |
GRTY606 | Aging and Human Values | 3 |
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.
Course | Title | Hours |
---|---|---|
Junior year | ||
Fall semester | ||
ALHP310 | Introduction to Health Care Professions | 3 |
ALHP325 | Introduction to Rehabilitation Services | 3 |
HCMG300 | Health Care Organization and Services | 3 |
Restricted electives | 6 | |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Spring semester | ||
ALHP320 | Person-centered Care | 3 |
ALHP330 | Human Growth and Development for the Health Professions | 3 |
ALHP340 | Health Care Technology and Innovation | 3 |
ALHP410 | Professional and Clinical Ethics | 3 |
Elective (general or restricted) | 3 | |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Senior year | ||
Fall semester | ||
ALHP415 | Health Care Financing and Budgeting | 3 |
ALHP425 | Health Care Management and Performance | 3 |
ALHP430 | Overview of Research in the Health Professions | 3 |
GRTY602 | Psychology of Aging | 3 |
GRTY603 | Social Gerontology | 3 |
Term Hours: | 15 | |
Spring semester | ||
ALHP416 | Health Care Economics | 3 |
ALHP420 | Positive Organizational Leadership Development | 3 |
ALHP435 | Health Care Career Development and Planning in Allied Health Professions | 3 |
GRTY601 | Biological and Physiological Aging | 3 |
GRTY606 | Aging and Human Values | 3 |
Term Hours: | 14-16 | |
Fifth year | ||
Fall semester | ||
GRTY605 | Social Science Research Methods Applied to Gerontology | 3 |
GRTY607 | Field Study in Gerontology | 2 |
GRTY608 | Grant Writing | 2 |
Elective | 3 | |
Term Hours: | 10 | |
Spring semester | ||
GRTY604 | Problems, Issues and Trends in Gerontology | 4 |
GRTY607 | Field Study in Gerontology | 2 |
Elective | 2 | |
Term Hours: | 8 |