Health Sciences

Health science is the application of science to health, including the study of medicine, nutrition, and other health-related topics and how they affect humans.

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing industries in the US. New technologies, the need to replace workers leaving the sector, and an aging population are driving this growth. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for qualified healthcare professionals across all positions will continue to grow faster than average, along with the industry in general.

If you want to work in healthcare, or want to move into another role but need a bachelor’s degree, now is the time to earn the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences: Health Sciences degree. Your associate degree gives you 60 credits toward the 120-credit degree completion minimum.

Offered in the self-paced, competency-based UW Flexible Option format, this degree completion program offers you the opportunity to build on your education and experience. You’ll develop and strengthen your skills in critical thinking, problem solving, information literacy, informatics, and management.

This degree program prepares you to assume a wide range of roles within both clinical and non-clinical settings such as hospitals and other patient care facilities, government organizations, or insurance companies. The Health Sciences degree curriculum may also provide the foundation required for entry into advanced degree programs such as physical or occupational therapy, physician’s assistant, and more. Learn more ways you can use a bachelor’s in Health Sciences for a career in healthcare.

Earn additional credentials

The UW-Milwaukee Health Sciences degree program is designed to allow you to earn additional credentials while earning your degree—like the Interprofessional Leadership in Healthcare Microcredential and Health Care Informatics Certificate.

Earning the Interprofessional Leadership in Healthcare Microcredential is as easy as completing three courses in the Health Sciences degree program. Upon completion of these courses, you’ll be awarded a digital badge that you can use anywhere to show your accomplishment and your interprofessional leadership skills, while still earning your degree. Current students can check with your Success Coach to learn more about your progress. Interested in earning this microcredential, but not the degree? Learn more.

You can earn the Health Care Informatics Certificate by choosing the six elective courses that make up the certificate. You’ll gain the skills and knowledge to understand, analyze, and evaluate the information used by successful healthcare organizations to provide patient care. In addition, it can prepare you for a wide range of career options with hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical firms, as well as companies who design, develop, and implement health information systems. Current students can check with your Success Coach to learn more about your progress. Interested in earning this certificate, but not the degree? Learn more.

Who Should Apply

This UW Flexible Option program is designed for self-motivated learners who want to leverage their previous work skills and knowledge to advance more quickly to a degree. This online, self-paced format is ideally suited for:

• Professionals with some college credits who want to learn new skills, hone your current ones, or expand into new areas of expertise in healthcare
• Healthcare technicians and professionals who need a degree to advance
• Professionals seeking a healthcare management career but need the training and a credential
• Individuals with transferable college credit looking for an opportunity to finish their degree

Benefits of the UW Flexible Option

The UW Flexible Option is a national pioneer in competency-based education for adult learners. This means you can earn your degree without sacrificing your commitments to work and family. The competency-based and self-paced format of UW Flexible Option programs fits around your schedule, as you balance your responsibilities with your educational goals. In this program you’ll:

• Build on the expertise you have developed on the job and in your previous experience or academic work.
• Fit school into your life. Start any month. Without semester schedules, group work, class discussions, or scheduled log-on requirements, you can earn your degree when it works for you.
• Control your pace. Complete assignments when you’re able and then move on to the next.
• Earn an affordable degree. The Flex Tuition Guarantee locks in your tuition rate while you are actively enrolled in the program.

About UW-Milwaukee

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Health Professions and Sciences offers a wide array of health-related academic programs in biomedical sciences, global health, health care administration, nursing, the rehabilitation sciences and sustainable peacebuilding.

The faculty and staff in these areas are training our graduates for high-demand careers. Many of our degree programs are nationally recognized and ranked and have achieved the highest accreditation possible.

Accreditation

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges & Schools. 

Meet the UW-Milwaukee Faculty

The Health Sciences bachelor’s degree is designed to allow you to develop an individualized program, based on your previously completed coursework, selection of electives, and professional goals. With your associate degree or at least 60 transferable UW credits, you are halfway to finishing this 120-credit degree completion program.

