Fact Sheet 07: Health

Revised June 2007

Health

The Department of Health in the College of Health Sciences considers the maintenance and promotion of health as a continuous process throughout one's lifetime. Maintaining and advocating optimum health includes appropriate disease prevention, and health education, promotion, and behavior.

The department's primary role is to prepare health professionals in a variety of disciplines. A secondary role is to educate and inform students from other departments about health. A tertiary role is to provide health-related information to the University campus and the surrounding community. The department believes in a multidisciplinary and humanistic approach to education. It provides you, as the student, with learning experiences both in and out of the classroom.

Career Opportunities

The Department of Health offers programs that prepare you for a career in environmental health, nutrition, public health, and respiratory care. In addition, allied health professionals who have earned an associate degree, diploma, or certificate can complete a bachelor of science in health science. Minors are available in health sciences and nutrition.

The department also offers graduate programs for those pursuing advanced training in the fields of public health and school health.

The department has a career placement rate of more than 90 percent. Graduates have been placed in organizations such as the following:

Devereaux Foundation
E.I. DuPont
Environmental Protection Agency
Haverford Hospital
Roy F. Weston Consultants
Thomas Jefferson University and Medical Center
West Chester Area, Downingtown, and Upper Perkiomen school districts

Undergraduate Degrees

Bachelor of Science in Health Science (concentrations: general, respiratory care) Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics Bachelor of Science in Public Health (concentrations: health promotion and environmental)

Bachelor of Science in Health Science - General. This degree-completion program is designed for those of you who have completed your training as allied health professionals such as paramedics, dental hygienists, respiratory therapists, medical lab technologists, and practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine.

Bachelor of Science in Health Science - Respiratory Care. You will be trained to work with physicians and nurses to provide assistance to individuals suffering from acute or chronic respiratory illness. This program is offered in association with Bryn Mawr Hospital and is accredited by the Joint Review Committee for Respiratory Therapy Education.

Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. You will receive a strong health background with a specialized focus in nutrition. This program will be an asset if you are seeking a job in nutrition after graduation and will ensure the appropriate academic preparation for graduate training in nutrition. The nutrition program is approved by the American Dietetic Association and will prepare graduates to pursue directly the Registered Dietitian (RD) credential.

Bachelor of Science in Public Health - Health Promotion. You will be trained in a program approved by the Society of Public Health Education/AAHE to work as entry-level public health educators. The program trains you to plan, administer, and evaluate public health education services and programs.

Bachelor of Science in Public Health - Environmental Health. You will be given a strong foundation in science and mathematics enabling you to work in a variety of settings where you will be called on to recognize, assess, and control environmental hazards in water quality, hazardous waste management, and industrial hygiene.

Minors

Health Science
Nutrition

Advanced Degrees

Master of Education in School Health
Master of Public Health
Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness in Public Health
Graduate Certificate in Health Care Administration
Graduate Certificate in Integrative Health

Typical Courses

Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Aspects of Respiratory Therapy
Curriculum and Instruction in Health
Dimensions of Wellness
Environmental Health
Family Life and Sex Education
Industrial Hygiene
Introductory Principles of Human Nutrition
Mental Health
Program Planning and Evaluation

Special Study Opportunities

All of the department's undergraduate programs require practical experience in addition to didactic training. The public health and environmental health programs require a 12-credit internship chosen from a variety of settings. The respiratory care program requires you to be involved in clinical practice while in the program. Student internship sites have included ICI Americas, Hydro Nuclear, Rohm and Haas, Boeing Vertol, BP Refining, Graduate Hospital, Moss Rehabilitation Center, Johnson and Johnson, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the American Heart Association.

Under a special partnership with the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER), you may participate in credit and noncredit workshops, internships, and faculty-student research projects in the Amazon rainforest and the cloud forest of the Andes Mountains of Peru. Workshop topics include rainforest ecology, cloud forest ecology, tropical water quality, environmental education, tropical medicine, botanical medicine, and more. Internships and research are hosted at ACEER's environmental centers near Puerto Maldonado, Cusco, and Iquitos. Visit www.aceer.org for more information.

Faculty

You can obtain a complete listing of faculty and their academic qualifications for this program and other programs of study at West Chester University from the department below.

For More Information

Chairperson, Department of Health
207 Sturzebecker Health Sciences Center
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
610-436-2931
Department Web page: www.wcupa.edu/_ACADEMICS/sch_shs.hea/