Your remaining credits include the General Education Requirements necessary for a UWM bachelor’s degree, any elective requirements, and the courses in your major that define this program. 

Click on each of the boxes below to learn about the specific courses you’ll take in that skill area. 

Earn a microcredential before you complete your degree

Take three courses in Interprofessional Communication to earn the Interprofessional Leadership in Healthcare microcredential. You’ll be awarded a digital badge that signifies to employers you have the knowledge and skills needed to lead interprofessional teams. Current students, check with your Success Coach to learn more about your progress. Required microcredential courses include:

• BMS 433 Teamwork in the Health Professions
• BMS 434 Professional Development in Health Professionals
• BMS 435 Foundations for Interprofessional Education and Practice

Choose your electives to earn a certificate with your degree

The Health Care Informatics certificate features 18 credits (6 courses) and can be completed while you earn your Health Sciences bachelor’s degree. You will learn fundamental skills in medical terminology, database technology, and data management in this multidisciplinary certificate offered collaboratively through the UW-Milwaukee College of Health Professions and Sciences, School of Information Studies, and School of Nursing. Current students, check with your Success Coach to learn more about your progress. Required certificate courses include:

• INFOST 110 Essentials of Information Science and Technology
• BMS 205 Introduction to Diagnostic Medicine
• HS 311 Law and Ethics for Healthcare Professionals
• INFOST 340 Introduction to Systems Analysis
• INFOST 379 Data Analysis & Visualization for the Information Professional
• NURS 453 Information Management and Healthcare Technology

The UW Flexible Option offers working adults – like you – a more affordable way to finish a degree. Your coursework takes place in subscription periods – rather than semesters. These subscription periods start every single month, and are approximately 12 weeks long.

Instead of paying based on your course or credit load, you choose between two flat rate tuition plans. Our unique subscription period structure and flat-rate tuition model means you are in control of both your schedule and your cost.

• All-You-Can-Learn Option: Choosing this option allows you to enroll in as many courses as you have time for within the subscription period for a flat tuition rate of $2,250. You can add additional courses in your subscription period if you finish others early.
• Single Course Option: You may also decide you would like to focus on just one course at a time. The tuition for this option is $1,125. In this option, you are not eligible to add additional courses during your subscription period if you finish the first one early. In this case, you must wait until your next subscription period to add additional courses.

You can switch back and forth between these tuition options with each new subscription period. For example, perhaps over the summer you do the Single Course option because your family is home on summer break, but once the kids go back to school in the fall you switch to the All-You-Can-Learn option.

Financial Aid and the Aspire Scholarship are available for this program. We also encourage speaking with your employer about workplace tuition assistance.

Are there any additional fees? There are no segregated fees with this program, which saves you hundreds of dollars per credit hour. However, your tuition does not include the cost of textbooks or other special materials that may be required for individual courses. 

Finishing your degree is closer than you think! Schedule an advising call at 608-800-6762 or contact us at flex@uwex.wisconsin.edu.

Minimum Academic Requirements

Candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences: Health Sciences degree must have an earned Associate Degree (for which a minimum of 60 credits will be awarded towards the Health Sciences degree) OR earned 60 transferable credits to UW-Milwaukee (for which equivalent course credit will be applied toward the Health Sciences degree after transcripts are reviewed).

The program requires that candidates have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 from all prior accredited colleges and universities. Candidates with a total cumulative GPA of less than 2.00 are still considered for admission and are encouraged to apply. For additional details or to discuss specific circumstances, please contact an Enrollment Adviser for more information.

Prior college transcripts from which you may transfer credit must be accredited by a regional or national accrediting organization recognized by the CHEA (Council for Higher Education Accreditation).

How to Apply

• You may apply up to five months in advance of your desired start date. See Steps to Apply.
• If previously enrolled in Flex, please review our returning student admissions process.

Transfer Credit Evaluations

• Transfer credit is awarded for college-level coursework completed at regionally accredited institutions.  See Transfer Credit Evaluations for more information.
• Learn more about how credit by exam and military coursework may apply towards your degree.

Still have questions?  Check out our Admission FAQ page.